Schoenberg, Barbara, as phone book reader, 269
Schoenberg, Doug, AJ quizzed on As by, 106
Schoenberg, Eric:
beaten with Boggle, 183
character of, 33–34
defeat not an option for, 141–42
EB disputed by, 106
“erythrocyte” not known by, 355–56
intellectual competition from, 34–37
after Millionaire fiasco, 359
as Millionaire lifeline (as know-it-all’s know-it-all), 331–32
in mixed doubles, 213–15
Nabokov comeback flung at, 213–14
Schoenberg, Larry, 292
“street smarts” advocated by, 168
Schoenberg family, 54
cute and sweet kids in, 106–7, 194
visit of, 168
Scrabble, 276
in braille, 361
luck a factor in, 183
screwups, famous, 48–49
semicolon, bizarre parentage of, 274
September 11 attack, historical context of, 324
1726, Louis XV’s 276 hunting days in, 134
sexual activity:
in fertility office, 169–70
purposeful, 152–54
in the Zeus variations, 366
Shakespeare, William, coaching uplifted by, 131
Shanghai Knights (movie), factoid accompaniment of, 240–41
Shaw, George Bernard, 306, 366
Shortz, Will, as puzzlers’ coolest, 137
Siberian explosions, unexplained, 333
siblings, lessons on sharing for, 33
silver lining, see positive side
sitcoms:
Brady Bunch, later doings of, 224
guest stars on, 109
64, Hawthorne’s inexplicable attraction to, 129, 204
sleep, Kamchatka vs. Tajal view of, 308–9
snoring, in ethical case study, 227–28
Some Truths of History: A Vindication of the South against the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Other Maligners (Oglesby), 347
speech making, rhetorical devices in, 181–82
sports:
fact checking EB article on, 340
how to sound knowledgeable about, 157–58
IQ and tennis, 213
nicknames in, 174
records in, 315–16
sportshirts, Lacoste’s disputed reptilian on, 174–75
Starlight Express (Lloyd Webber), 186, 212
Star Spangled Banner, The, melody of, 316–17
Star Trek, Mensans intrigued by, 149–50
stereotypes, of snails, 309
Sternberg, Robert J.:
on crystallized intelligence, 326–27
on IQ tests, 326
on Operation Britannica, 325–26, 327–28
stinginess scale:
AJ’s position in, 124
or Henry Hudson, who does not do well in, 150
stories, inspiring, 131–32, 213
success:
of homo sapiens, 361
on Jeopardy, 193
know-it-all, 141–42
in overcoming hurdles, 131–32
suicide:
literary, 263–64
writers drawn to, 263–64
syphilis:
in lucky conquistador, 49
recurring theme of, 43, 49
tachycardia, as Valentine’s Day sentiment, 105
Taiping Rebellion, rational worldview challenged by, 322–23
taxonomy, world ordered by, 121–22
tears, onion-caused, 239–40
Teddy bear, TR linked with, 360
tennis:
how to talk about, 158
Magnus effect in, 214
nice shot by Master of the Natural Laws of, 214
parabola of the lob and Coriolis effect as concern in, 214–15
Piss-Poor Backhand effect as determinant in, 215
terrorism, worrying about, 154
35, author’s age at this writing, 253
thirty years, life span in 1700s as, 184
thoughts, great, specific vs. general, 56
ticks, patience of, 242
time:
aging and acceleration of, 253
in ancient civilizations, 328
of earth’s rotation, 136
expansion of, 68–69
less as better, 115–16
light speed and, 204
skipping of, 73–74
years, how they feel, 364
TiVo, past posting with, 162–63
toilet, flush, who to thank for, 265–66
Tolstoy, Leo, 328–29
Trebek, Alex, 192, 193, 271
knowledge showdown expected with, 99–103
trends, quantitative minimum for, 54
trivia:
AJ quizzed on, 267
about Bird in Space (Brancusi), 231
English-language, 177–79
in Millionaire greenroom, 353
Oscar, 162
in Schott’s Original Miscellany, 207–9
tennis, 213–14
trivia contest, Mensan, 150–52
Trivial Pursuit, 34–35
twins:
Balinese, 142
Siamese, 32–33
Vietnamese (fudged), 142
two:
number of letters in French crossword-favored towns, 136
swallowing in pairs of, 129
Tyler, John, 360
universe, end of, 49–50
Van Buren, Martin, Peggy Eaton befriended by, 344–45
ventriloquism, Eskimo-Zulu link in, 348
Vieira, Meredith, 353–55
Vietnam ploy, twin marriage in, 142
Vilna Gaon (Elijah ben Solomon), 290
Wall Ball, non-Oedipal aspects of, 98
Wall Street, “Witch of,” 124
war, warfare:
absurdist, 311–12
retroactive declaration of, 311
warm water, sex change caused by, 242
Washington, George, not actually first president, 126
weeping, canned, 46, 92
weights and measures, 200–202
Wendy’s, philosophy read daily at, 244, 245
Western thought, fetishes in, 55–56
West Indies, California mistaken for, 128
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, 193, 350–56
AJ chosen for, 305
outcome of, 354–56
preparing for, 319–21, 331–32, 345
trying out for, 193, 253–58, 280
Wicked Bible, adultery advocated in, 119
Willy (Beryl’s husband), 73, 225, 285
wine, where to send, 118
wisdom:
in AJ’s “sentences,” 368–69
Bob’s sentence as, 91–92, 368
to come with Ws, 96
of Ecclesiastes, 70–71
facts vs., 96–97
intelligence and, 326
intelligence vs., 369
for Jasper Jacobs, 361
in Judaism, 288, 289–90
necessity for, 67
from Operation Britannica, 361
Tolstoyan, 328–29
winning victory for humanity as, 194, 284
Woodhull, Victoria, 362
word games, 138–39
Boggle, 183–84
at Mensa convention, 149
scoring system of, 182–83
Scrabble, 183, 276, 361
words:
last, 180–81
longest, 178–79
Scrabble-bound, 276
words and phrases, origins of, 275
“bedlam,” 23
“Buffalo, N.Y.,” 224
“cappuccino,” 31
“chauvinism,” 222, 223
“dog days of summer,” 151
“essay,” 210
“going berserk,” 25
“Grateful Dead,” 120
&
nbsp; “Greenland,” 125
group insults in, 277
“Houdini,” 294
“mad as a hatter,” 236
“mesmerize,” 363–64
“Oscar,” 216
“Quaker,” 276–77
You could also hunt around
World Series game (1977), 156–57
worldview:
of EB, as rational, 322–23
focusing on right things needed for, 20
of Vilna Gaon, 290
see also wisdom
World War II, 358
Londoner diet in, 366
writers, suicide of, 263–64
writing, in boustrophedon style, 87
writing class, AJ’s advice to, 334–35
Yale, notable nonfinishers of, 38
Yellow Lightning, recipe for, 73
Zabar’s, dating daughter of, 286
Zs, additional, 367
“Zywiec” (The End), 104, 367–69
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Copyright © 2004 by A.J. Jacobs
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