Difference between revisions of "Quizbowlese"
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Examples of quizbowlese include: | Examples of quizbowlese include: | ||
| − | * | + | *overuse of the word "work" to describe books, paintings, symphonies, treatises, etc.<br> |
*in a similar vein, using "polity," "entity," "figure," etc. as the only noun describing the answer<br> | *in a similar vein, using "polity," "entity," "figure," etc. as the only noun describing the answer<br> | ||
| + | *overuse of the verb "sees", e.g. "This novel sees one character host lavish parties in West Egg." | ||
*overusing the adjective "titular" in place of the adjective "title"<br> | *overusing the adjective "titular" in place of the adjective "title"<br> | ||
*unduly vague uses of "associated with"<br> | *unduly vague uses of "associated with"<br> | ||
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*linking unrelated clauses mid-sentence with "and" or "while"<br> | *linking unrelated clauses mid-sentence with "and" or "while"<br> | ||
*giveaways that are neither a question nor a statement ("For 10 points, name this first President of the United States" is acceptable; "For 10 points, this first President of the United States." is not) | *giveaways that are neither a question nor a statement ("For 10 points, name this first President of the United States" is acceptable; "For 10 points, this first President of the United States." is not) | ||
| + | *use of "For 10 points" as a conjunction, e.g. "An opponent of the Levellers at the Putney Debates, for 10 points, name this Roundhead general who became Lord Protector of England." | ||
*apposition of freestanding proper nouns at the end of sentences, rather than finding a natural word order whereby the noun is at the end of the sentence (example pulled by [[Rob Carson]] out of EFT 2009: "One visitor to this polity’s capital described how its women are oversexed and age about twice as quickly as Chinese women, Zhou Daguan." as opposed to "One visitor to this polity's capital, ''who'' described how its women are oversexed and age about twice as quickly as Chinese women, ''was'' Zhou Daguan" or similar fixes) | *apposition of freestanding proper nouns at the end of sentences, rather than finding a natural word order whereby the noun is at the end of the sentence (example pulled by [[Rob Carson]] out of EFT 2009: "One visitor to this polity’s capital described how its women are oversexed and age about twice as quickly as Chinese women, Zhou Daguan." as opposed to "One visitor to this polity's capital, ''who'' described how its women are oversexed and age about twice as quickly as Chinese women, ''was'' Zhou Daguan" or similar fixes) | ||
*constructions designed to avoid "transparency" that go so far as to become useless, e.g. "this ruler once went to battle in order to prevent another polity from performing a certain action" | *constructions designed to avoid "transparency" that go so far as to become useless, e.g. "this ruler once went to battle in order to prevent another polity from performing a certain action" | ||
*referring to any written work as a "novel" regardless of length or fictional status | *referring to any written work as a "novel" regardless of length or fictional status | ||
*referring to any married person as a "wife" regardless of gender | *referring to any married person as a "wife" regardless of gender | ||
Revision as of 23:07, 16 January 2013
The pejorative term "quizbowlese" is used to refer to formulaic phrases or words that recur much more often in quizbowl question writing than anywhere else. The overuse of quizbowlese prose makes quizbowl questions harder to read and makes it more difficult for new players to understand what their moderator is asking them.
Examples of quizbowlese include:
- overuse of the word "work" to describe books, paintings, symphonies, treatises, etc.
- in a similar vein, using "polity," "entity," "figure," etc. as the only noun describing the answer
- overuse of the verb "sees", e.g. "This novel sees one character host lavish parties in West Egg."
- overusing the adjective "titular" in place of the adjective "title"
- unduly vague uses of "associated with"
- using the standalone adjective "this" or "these" as a noun
- connecting unrelated sentences with "In addition to <title>, ..." or "Besides..."
- linking unrelated clauses mid-sentence with "and" or "while"
- giveaways that are neither a question nor a statement ("For 10 points, name this first President of the United States" is acceptable; "For 10 points, this first President of the United States." is not)
- use of "For 10 points" as a conjunction, e.g. "An opponent of the Levellers at the Putney Debates, for 10 points, name this Roundhead general who became Lord Protector of England."
- apposition of freestanding proper nouns at the end of sentences, rather than finding a natural word order whereby the noun is at the end of the sentence (example pulled by Rob Carson out of EFT 2009: "One visitor to this polity’s capital described how its women are oversexed and age about twice as quickly as Chinese women, Zhou Daguan." as opposed to "One visitor to this polity's capital, who described how its women are oversexed and age about twice as quickly as Chinese women, was Zhou Daguan" or similar fixes)
- constructions designed to avoid "transparency" that go so far as to become useless, e.g. "this ruler once went to battle in order to prevent another polity from performing a certain action"
- referring to any written work as a "novel" regardless of length or fictional status
- referring to any married person as a "wife" regardless of gender