Quizbowlese

The pejorative term "quizbowlese" is used to refer to formulaic phrases or words that recur much more often in quizbowl question writing than anywhere else. Overuse of quizbowlese makes quizbowl questions harder to read, and makes it more difficult for new players to understand what their moderator is asking them.

Examples of quizbowlese, by category

Ranked from least to most odious using a "how likely is this to drive people away from quizbowl" standard:

Inside baseball

Definition: Constructions that are valid English but that many non-quizbowl-veterans are unlikely to know the meaning of

Examples:

• use of "[multiply]-eponymous"

Stupid lingo

Definition: Words that are used correctly, but introduce imprecision or dullness to questions for no reason

Examples:

• overuse of the word "work" to describe books, paintings, symphonies, treatises, etc.
  
• in a similar vein, using "polity," "entity," "figure," etc. as the only noun describing the answer
  
• connecting unrelated sentences with "In addition to <title>, ..." or "Besides..."
  
• linking unrelated clauses mid-sentence with "and" or "while"
  
• constructions designed to avoid "transparency" that go so far as to become useless, e.g. "this region's main form of conveyance is the longest of its kind"
• use of "would (verb)" or "would later go on to (verb)" instead of the simple past tense
• overuse of "following" where "after" is both easier to understand and faster to read

Stylistic failure

Definition: Technically valid but subpar usage that creates confusion about what is being described

Examples:

• overuse of the verb "sees", e.g. "This novel sees one character host lavish parties in West Egg."
• using the standalone adjective "this" or "these" as a noun
  
• use of "namesake" in ways that are ambiguous as to which item is or was named after another
• compulsive verbal tics that add confusion or superfluous words to phrases ("main protagonist" instead of "protagonist", "centers around" instead of "centers on", "in the novel in which he appears" instead of "the novel" or nothing)
• arrangement of information into relative clauses that offer no advantage over straightforward sentences ("At a battle, this man defended Little Round Top; that battle was Gettysburg" as opposed to "This man defended Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg")

Remedial English failure

Definition: Outright incorrect word usage or sentence arrangement

Examples:

• overusing the adjective "titular" in place of the adjective "title"
  
• use of "protagonist" to mean "character" (also explains the rise of the inane construction "the main protagonist")
• giveaways that are neither a question nor a statement ("For 10 points, name this first President of the United States" is acceptable; "For 10 points, this first President of the United States." is not)
• use of "For 10 points" as a conjunction, e.g. "An opponent of the Levellers at the Putney Debates, for 10 points, name this Roundhead general who became Lord Protector of England."
• apposition of freestanding proper nouns at the end of sentences, rather than finding a natural word order whereby the noun is at the end of the sentence (example pulled by Rob Carson out of EFT 2009: "One visitor to this polity’s capital described how its women are oversexed and age about twice as quickly as Chinese women, Zhou Daguan." as opposed to "One visitor to this polity's capital, who described how its women are oversexed and age about twice as quickly as Chinese women, was Zhou Daguan" or similar fixes)
• referring to any written work as a "novel" regardless of length or fictional status
• referring to any married person as a "wife" regardless of gender
• referring to movements of musical works as "sections"
• referring to sections of movements of musical works as "movements"
• confusion about what "nations," "states," and "countries" are, and as above, misuse of "polity"
• use of "one" as an indefinite article instead of "a" or "an"
• use of "was ruled unconstitutional by [Supreme Court case]" as a shorthand for "was in some way I can't be bothered to look up involved in [Supreme Court case]"

Navelgazing

Definition: Attempting to say "I don't know what this has to do with my question, but it's appeared in a lot of questions on this topic before so you should buzz on it" without actually saying that

Example:

• saying that the answer to the question is "associated with" some other thing to mean "often appears in questions on
• saying that a political leader or government "dealt with" some other thing to mean "was historically prominent as the same time as" or "often appears in questions on"

How to avoid quizbowlese

Tips for avoiding quizbowlese in your questions:

• Use correct, clear, formal written English at all times. Do not emulate previous quizbowl questions in your stylistic choices, even if you are using them to get a sense of basic question structure. If the only reason you are using a particular word or style is because you saw it in a prior question, and you cannot figure out what external principle of English grammar demands it, then do not use it.
• Never insert words or phrases that do not helpfully and clearly point to the answer as economically as possible. It's easy to avoid many forms of quizbowlese, particularly the "would go on to win" instead of "won" and "was responsible for writing" instead of "wrote" types of error, if you ruthlessly eliminate needless words.
• Check all of your questions against the list on this page before submitting. Use the find tool in Word to check for "figure," "polity," "nation," "one," etc. Develop good habits by pre-editing your own questions and comparing them to every element of this page.
• Adjust your conception of quizbowl questions. Most habitual quizbowlese writers view sentences as an inconvenience that needs to be overcome in order to throw word-association clues at the player. Understand that every word in the question needs to have meaning and the writer is not supposed to cater to novice-level memorization techniques. Rewrite your questions so that the ideal "super-knowledgeable person who has never played quizbowl before" is able to answer them without being confused.
• Remind yourself that even if you consider writing questions that make sense to be a waste of time, developing good writing skills that do not make you sound like an illiterate will be a valuable asset in your academic and professional career.