Not during a PPL exam, this was for my CPL in New Zealand. I was asked "What causes wind?"
I gave a textbook answer, almost word-for-word out of the books. I was told nope, that the answer the examiner was looking for was "The Sun". He argued that the sun is what causes temperature differentials which, in turn, causes pressure differentials, and that is what then causes the movement of an airmass from one location to another, a process we call wind.
I mean, he wasn't wrong, but everyone I tell that to tells me they would also not have come up with "the sun" as an answer.
After 25 years in the industry, I've come to learn and preach that any license is just another license to learn more. Yes during an oral we want to confirm the knowledge that the student should reasonably know for the license or rating that they will hold should the ride be successful, but it should not be a deep dive into the obscure. As a Check Pilot - either for ab initio or here at the airlines - I never play "stump-the-chump." I'm there to make sure that if my family got on board the airplane, they would arrive home safe and sound. The biggest things I saw answered incorrectly during my time doing ab initio check rides were questions surrounding the limitations on the license the person would hold and the application of theoretical knowledge to real-world operations. For example, when might ATC deny entry into Class B airspace and what do you now have to do if you planned a flight 50 miles through that airspace? Or what weather can be reasonably expected when one finds the winds are backing during your cross-country flight? Another one might be at what time must a non-night rated PPL be legally landed at an airport or what is the earliest time a non-night rated PPL could take-off from xyz airport?
Like I said, the application of the required knowledge means more than the knowing what time sunrise or sunset is today.