questions and commands
Preserved but no longer current.
An old Christmas game, in which the ''commander" bids one of his subjects to answer a question Which is asked. If he refuses, or fails to satisfy the com- mander, he must pay a forfeit or have his face smutted.
Một trò chơi Giáng sinh cũ, trong đó người chỉ huy yêu cầu một trong những người dưới quyền trả lời một câu hỏi
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “questions and commands” mean?
An old Christmas game, in which the ''commander" bids one of his subjects to answer a question Which is asked. If he refuses, or fails to satisfy the com- mander, he must pay a forfeit or have his face smutted.
Is “questions and commands” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.