Bad Negs--we miss you!

Dormant threads from the high school sections are preserved here.
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Bad Negs--we miss you!

Post by rchschem »

Overheard at GSAC:

Q: (something about a work)..."...the titular animal..."

A: The Telltale Heart
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Post by kCobain911 »

at UTC,



"This work was not an epistolary..."

answer: Pamela


what was the answer to the aforementioned question?
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Post by vcuEvan »

I believe it was The Black Cat.
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Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

I don't remember specifics, but I know last night on packet 2 from IS-64 I negged all but like 5 tossups.
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Post by Golran »

Today at practice one of the questions was something like:
Which one of Snow White's 7 dwarves...
My friend buzzed in "Grouchy". The whole room burst into laughter.
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Post by Nine-Tenths Ideas »

"This president saw a treaty that gave the US parts of California, New Mexi-"
Me, clearly not paying attention: "The Treaty of Guadeloupe Hildago."
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Post by Gautam »

Given Answer: Golda Meier
Real Answer: Baroness from GI Joe link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroness_(G.I._Joe)

I was completely pwned by Jewish sounding clues. :(
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Post by The Infanta »

At Yale back in March, the question mentioned "this man who influenced Ghandi," but I misheard it as "this man whom Ghandi influenced."

Neg: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Answer: Leo Tolstoy

I got lots of heat for that one.
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Post by Tegan »

this form of a capella singing, common in the Far East ....

correct: mantra
incorrect: Gregorian Chant

I'm sure I have a detail screwed up, but it was clearly after saying "common in the Far East"
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Post by First Chairman »

GDS Ben Cooper:

Since it came on an NAQT packet, I can't disclose more than I can about the circumstances... but to say the least, the captain of the team did not choose a suggestion of "Humphrey Bogart". (It actually wouldn't count as a true neg or "wrong answer", but it was funny nonetheless.)
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Post by vig180 »

My Answer: John Brown
Correct Answer: Jim Henson

Still not sure where that came from, although I think it had something to do with mention of a coffin.
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Post by brownboy79 »

My answer: Chris Brown

Answer: James Brown
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Post by Stephen Colbert »

2005 SAS Brain Strain (not exactly a neg, but still memorable):

The 2004 movie "Finding Neverland", was based in part on the life of author J.M. Barrie, the creator of what character who "refused to grow up"?

My player's answer: Michael Jackson
Correct Answer: Peter Pan
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Post by Blackboard Monitor Vimes »

I don't neg often...but Greg's racked up some great ones and it's unlikely he'll come into this forum.
At CSI II: MASH for Catch-22 after Major Major Major Major...he didn't even know why he said it.
At practice early this year, due to hearing the word land instead of gland followed by "islets of Langerhans"... "Denmark" for "pancreas"

My worst neg ever was probably at Ocean Lakes last year...Barry Bonds for Andruw Jones. I buzzed by accident and knew it was a baseball player, so I picked one at random. The sad thing is I would've gotten it eventually.

...I had two in a row at W&M's college tournament...."mouse" for "dog" and "Athena" for "Hera," both in cases where I knew the right answer but failed to say it.

Maybe I do neg a lot...although I think it's just that my few negs are bad...
For example, The Sound and the Fury for Gone with the Wind, buzzing off Dilsey.
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Post by Maxwell Sniffingwell »

MLWGS-Gir wrote: MASH for Catch-22 after Major Major Major Major
Bad neg.
MLWGS-Gir wrote: due to hearing the word land instead of gland followed by "islets of Langerhans"... "Denmark" for "pancreas"
Quality bad neg.
MLWGS-Gir wrote: Bonds, mouse, Athena, Sound and the Fury
Not bad negs, just negs.
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Post by Maxwell Sniffingwell »

Proposed criteria for a true bad neg (must meet one or more:)
1) wrong type of answer (person, place, thing)
i.e. Denmark for pancreas (great neg, by the way)
2) one of a group, you name something not in the group
i.e. Grouchy the dwarf; name this South American country-BUZZ-Spain
3) confusing two similar-sounding but very different answers
i.e. Scrooge being visited by the ghost of Bob Marley; President George Washington Carver
4) just plain wrong (especially applicable when pop culture is involved)
i.e. Arthur Dent for Buzz Lightyear; Golda Meier for the Baroness
5) given answer in question
i.e. name this work by the author of White Fang, Jack London-BUZZ-White Fang
6) correct answer is gettable by average 6-year-old
i.e. Saturn, the third planet from the sun; Marlowe, the author of Hamlet

What these do not include are knowledge errors: saying Tegucigalpa is the capital of Nicaragua or that Benjy Compson is from Light in August.
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Post by rjaguar3 »

From IHSA regionals '07...

Moderator: "...name this painting by John Constable" (BUZZ)
Teammate: "Gainsborough!"
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Post by the return of AHAN »

cornfused wrote:Proposed criteria for a true bad neg (must meet one or more:)
1) wrong type of answer (person, place, thing)
i.e. Denmark for pancreas (great neg, by the way)
2) one of a group, you name something not in the group
i.e. Grouchy the dwarf; name this South American country-BUZZ-Spain
4) just plain wrong (especially applicable when pop culture is involved)
i.e. Arthur Dent for Buzz Lightyear; Golda Meier for the Baroness
So categorize this neg from a middle schooler I coached in 2000;
"Accounting for inflation, name this richest American to ever have ever lived (BUZZ)"
GIVEN: King Tut
CORRECT: John D. Rockefeller

Is that 1, 2, or 4?
Jeff Price
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Post by The Atom Strikes! »

I actually made that Langerhans-Denmark neg once.

Another habit: I had a brief phase in which whenever I heard the less-common names of a river, I would buzz in and say "Bhramaputra" to the enduring anger of my teammates
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Post by ragnarok2012 »

something about adopting a child..

my teammate : "Angelina Jolie"
answer : Pearl S. Buck


Not hearing the year clue or nationality of said child
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Post by JohnAndSlation »

BarringtonJP wrote:
cornfused wrote:Proposed criteria for a true bad neg (must meet one or more:)
1) wrong type of answer (person, place, thing)
i.e. Denmark for pancreas (great neg, by the way)
2) one of a group, you name something not in the group
i.e. Grouchy the dwarf; name this South American country-BUZZ-Spain
4) just plain wrong (especially applicable when pop culture is involved)
i.e. Arthur Dent for Buzz Lightyear; Golda Meier for the Baroness
So categorize this neg from a middle schooler I coached in 2000;
"Accounting for inflation, name this richest American to ever have ever lived (BUZZ)"
GIVEN: King Tut
CORRECT: John D. Rockefeller

Is that 1, 2, or 4?
I'd call that a 2, but it's in pretty decent running for a 4 as well.
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Post by rchschem »

cornfused wrote:Proposed criteria for a true bad neg (must meet one or more:)
Thank you.
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Post by Whiter Hydra »

Probably my worst was answering Chris Ferguson for Craig Ferguson. I now hate poker.
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Post by Maxwell Sniffingwell »

Could've been worse... you could've answered "Jesus" Ferguson for Jesus Christ...
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Post by Nine-Tenths Ideas »

At every tournament we go to, it is my teammates duty to buzz in during a Frank Lloyd Wright question before I do. If they don't, I will ring in and say "Frank Gehry." Even after the gimme clue is given for Lloyd Wright, I will say Gehry.
Example:
"... early 20th century architect, who designed the Falling Water-"
Me: "Gehry."
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Post by Canadajin »

A teammate:

Response: "Little Red Riding Hood"

Answer: "Pope Joan"
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Post by AKKOLADE »

Correct: Quidditch

Me: "Solomon Grundy" (as in the Batman villain)
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Post by the return of AHAN »

Mid-Suburban League frosh/soph tourney:

Identify the salty fluid excreted by the lacrimal glands (BUZZ)

GIVEN: Brine

CORRECT: Tears

Fortunately the game was in hand and we could laugh about it!
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Post by Nine-Tenths Ideas »

From TJ:
From the Harry Potter universe, the most famous of these is Marius Black-
My Teammate: Wizard!


That lost us a game.
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Post by Siverus Snape »

Is the answer Squib?
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Post by AndyShootsAndyScores »

SIVster716 wrote:Is the answer Squib?
More than likely, though I would think that Filch or Merope Gaunt would be more famous than Marius Black.

[/undeniable proof of dorkdom]
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Post by Blackboard Monitor Vimes »

AndyShootsAndyScores wrote:
SIVster716 wrote:Is the answer Squib?
More than likely, though I would think that Filch or Merope Gaunt would be more famous than Marius Black.

[/undeniable proof of dorkdom]
Yeah, it was squib. Someone on the team we were playing negged and said "animagus" off the close relationships with animals bit.
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Post by Sir Thopas »

MLWGS-Gir wrote:
AndyShootsAndyScores wrote:
SIVster716 wrote:Is the answer Squib?
More than likely, though I would think that Filch or Merope Gaunt would be more famous than Marius Black.

[/undeniable proof of dorkdom]
Yeah, it was squib. Someone on the team we were playing negged and said "animagus" off the close relationships with animals bit.
I buzzed thinking that until I heard "Arabella" sneak in as I buzzed, so I lucked out there.
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Post by cdcarter »

Helen of Troy for Jackie Kennedy
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Post by wowitsquinthaha »

this was on some old VHSL set

Q: Although he could leg press 2000 pounds.....

A: Kim Jong Il (Neg)

Real A: Oral Roberts...
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Post by ok_quizbowl »

Two of the better ones I've heard recently from OSSAA events:

[words words words] African-American civil rights leader...
RIGHT: Martin Luther King, Jr.
TEAM SAID: George Wallace

[words words words] recently deceased Italian operatic tenor.
RIGHT: Luciano Pavarotti
TEAM SAID: Ray Charles
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Post by Maxwell Sniffingwell »

wowitsquinthaha wrote:this was on some old VHSL set

Q: Although he could leg press 2000 pounds.....

A: Kim Jong Il (Neg)

Real A: Oral Roberts...
Pat Robertson.
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Post by No Sollositing On Premise »

I think I mentioned this in the older thread; My favorite neg of all time, from PACE 2002:

Moderator: something about "northern regions"
Dan Wright: Succubi?
Myself, Mike Wright, and Alex Levy: !?
Eventual Answer: Silverback Gorillas
Dan Wright: I thought they said nether regions!

Yeah... we weren't the best B team ever until two years later....
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Post by ieppler »

Not mine, but funny anyway. On the 2005 HSNCT podcast, TJ A vs. Bentley:
"To the Lighthouse" for "the flop"
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Post by Stat Boy »

MLWGS-Gir wrote:Yeah, it was squib. Someone on the team we were playing negged and said "animagus" off the close relationships with animals bit.
That someone being me. And I heard Puma negged at the same place with same answer--not the first time that's happened.
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Post by Maxwell Sniffingwell »

Hopper wrote:Not mine, but funny anyway. On the 2005 HSNCT podcast, TJ A vs. Bentley:
"To the Lighthouse" for "the flop"
If that had been me, I would've been angry. That wasn't a bad neg at all, it was a hose.

The question: "The first part of it is called the window..." BUZZ - To the Lighthouse.
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Post by ieppler »

Haha, it would probably help if I actually listened to the question rather than going by the reaction of the reader and the audience. You're right, it was a hose.
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Post by the return of AHAN »

...exact height of the crossbar on a set of American football goalposts."

GIVEN: 100 feet :shock:

(I can only guess he thought it meant the height of the uprights.)
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Post by Golran »

"... this work by Martin Luther"
Given: 99 Theses
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Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

I'm not sure how bad of a neg some of these actually are (like 99 theses).
For what its worth the football thing sounds like it was a horrible question.
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
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"At one TJ tournament the neg prize was the Hampshire College ultimate frisbee team (nude) calender featuring one Evan Silberman. In retrospect that could have been a disaster." - Harry White
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Post by cdcarter »

Deesy Does It wrote:I'm not sure how bad of a neg some of these actually are (like 99 theses).
For what its worth the football thing sounds like it was a horrible question.
Quoted for truth. I have a feeling most bad negs are either made up, or not that bad. There are a few "good" ones that slip through the cracks, but some of these are just too outrageous.
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Post by the return of AHAN »

Agreed on the 99 Theses. Now if the answer had been "I Have a Dream"... THAT would've been quality. :lol:
And I coach teams at high school and middle school so I get plenty of chances to hear some memorable ones. And I leave out the ones where kids are simply taking WAGs as time is ticking away in an otherwise silent room. Those aren't funny. I think the proper criteria for a bad neg were clearly delineated by Greg P. last month.
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Post by The Atom Strikes! »

dinoian wrote:"... this work by Martin Luther"
Given: 99 Theses
But a b*tch ain't one?
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Post by Siverus Snape »

Nostradamus for Jules Verne

I suppose that technically, given the information in the question up to that point (basically that he was a French novelist and predicted all sorts of technology in his works), the answer is slightly (just slightly) less of a brain fart. It still is funny, though.

Another one, given independently by a member on each the A and B team at a fresh-soph tournament:

Jesus for Herod

Both buzzed on "King of the Jews".
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Post by rchschem »

From the Furniture City Classic (NAQT IS-70):

_____________ for ______________

_____________ for ______________

and my favorite,

Q: "...__________________..."
A: _______________

Trust me. These will be funny someday.

Eric
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