Bad Negs

Once upon a time, someone gave an answer that was really stupid given the clues, or really funny given what the eventual answer turned out to be, and someone else thought it was funny enough to document it. And thus the tradition of Bad Negs began.

Bad Negs is a somewhat quirky attempt at quizbowl humor, which makes us all feel better about those really stupid buzzes we made.

The Wrong Answer of the Year category of the Player's Choice Awards is a modern revival of the concept.

Proposed Criteria

Greg Peterson has attempted to codify six proposed criteria for a bad neg:

1. Wrong type of answer (person, place, thing)
2. One of a group, you name something not in the group
3. Confusing two similar-sounding but very different answers
4. Just plain wrong (especially applicable when pop culture is involved)
5. Given answer in question
6. Correct answer is gettable by average 6-year-old

However, everyone else ignores these criteria.