mighty fine trivia by James Callan

Tag: h.l. mencken

Quiz: I Am the Law!

A quiz about eponymous laws — those that are named after someone.

  1. Mike Godwin observed in 1990 that as a Usenet discussion grows longer, someone will eventually make an analogy that invokes one of two proper nouns. Name those words for a half point each.
  2. What critic gave his name to this law: a work “is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it.”
  3. What two variables have an inversely proportional relationship when you’re describing a fixed quantity of an ideal gas at a constant temperature, according to Boyle’s Law? Half point each.
  4. Hanlon’s Razor cautions that you should never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by what?
  5. According to Betteridge’s Law of Headlines, any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with what word?
  6. Clarke’s Third Law and Niven’s Law are complementary observations that what two phenomena are indistinguishable from each other?
  7. If you apply Dolbear’s law, you can figure out how warm it is by using the behavior of what insect?
  8. What American journalist, known as the Sage of Baltimore, is sometimes credited with the law “Those who can, do. Those who can’t do, teach”?
  9. Brooks’ Law observes that adding additional people to work on a late software project only makes it later. In an often quoted analogy, Brooks noted that nine women cannot do what specific project?
  10. According to Hofstadter’s Law, coined in the book Gödel Escher Bach, “it always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account” what?

ANSWERS

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Quiz: Seattle

1) On April 19, 1999, what iconic Seattle building was officially designated a city historic landmark?
2) Within Seattle city limits, Washington State Route 522 is known as what street?
3) What business was founded on the site where Waterfall Park is today?
4) In 2001, the downtown neighborhood between Belltown and Pioneer Square was given what new name?
5) Six companies headquartered in Seattle made the 2007 Fortune 500. Name four of them. Bonus point: name the one that’s new to the top 500 this year.
6) What Seattle native inspired H.L. Mencken to coin the word “ecdysiast”?
7) What album, first certified platinum in 1995, is the best-selling album released by Sub Pop?
8) Between 2002 and 2006, which Seattle street had the most traffic accidents involving jaywalkers?
9) In October 1970, the Seattle City Council made it a crime, punishable by a $100 fine, to climb what local natural landmark?
10) There are four Seattle strip clubs in which it’s legal to get a lap dance. What’s the only one offering male dancers?
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