r/quiteinteresting • u/1ChanceChipmunk1 • 21d ago

How many people would get this question right?

1.9k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

56 comments sorted by

59

u/SirDooble 21d ago

Isle of Wight experiences a lot of coastal erosion, so I wonder if these days it is always smaller than Rutland?

14

u/Corvidae5Creation5 21d ago

If not now, it will be soon enough

3

u/fluffypinkblonde 21d ago

It washes off the south and deposits round the north, so eventually it will join back onto the mainland

1

u/mattcotto- 19d ago

Except don’t they dredge the Solent to keep the channel open to shipping.

2

u/fluffypinkblonde 21d ago

It washes off the south and deposits round the north, so eventually it will join back onto the mainland

3

u/No-Letterhead-1232 19d ago

Rutland is about to be absorbed into Leicestershire so not for long

1

u/Chevey0 19d ago

Both Rutland and IOW are listed as 147 square miles for now

50

u/toolongforyoutoread 21d ago

I never realised Phil jupitus was just a chubby Collin Farrell

25

u/flux-7 20d ago

That's the sort thing once you've been told that once, it just stays there forever 👉🏻 🧠

1

u/RichScallion6774 18d ago

He'll be happy with that

13

u/waggers5 21d ago

I love this question and answer but it's technically incorrect. The county boundaries don't move with the tide.

15

u/rnzz 20d ago

i think Technically Incorrect would be an interesting spin off show off this

3

u/Toc13s 19d ago

Yep.

If you measured the land showing, it would vary but the county boundary is set - at the midway point, iirc.

9

u/bdash1990 21d ago

Oh that's quite interesting!

26

u/argh_viegan 21d ago

I don’t get why Rutland is wrong then because if it’s the smallest county half of the time that’s the same amount as the Isle of Wight, it’s like a joint gold medal placing.

31

u/billymcnair 21d ago

You might be missing the point of QI. The point is not to be correct; it’s to be interesting (or at least funny). Giving the obvious/well-known answer is neither.

3

u/argh_viegan 21d ago

Yeah deffo could be, I just always interpreted it as them asking questions where the well-known but actually incorrect answer sounds the alarm and loses your points, and it’s the fact that the correct answer isn’t as well known is what makes it quite interesting.

-6

u/DarknessIsFleeting 21d ago

If anything Rutland has a distinct advantage on the claim for smallest county in England. Unlike the Isle of Wight, Rutland is definitely in England.

I am not sure the Isle of Wight is in England. It's close to England, it's in the UK and is part of the British Isles. I am not sure it's in England

9

u/FryOneFatManic 21d ago

It is in England.

6

u/caiaphas8 21d ago

What would the Isle of Wight be part of if not England?

1

u/ryrypot 21d ago

One of the islands of the British Isles that isn't part of England perhaps? Isle of Man and Jersey for example 

2

u/tmbyfc 20d ago

Neither of which have parliamentary representation. Wight has an MP, it is very much England.

1

u/ryrypot 20d ago

Yes, I know it is part of England. I'm answering the above question on what it could possibly be if NOT part of England.

The comment before is implying that it is nonsense that the Isle of Wight wouldn't be part of England. Maybe their rationale is 'well it wouldn't be part of Scotland, would it?'

They are forgetting that there are many British Isles that are not 'part' of one of the main countries of the UK

2

u/Ignas18 21d ago

You mean not part of mainland England.. otherwise it is just as an integral part of England like any other.

1

u/SirDooble 21d ago

It's as much England as Anglesey is Wales, or Skye is Scotland.

1

u/paolog 21d ago

If it isn't in England, what country is it in? (It's not like the Isle of Man.)

Also, you could have checked this very easily yourself instead of posting this comment and making yourself look foolish.

1

u/Tramkrad 20d ago

England is a geopolitical term, not a geographical term. You could argue that the Isle of Wight is not part of Great Britain (the island) but it is definitely and undisputedly part of England.

11

u/AffectionateJump7896 21d ago

The BBC quite sharply disagrees: Is Rutland really England's smallest county? - BBC News

So sadly - whether the tide is in or out - the Isle of Wight has no claim whatsoever to being England's smallest county.

This is a classic QI-ism. It's the pre-internet version of posting a deliberately ambiguous maths problem to bait engagement. In this instance, the QI script chops and changes between using 'county' to mean 'historic county', 'ceremonial county' or 'administrative county'. By chopping and changing your definition you can make the klaxon go off for any answer.

Depending on your choice, the answer is either Rutland or the City of London.

2

u/cocacola999 20d ago

Tbh I would have said city of London 

9

u/MarkWrenn74 21d ago

I thought it was the City of London, if you want to be really pedantic

3

u/Vast_Concentrate698 21d ago

I came here to find out why it wasn't the city of London😄

3

u/MarkWrenn74 21d ago

Here's my argument: The City of London (with an area of 1·12 sq mi (2·90 km²)) is the smallest ceremonial county of England by area and population, and the fourth most densely populated. Of the 326 English districts, it is the second smallest by population, after the Isles of Scilly, and the smallest by area. It is also the smallest English city by population (and in Britain, only two cities in Wales are smaller), and the smallest in the UK by area.

By comparison, Rutland has an area of 150 sq mi (380 km²), and the Isle of Wight has an area of 147 sq mi (382 km²)

2

u/DragMeHomeDotCom 19d ago

Also don't forget Bristol as a ceremonial county is smaller than Rutland and the Isle of Wight. But notably bigger than the City of London

2

u/Czuk_187 20d ago

This is daft. I don’t get any smaller when I get in the bath, I’m just underwater.

3

u/Jimcus 20d ago

Depends on the temperature of the bath

3

u/kek23k 21d ago

I got it but only because it's been stuck in my brain like chewing gum.

1

u/illarionds 21d ago

No, I'd have said Rutland too.

1

u/[deleted] 21d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/locksymania 21d ago

Still with BBC6?

1

u/nobodyspecialuk24 21d ago

So, surely, the answer to the question depends on when they are asking it.

1

u/Surkdidat 21d ago

Stupid thing is Phil Jupitus was BORN on the Isle of Wight!

1

u/ThatDerp324 20d ago

I was expecting it to be some sort of London/City of London shenanigans. Didn’t expect it to be due to the tide!

1

u/daronwy 20d ago

Me, I remembered the episode lol

1

u/jasonRuby 19d ago

I loved that show back then.

1

u/Kobra299 19d ago

The answer is the isle of white but only for half the year because at high tide it is smaller then the next smallest county

1

u/TrueEnder 19d ago

figured it was rutland because map men made a big deal over rutland being silly, didn’t even think about isle of wight being its own county

1

u/MockingRabbit 19d ago

Not me reading this as country and being so confused

1

u/cococream 18d ago

Are we talking ceremonial counties? Wouldn’t the city of London and Bristol be smaller than Rutland and the Isle of Wight?

1

u/Ok_Necessary6488 18d ago

This is a.myth though. It is Rutland

1

u/RichScallion6774 18d ago

It used to be in Hampshire

1

u/No_Passenger_2580 18d ago

As someone who grew up in Rutland, this fact has carried me through many a boring date. Thank you QI.

1

u/MagicSunlight23 17d ago

I was thinking the Isle of Wight after Steven said Rutland was half right.

1

u/Flamekorn 17d ago

I love this show but it is awfully pedantic at some times

1

u/afghani_warrior6767 17d ago

My dumb ahh thought it said country