Carnegie Mellon College Bowl

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Official Lexicon

We believe (somewhat unlike UMD's Dave Hamilton) that a lexicon should contain inside jokes, but that these jokes should be accessible to all; i.e. there should be some humorous element that almost anyone can appreciate. We hope you enjoy reading into the lives and minds of our team.

Undated references are either common knowledge, or have origins unknown to current College Bowl execs.

Questions/comments to Jim Puls.

ACF (1999)

n. Very difficult format played by few and mastered by fewer. Little to no trash is involved, and tossups may run 10-12 lines, an unheard-of length in NAQT or TRASH. Particularly few of us CMU people enjoy the additional difficulty of ACF, so alas the freshmen usually don't have the opportunity to try the format.

Upon being asked about the possibility of writing questions to attend an ACF tournament for the first time, Michael Tolan (then a freshman) replied,

ACF? I've never shot myself in the foot, but I don't think I'd like that very much either.
Bagel

v. To not garner any toss-ups, or to get zero points on a bonus. Has been known to imply incompetence.

Bargain City (2001)

Sarcastic, derogatory term used to describe Cleveland, a city where everything is a lot more expensive than it would appear at first glance. (See also The Best Damn City We Ever Had.)

Bastard Team (1998)

n. Often masters teams, the bastard team consists of either 1) players from more than one team, or 2) former players usually from more than one team. Used particularly in TRASH and ACF (where we usually can't fill a team by ourselves).

Best Damn ______ I Ever Had, The (2001)

A sarcastic expression first used to justify unusually high-priced items at a Case Western tournament in October 2001. Taken from Barney Gumble of "The Simpsons," who insists that a $35 bootleg beer "had better be the best beer in the world" during prohibition, this refers to the fact that if we're going to pay a high premium for an item, it had better be exceptionally good. (Obviously, the premium never ensures any extra quality.) Examples of this include:

  • The Comfort Inn Downtown's soda machine, which charges $1.00 per can of soda ("The Best Damn Can of Pepsi I Ever Had")
  • Best Steak & Gyro on Euclid Avenue, one of very few non-bar establishments open at 10:15 PM on a Saturday night in Cleveland, which charged between $6 (chicken tenders) and $9 (cheesesteak) for dinners in Cleveland. Neither was even remotely close to being the best damn dinner we had ever had, despite the encouraging name of the restaurant.
  • The Comfort Inn itself, which added about $30 in taxes and fees to our one-night room rate of roughly $100 ("The Best Damn Comfort Inn Room I Ever Had").
Blitz

v. Technique of buzzing then giving related information, perhaps more than necessary, thus answering the tossup without caring what piece of information was necessary. Blitzing really is an art, and most don't have it. Blitzes tend to be used when one knows enough about the tossup topic to hit the answer, but don't want to chance negging by giving information stated later in the question.

Boni

(BO-nigh) n. pl. Non-dictionary plural of "bonus," used exclusively in quiz bowl circles.

Bonus Feng-Shui (2001)

At TRASHionals 2001, Dwight Kidder proposed that while tournaments nearly always contain guidelines about what types of questions should be asked, the placement of boni in a packet is also important. Poor feng-shui is demonstrated by clustering of same-subject questions, incredibly obscure boni appearing too early, and boni about the same specific topic appearing more than once.

It should be noted that Dwight and Eric Steinhauser collaborated on a packet for the 2001 Ironhead Invitational tournament in which each bonus started out "Speaking of (answer to last bonus), (vaguely related question)." The feng-shui in that packet drove several players to threaten violence against moderators should they continue to read the silly intros.

Brain Fart (1997)

n. Knowing the answer to a question then forgetting it immediately after one has buzzed in (and thus committed oneself). The reward for a brain fart is a neg 5. Also termed "blanking out", we think brain fart is more graphic and therefore superior. Little used around CMU but still a classic.

Breezewood (1999)

n. Depending on who you ask, it is either the best or worst place on Earth. Located at the intersection of the PA Turnpike and I70, this self proclaimed "Town of Motels" claims many, many truckstops, gas stations, and fast-food establishments, most of whom accept credit cards(!). We like Breezewood.

Also the subject of the B Team at Trash Regionals 1999, the name bestowed by TRASH was "We Travelled Through Breezewood to Get Here." The players were named after truckstops, mostly found in said town: Sheetz, Gateway, Chrome Denny's (yes, they're wrapping all Denny's in tinfoil or something), and Stuckey's (which actually isn't found in Breezewood but hey, they sell pecan logs).

Addendum: A mini-Stuckey's has arrived in Breezewood. Our prayers have been answered!

CBI

College Bowl (Company) Inc., holders of the collegebowl.com domain and inspiration for the Carnegie Mellon College Bowl club's name. Carnegie Mellon used to play in the CBI system of tournaments, but left in favor of NAQT and ACF. CBI fell out of favor for a variety of reasons, including the relatively high cost of participation and the relatively poor quality of questions. For example, a CBI bonus can range from 20 to 30 points, whereas other formats all have 30-point boni in the interest of fairness. The phrase "Name this curved yellow fruit" once appeared at the end of a CBI toss-up, which is a bit obvious for collegiate play.

Ch-Ching (1997)

interj. Something Michael McElroy used to sound in the exultation of garnering a tossup (usually rather early). Mimics the sound that old cash registers made when one pulled the lever to let the coins fall. This term has been generally accepted by the rest of the CMU team as an all-around expression of triumph.

Cupcake (1999)
  1. n. A small, sweet cake made to tempt people into a delicious yet fattening treat.
  2. v. To abandon one's proper place and bounden duty (i.e. playing for the team) to pursue a man or woman for romantic interest. This is a greater sin than skipping for no reason whatsoever because while the team is enduring a beating a cupcaker is perhaps enjoying him- or herself. There was formerly an infrequently-used term "hot fudge sundae-ing" referring to a woman pursuing a love interest, but we realized that all are equal under persecution. Bill Tressler first introduced this definition to the club.
  3. n. The to-die-for treats provided by Lauren as part of her Team Mom duties. These cupcakes are, in fact, so good that they've spawned a Facebook group titled — what else — I Love Lauren's Baked Goods!.
  4. Cupcaker n. One who cupcakes
Dead Cat (2002)

From the phrase "you can't swing a dead cat without hitting something." Used to describe a very common answer, particularly in intramural and high-school tournaments, on a specific subject. For example, Noam Chomsky is considered the dead cat of linguistics, since it's impossible to write an easy question about linguistics without mentioning Noam Chomsky.

Also a small plush cat purchased by Carey in early 2002, brought to tournaments to accompany Pikachu, with a small string around its neck. When we encounter a dead-cat answer, we swing the dead cat around and make sounds like a dying (but not dead) cat.

Defense! (1999)

interj. Sometimes one is read a bonus concerning a topic about which nobody knows anything, in which case "Defense!" is uttered at least some part in shame. Pride on a job well done is the case, however, when the other team's members are upset at the question's relative ease. Common occurrences include The One Question where the one person knowledgeable on said subject is, of course, on the team which did not garner the tossup.

Unfortunately this happens to us too often, on both sides of the coin.

Dinosaur (1998)

n. An older player, usually one who has played both as a graduate and an undergrad.

ECW Championship Belt (2001)

The prize awarded to the winner of TRASHionals every year. TRASH Business Manager James Dinan wrote about the origin of this prize in an April 3, 2001 message board posting:

A few weeks ago, I wrote a few columns for Internet wrestling newspapers (1wrestling.com, PW Torch) on the WWF Raw and Smackdown tapings I attended at the MCI Center in Washington, DC. After the RAW taping, I had the chance to talk to Paul Heyman, the new Raw color commentator who previously led a now-defunct wrestling company called Extreme Championship Wrestling.

I wished Mr. Heyman the best of his luck with his WWF endeavor, and asked him if I could have an ECW memento I could award for a trivia tournament in April. Mr. Heyman agreed, and presented me with the award.

I thought he would give me a T-shirt. Instead, I received something that has been worn by such men as Sabu, Tazz, Jerry Lynn, Sandman, Steve Corino, Terry Funk and Shane Douglas.

It was the ECW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BELT.

When presenting the belt at TRASHionals to UC-Berkeley on April 1, 2001, James drew a wild standing ovation from a large lecture hall filled with die-hard TRASH aficionados. A plate reading "TRASH" has been placed over the ECW logo.

The $80,000 Quote (1997)

When the Student Government at Carnegie Mellon realized that they had an extra $80,000 to spend at the end of the 1996 school year, they asked the university students for what it should be used. Jeremy Horwitz wrote the Tartan (the school newspaper) with the brilliant one-liner: "Send me to grad school." For many months the Tartan clipping of Jeremy's face and his immortal remark was taped to the cabinent which houses our teams buzzers and question packets, until it fell off.

The Fish, also "Where's the Fish?" and "Get the Fish!" (1999)

Alludes to a large fish-shaped pillow Dwight Kidder keeps in his house. Sometimes an unruly player won't get the hint that his answer was a neg-5. Said player pisses and moans about the apparent hose through the rest of the question, ruining it for the other players. At which time, Dwight usually mentions The Fish, with which to smack the offender. The Fish has yet to make an actual appearance, but few forget the wrath it represents and may one day bring.

(see also settle)

Also similar to the team name given to the A Team at TRASH Regionals 1999 by the TRASH staff. The official team name was "The Fish That Didn't Save Pittsburgh," referencing a movie (External Link). We played as One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, and Harem Xena (an action figure replacing an absent player).

Four (1998) Five (1999)

Number of "adult entertainment" businesses located from Pittsburgh en route to State College. Nobody remembers how we began counting, but it's something we do every trip to Penn State. We speculate the tradition began with an off-color remark resulting from someone else's naive comment about the establishments. Since there is no easy way to get to State College from well, anywhere, we try to look for landmarks that indicate where to turn because we are apt to get lost or miss a turn.

(see also Welcome to Maryland)

Note that a new establishment opened up between TRASHionals 99 and NLIT 99.

FTP

Not to be confused with File Transfer Protocol, FTP stands for "For Ten Points" in packets, and should be read as such. Similar acronyms include F5P/FFP (For Five Points), FTPE (For Ten Points Each), F15P (For 15 Points), and FTSNOP (For The Stated Number Of Points; sometimes pronounced "fits-nop").

F*** Me! (2003)

Elliott Fleming's standard response when he had suggested a bonus answer, then been persuaded otherwise, only to discover that his original answer was correct. The correct response, according to Rebecca Lambert: "No thank you".

Gerbil Team (1999)

n. They're good at TRASH. Although the members of the team vary from tournament to tournament, they almost always do very well. Typically made up of dinosaurs, Gerbil teams usually bear the name of a famous motion picture with one of the words replaced with "Gerbil." Examples: "3000 Gerbils to Graceland," "Dr. T & the Gerbils," "Charlie's Gerbils," and "Dude, Where's My Gerbil?"

Good Morning Burger (2000)

n. Disgusting concoction of Mike Roke at The Original Hot Dog Shop, which allows you to customize your hamburger with all sorts of toppings. Inspired by a commercial seen on The Simpsons featuring an enormous burger described in a sultry female voice:

We take eighteen ounces of sizzling ground beef, and soak it in rich, creamery butter, then we top it off with bacon, ham, and a fried egg. We call it the Good Morning Burger.

The O's burgers are smaller than 18 ounces, and butter isn't one of the 40-some toppings they offered at the time. However, Roke got his burger with bacon, ham, chedder [sic] cheese, American cheese, Swiss cheese, a fried egg, and chili. To wash it down, he ordered a 32-oz soda and a medium fries (which he shared with several of us).

Not only did Roke survive the Good Morning Burger, he found his way to a scanner to preserve the receipt for future generations.

Guerrilla Editing

When reading a poorly-written packet, a moderator will often notice grammatical errors that might confuse the players. Rather than reading through or (worse) complaining about these errors, the moderator edits questions on the fly. This leads to embarrassment if the original question was in fact correct, and the moderator must backpedal while the clock continues to run. For this reason, most moderators refrain from guerrilla editing until they have become skilled enough to pre-read questions and edit correctly.

Hagerstown, Md. (2001)

A small town passed on the way to Johns Hopkins and George Washington, regarded by Dwight as "the city that's trying to kill quiz bowl."

On his way back from TRASH Regionals 2000 at George Washington, Dwight had a collision with a portion of the guardrail which found itself on the highway. This stranded Dwight and Carnegie Mellon players Joe Wirzburger and Mike Fontaine, who had to spend the night in Hagerstown while the car was being repaired.

To make matters worse for Hagerstown, Doug noticed a transmission problem while passing through the city en route to Johns Hopkins for the 2001 NAQT Sectionals. The morning of the tournament, Doug left Carnegie Mellon and Pitt to share rides home when he decided to head back to Pittsburgh. Doug didn't make it, as his transmission finally died -- in Hagerstown.

Hose (1999)
  1. n. A length of hollow tube, usually made of rubber, to transport water from the spigot to the flowers. To be whipped with a hose is presumed very painful.
  2. n. A question apparently leading to one answer but intending to reveal another, (sometimes) related answer.
  3. adj. Describing such a question.
  4. v. To be fooled by such a question, resulting in a minus five. Note that at the time of the buzz, the given ultimately wrong answer may have been completely correct, hence the cheated feeling.
Hot Carl (2003)

Also "You know Dr. Quinn and you know about anal sex techniques. What more do you need for a Friday night?", a question posed to Elliott one night after he answered two TRASH questions subsequent to announcing his disdain for the format.

Huzzah! (2001)

interj. Traditionally heard at Rennaissance Fairs, an exclamation of joy. Most often heard when expressing vague satisfaction with the situation at hand, or merely trying to aggravate one's opponents. Freshman teams should avoid using this if possible.

John Edwards Team (1997)

n. A solo player, literally a "one-man team." Generally, this is not a good idea. Usually seen in ACF and TRASH.

The Judge

n. Made by Electramatic of Minneapolis, Minnesota (one of very few equipment suppliers without a web site), the Judge is a remarkably durable but ugly buzzer system. It consists of eight to ten paddles connected in series to a central unit, a briefcase with lights on top to indicate the buzzer which rang in first. The Judge's paddles have a bit more resistance than most buzzer systems, and their sturdiness makes them preferable to smack. Older models of the Judge skimped on cable, requiring teammates to sit uncomfortably close together.

The Judge was presumed to be an indestructible system, but that was before the baggage handlers of US Airways managed to damage one. As of 2001, US Airways is the only entity known to be capable of destroying a Judge.

As for their website, we've received reports that Electramatic is "content with the number of units they sell and don't really need the business they'd get by having a website".

Knowledge Whore (1997)

n. A term cited often in self-reference by Maryland players and John Edwards. It deals with their zest for the game and their willingness to sacrifice decency to improve their performance. John Edwards claims that it was coined by Peter Freeman. Cracks a smile with reference to TRASH: As Dwight Kidder confided to Bill and Roke, "There is no shame, there is only points."

Let the fools have their _______. (1997)

phrase. Ah, the wit of C. Montgomery Burns. While the phrase is used with any appropriate word inserted in the blank, the original is "Let the fools have their tartar sauce." We speculate this phrase originated with a reluctantly accepted request under a previous president who revelled in Simpsons references.

Listen to him/her! (2001)

Phrase shouted in exasperation by the moderator as a team ignores its only member who is trying to contribute the correct answer. Happens mostly in practice, but can be irritating when it happens during a competition.

Mad Crane Skillz (2001)

Any specialized knowledge which on the surface is useless, but in a quiz bowl setting is utterly unstoppable, especially within an actual subject.

A reference to the awful movie US Seals(External Link), a favorite of Dwight Kidder, which features several scenes where a crane proves helpful in getting out of a jam. The film also features the help of "the Bulgarian Navy," which gave Dwight his nickname for a tournament once.

MAIN-TAIN (1999)

En route to a tournament one day, the team noticed one of those programmable road signs that display messages about construction. This sign was flashing "MAINTAIN" in large bold letters, but it was not clear what motorists were supposed to actually maintain.

This has become a sort of vague rallying cry for the College Bowl team, particularly when the team is winless and wants to "MAINTAIN" their composure and/or dignity as much as possible. It is best spoken in a loud monotone voice, with a clear distinction between "MAIN" and "TAIN." In some instances, it can serve as a replacement for "settle."

At Buzz-a-Trois in 2000, the tournament management wondered aloud whether the group should break for dinner at around 6:30 PM. The tournament was winding down at that point, and many players voiced their discontent with a plan to delay the finals further. It was then, amidst the confusion, that then-sophomore Mike Tolan proclaimed:

"No food! TRASH! MAIN-TAIN!"

The dinner break idea was immediately shelved thereafter.

Masters Team

Simply stated, the team that you do not want to play against. Masters tournaments are usually held in TRASH and ACF, and attract extremely talented people who are well over what most people call "college age." When you take four people who do well individually at masters tournaments and put them together, you get a team that is virtually unstoppable.

McMap of Pittsburgh (1999)

n. One of several identical items in the recesses of Roke's car (so that he may hand them out in case of giving directions to anyone visiting the area). When looking for the exit to 99 leaving NLIT 1999, Shannon wanted to make sure we wouldn't miss it (again refer to Welcome to Maryland) so she and Roke searched the door pockets for a PA map. Felicia was surprised at the novelty of the McMap (and all were surprised at its usefulness in finding one's way into Pittsburgh), and mentioned that it needed to go in the lexicon. Following the orders of the ranking officer, it is here. Perhaps the rest of the map will eventually make its way to the site so that all may learn the ways into our city.

Name This Curved Yellow Fruit

Arguably the worst question giveaway ever used in collegiate play, and one of the reasons why Carnegie Mellon stopped playing in CBI tournaments. Most questions start out with obscure facts and proceed to an obvious giveaway, but nobody ever thought that the writers would get that desperate. We now mention this every time we hear a question with an insanely simple giveaway.

Also a good example to use in comparing CBI with ACF: if an ACF question ended with "Name this curved yellow fruit," the answer would be some curved yellow fruit that is either extinct or confined to three square feet of rainforest somewhere.

NAQT (1996)

(NACK-wit, or N-A-Q-T) National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC. When Carnegie Mellon sends teams to academic competitions, we most often send them to NAQT or NAQT-style tournaments. Questions range in difficulty from high school to advanced collegiate level. The format is usually timed (always timed in official tournaments). A player buzzes in as soon as he/she knows the answer to the question. Ten points are awarded for a correct answer, or fifteen points are awarded if the answer comes before the power mark. If the player buzzes in early and gets the question wrong, 5 points are deducted and the other team gets to hear the remainder of the question. A team correctly answering a question gets a bonus worth up to 30 additional points. Most other formats have gameplay that runs in a very similar fashion.

NAQT runs high school championships at the state and national level, college championships at the sectional and national level, and a British championship. NAQT questions are also used in Carnegie Mellon's annual IM tournament.

In an episode that aired on April 10, 2001, NAQT CFO Kevin Olmstead won (External Link) a record $2,180,000 jackpot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

NAQT has an official web site (External Link).

Neg-5
  1. n. A five-point penalty incurred by a team when a player buzzes in before the end of the question and gives an incorrect answer. The other team then gets to hear the rest of the question, unless they swoop.
  2. v. To incur this penalty for one's team.
97042.75 (1998)

Last odometer reading on Bill Tressler's 1985 Mercury Lynx. The number was recorded after Bill's car exploded 50 miles outside of Pittsburgh when we were returning from the 1997 Atlantic Conference Championships.

(See also That's a nasty sound.)

O Fries (1999)

Either the most disgusting or the most wonderful fries in the known universe, depending on who you ask. During his reign as Vice President, Mike Roke would often bring a "medium" order of fries to meetings to share with the club and enjoy with his Good Morning Burger. (A medium feeds about four to six people; a small feeds one or two, while a large fries will test the appetites of a hungry football team.)

Made with peanut oil and fresh sliced potatoes (never frozen), the O fries are deliciously greasy and vegan-friendly. The O on campus is open until 2:00 AM every day during the academic year, and the original location in Oakland (just a stone's throw from campus) is open later still.

The One Question (1999)
  1. n. An elusive beast, The One Question refers to the single question asked at a given tournament concerning <insert subject here>, which usually goes to the other team. Often a member of our team is quite knowledgeable about said subject and a defensive bonus results.
  2. n. Also, The One Question can indicate the only possible "good" question in the minutia surrounding <insert subject here>.
Packet Submission

Refers to any tournament that requires teams to submit a packet of questions prior to registration. At the tournament, each team has a bye in the round when their packet is read. Tournament organizers go to great lengths in specifying the required distribution and content restrictions for packets. Teams which submit satisfactory packets early receive discounts on registration fees; teams which submit late or poor-quality packets are assessed penalties.

Pikachu (2000)

When the B team's fourth player cancelled at the last minute before leaving for the 2000 Baby Hen tournament, we were left with a three-person team. At the tournament, then-sophomore Jason Weill noticed the small plush Pikachu toy tethered to his backpack. When squeezed, the Pikachu would say its name in one of two different styles. Pikachu proved to be a solid member of the team, and scored more points than all three of his teammates combined in CMU B's 620-(-10) loss to Pitt A. Pikachu tied for last place in individual scoring, with a record of zero points per game (putting him into a tie for 89th with John of Delaware C).

In December 2000, Jason received a sixteen-inch plush Pikachu as a gift. The new Pikachu was silent but cute (External Link), and certainly unmistakable compared to the small toy that had been used before. Large-Pikachu now accompanies most teams to tournaments to offer support, but is often the target of unprovoked attacks. It has been stolen, dangled out of third-story windows, and tossed around rooms. On the other hand, two separate people have asked us whether we could connect some kind of electrical source to Pikachu so that it could attack some annoying player at a tournament. (We have not tried to do this.)

If you played or watched the Game Show Round at TRASHionals 2001, you would know that a 16-inch plush Pikachu retails for $28.

Power Toss-up (1996)

n. A toss-up answered before the power mark is read. In the written packet, the power mark usually appears as "(*)" and all text up to it is written in bold type. The moderator does not indicate when the power mark is read, but will tell the player if his correct answer has come before the power mark. In NAQT and most other formats that have power marks, a power toss-up is worth 15 points versus the 10 points for a normal toss-up.

"Power" is also used as a verb to refer to the act of getting a power toss-up. You never forget your first power.

Pull a McElroy (1997?)

v. Refers to the practice of buzzing in with two seconds left for the sole purpose of running out the clock while the moderator waits for an answer. Very useful in a match where the team is winning by ten points with just enough time left for one question. It is named for alumnus Michael McElroy, but was most recently seen at CMU in the 2001 Intramural tournament.

Note that in many competitions, particularly in playoff matches, this practice is highly frowned-upon. At best, it can result in the team hearing the rest of the question off the clock; if done repeatedly, it can lead to disqualification. Do this at your own risk.

Prairie Dog

v. When a previously distracted and disinterested player hears a word in the tossup which interests them and their head jerks up, now fully attentive. Borrowed from a chain email about cubicle living, a la Dilbert.

Psychic Bonus

A variation on the 30-20-10 bonus and found only in TRASH packets, the Psychic Bonus adds a 40-point part giving no specific information. For example, "Name the movie. For 40 points: It's a movie. People acted in it." Occasionally, people will actually guess correctly at the 40-point level, leading to widespread shouting and disbelief by both teams and the moderator.

The Quacker

Affectionate name given to the QuizMachine (External Link), a buzzer system which emits a loud "quack" when someone buzzes in. This sound is quite jarring to teams and moderators when first heard, and gives Carnegie Mellon a slight psychological advantage when playing on their own Quacker. Unfortunately, this system has been somewhat trouble-prone, and in 2001 was relegated to "emergency backup" status because of a faulty relay.

Rock! (2000)

interj. Carey Clevenger's favorite exclamation when he hears the introduction to a bonus that he really likes. Often times, this will be a subject that nobody else has even heard of, or that some react to with genuine disgust. Carey inevitably thirties said bonus all by himself.

Roke Turn (1998)

n. While we don't have the Speed Racer page (External Link) of VTech, we do have our own driving stories. Pennsylvania's roads are not as nice as southwestern Virginia's, and the Maryland state police are more effective in assigning speeding tickets. However, Michael Roke has been able to average 55 mph to and from a tournament. That figure includes city traffic and 30 minute stops for dinner. That bragging aside, Roke Turn is how we describe Mike's lane changes. Ignoring the idea of a smooth transition (or our comfort), Mike just takes the wheel, flips it one way and then jerks it back. He sees what he wants, and he goes for it. Mr. Roke would like to note that after two rather large and ignoble speeding citations he will be taking it a little easier.

Settle (1998)

interj. Bill Tressler comment evoked to try to steer the team away from more obscene conversation, or to keep team members from arguing excessively with one another.

Sheetz (1999)

n. Large red-trimmed truckstop, gas station, and all-purpose cool-stuff place. When stopping in Breezewood (or any other time we need gas and a Sheetz comes before the bottom of the tank), it is necessary to stop at the Sheetz. Highlights include the collectable 32-oz cups, the soda slushies, and ordering food (such as the classic "Shmuffin") by pushing virtual buttons on monitor screens. It's also fun to see what sorts of crazy crap they sell, ranging from VHS tapes of lousy "USA Up All Night"-caliber movies to "Truckstop Hits" cassettes (seriously) to cheap trinkets aimed at whiny children.

Sheetz has a web site (External Link).

Shotgun (1997)

v. To buzz in and blurt out everything one can think of relating to the tossup, hoping that one strikes upon the answer and the moderator says "correct" so that one may stop. Shotgunning is more drastic then a blitz: it is more random and the behavior is appropriately named.

Slap Bowl

n. College Bowl played without buzzers. Players usually slap the desk in front of them or make any other loud noise (like yelling "Buzz") to signal. In the case of multiple players signaling simultaneously, the moderator decides who buzzed in first. Used occasionally at practice, or at a tournament in the event that no working buzzers are available.

Smack
  1. n. Heroin.
  2. v. To cause pain to a team by soundly defeating them.
  3. v. To buzz in very early to correctly answer a question, often by hitting one's buzzer very hard; also slam.
  4. n. Any question answered in this manner.
Swoop (1997)

n., v. The act of buzzing in on the rebound of a tossup before the question has been completed, usually when someone else on one's team also knows the correct answer.

This is done for any of four recognized reasons:

  1. To pad one's own individual stats
  2. The offender is one of those trigger-happy players
  3. When one's own team is trailing in a timed match
  4. When, in a difficult match, the question may still be in the power tossup stage (note that these last two are the only acceptable circumstances for swooping)
Ten, Twenty, Thirty, etc.

v. To score a certain number of points in a bonus. Examples: "I fifteened that figure-skating bonus." "Shannon can thirty any soap opera bonus that she sees." Shorthand for "to score n points on."

30-20-10 Bonus

Found in most formats, this question asks the team to name some person, place or thing from clues. The 30-point clue, some very obscure fact, is read, and the team is allowed to guess. If they guess correctly, thirty points are awarded and the bonus is over. Otherwise, the 20-point clue, some less obscure fact, is read. If the team guesses correctly then, they receive 20 points and the bonus is over. The 10-point clue is usually fairly obvious, but if the team misses it, it's a bagel.

Occasionally, a 30-20-10-5 Bonus includes a fourth, very obvious clue. In TRASH, the 30-20-10-5-1 (or 40-30-20-10-5-1 psychic bonus) is sometimes used. The one-point clue includes the answer.

Example:

Name the actor from roles, 40-30-20-10-5-1.

40: Himself.
30: Lefty, in "Loose Shoes."
20: Ken Bowden, in "Wild Things"; Arthur Denton, in "Little Shop of Horrors."
10: John Winger, in "Stripes"; Carl Spackler, Assistant Groundskeeper, in "Caddyshack."
5: Dr. Peter Venkman, in "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters II."
1: Himself, in "Bill Murray Live From the Second City."

ANSWER: Bill MURRAY

That's a nasty sound (1998)

'Pull over.' Talk about the car stopping, pulling over inches from the curve, little visiblity, semis flying by, and Bill and Zim going the wrong way to get to a call box. As Bill later informed us, the catalytic converter blew out.

(see also 97042.75)

TRASH

Testing Recall About Strange Happenings, an organization that holds tournaments about pop-culture trivia. Subjects typically include music, movies, video games, science fiction, "floof" (loosely translated as "women stuff") and sports. The official organization holds TRASH Regionals and TRASHionals every year, but many other similar tournaments are organized around the country. Called "lowercase-trash" tournaments, these are often packet-submission events that can be used to qualify for TRASHionals.

TRASH is known for serving Krispy Kreme (External Link) doughnuts at official events where available, and for having outrageous prizes like the ECW Championship Belt. It is also not a place for the easily offended, as evidenced by the occasional question about pornography or genital piercing.

TRASH Business Manager James Dinan appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2001, but walked away empty-handed (External Link) after missing a $500 question about collar stays. In the "Return of the Zero-Dollar Winners" tournament generously scheduled by ABC, James earned a redeeming $64,000.

Virginia Open (1998)

n. Andrew Yaphe's annual(?) summer ACF tournament. The team of Bill Tressler, Shannon Sisk, Evan Beach, and Michael Roke played as "We Can't Do That on ACF Packets," the first time any of us had played ACF-format (and the last for some of us).

Also, the first tournament we attended at (or on the way to) which it/we did not:

  1. Rain
  2. Run out of gas
  3. Kill any automobiles
  4. Go many miles out of the way, or
  5. Win a SINGLE MATCH.
Welcome to Maryland
Mason-Dixon Line
(1997)

'Turn around' was one man's response when he saw this highway sign while travelling back to Pittsburgh from Penn State after NLIT 1997. After supper, the car containing McElroy, Roke, and Zimdars soon went off course, missing its westbound turn and continuing south. After two hours on 220 South, driver Bill Tressler remarked to McElroy (riding shotgun) that he should start looking for road signs so Bill would know when to turn. McElroy, known for calling Maryland "the deepest pit of hell", cracked "When we see a sign reading, 'Welcome to Ohio,' then we know we've gone too far!"

Whammy (1998)

n. Inspired by the red, furry, greedy denizen of Press Your Luck infamy, this term refers to a bonus where no points are scored (see bagel). Also used as a gimmick in Pitt's 2001 Ironhead Invitational, in which one half of a whammy could be earned by powering two consecutive questions. One full whammy could be used to steal another team's bonus and try for the points. This power was used only once, late in the tournament, in a blowout match. Pitt's whammies bore the name and likeness of Questions Unlimited head Chip Beall, who has been accused of stealing questions for use by his organization.

Well whose fault is that? (2003)

When debating whether to practice on the "Sex" packet or the "1980s" packet from the 1997 ABD, Erin Korber warned everyone that "this is College Bowl sex. It's going to be about porn, which isn't good for those of us that don't watch porn." Elliott Fleming's response: "Well whose fault is that?"

Who won the war? (1996-1998)

interj. Zimdars' perpetual retort to McElroy's cries of 'Damn Yankee!' referring to the American Civil War. McElroy traditionally responds by uttering "Yankee butchers..."

Yeah! (also, "That's awesome!") (1996-1998)

interj. Typical Zimdars response, usually uttered after some foul message has been issued.

Example: "Yeah, spontaneous human combustion! That's awesome!"

Other teams have lexicons:

©1999-2005 Carnegie Mellon College Bowl Organization. Carnegie Mellon. cbowl@andrew.