Monday, November 26, 2007

Quote Challenge

Ernie and I sometimes play a game. The game goes like this:

(1) WLOG, I go first. I say a quote from literature/musicals/some source that we both know.
(2) Ernie must either correctly cite the quote, or provide the next line.
(3) If the quote is exceptionally difficult or obscure, a small hint may be given (e.g., a lengthening of the quote, or saying it in a particular accent).
(4) Repeat (1)-(3) with roles reversed.

The game continues until someone is stumped. That person loses.

This game is best played in person. At a distance, there is always the possibility that one's opponent cheats (e.g., by Googling the phrase), rendering the purpose of the game null. The idea is to determine which player has the better memory, not which player can use a search engine.

For example, "Not for use as pants." is an excellent quote, and one that I am sure Ernie has recently read. Unfortunately, it is also well-documented online.

I like this game despite its susceptibility to cheaters, and would like to play it online (specifically, on this blog). It requires "secure" quotes, i.e., quotes that do not readily yield to Google searches.

I offer you these (separate) quotes:

"Walruses are a scourge upon mankind!"

"Vick's NyQuil - green, because there's a Vulcan in every bottle."

These quotes are not widely known or popular (though they should be!), but I would only rate them as "middle" on the difficulty scale. I am sure that people I know, and people you know, have come across these quotes recently. You just have to ask.

If you can correctly cite either of these quotes, then you may submit the next quote challenge.

2 comments:

Ernie said...

Obviously, the zeroth quote comes from the tag of the shirt.woot shirts. However, I am unsure about the latter two. Further thought is being dedicated.

Lila is a complex system. said...

Hint: They were both linked from Boing Boing in the past week.