Names for quizbowl
People just can't decide what to call quizbowl.
Etymology
College Bowl referred to its activity as "quiz bowl" since the beginning of the program. During the show's original NBC radio run, the event was frequently referred to as "The College Quiz Bowl". This was probably in imitation of college football bowl games and accordingly College Bowl events would often feature large audiences and campus fanfare. It is important to note that while this wiki refer to any buzzer based quiz competition as quizbowl, some similar competitions are not referred to as quizbowl, even on a informal context.
Usage
"quizbowl" vs. "quiz bowl"
Usage of quizbowl as a compound word, as opposed to "quiz bowl", in two words, seems to be a rather recent phenomenon. Although both word forms are in contemporary usage, "quizbowl" is more generally accepted by mainstream quizbowl. Most media outlets still refer to "quiz bowl". NAQT's official style uses "quiz bowl". There is also occasional usage of a hyphenated term, rendered as "quiz-bowl".
"The Quiz Bowl"
Referring to quizbowl as a countable noun with a definite article (e.g. "I played in the quiz[ ]bowl", is now somewhat archaic, although use of an adjective with a definite article ("I played in the quiz[ ]bowl tournament") is common. This construction also dates back to GE College Bowl.
Scholar's Bowl
KSHSAA (Kansas), MSHSAA (Missouri), and the Vermont NEA each sponsor an activity officially known as Scholar Bowl, Scholars Bowl, Scholar's Bowl, or Scholars' Bowl. That name is also popular in southern Illinois and southwest Florida.
Scholastic Bowl
The Illinois High School Association sponsors an activity officially called Scholastic Bowl. Most teams in Illinois with a connection to the national circuit refer to the activity as quiz[ ]bowl, although the principal quizbowl organization in Illinois—the Illinois High School Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association—does not officially do so. Some teams are formally known as "[School] Academic Team", "[School] Quiz Team", or other variations.
The VHSL in Virginia also uses Scholastic Bowl.
Knowledge Bowl
Knowledge Bowl almost exclusively refers to a specific game played with Academic Hallmarks questions. NAQT had at one time apparently paid for a Google search query for "knowledge bowl" as yielding its website as the first result. This term is common in Colorado and Washington state, and it is used for a large tournament in Minnesota and another one in Tennessee. Several international competitions running on AH questions are known as Knowledge Bowl.
Brain Bowl
Some formats and competitions using the Brain Bowl name including:
Academic Competition
The MSHSAA-sponsored activity was originally called "Academic Competition", a term that remains in the name of the Missouri Academic Competition Message Board. Schools rarely referred to their teams by this term, which prompted the name change to "Scholar Bowl" before the 2010-2011 season [1]. High schools in Missouri tend to use "quiz bowl", "scholar bowl", or "academic team".
Although the full name of ACF is "Academic Competition Federation", the organization officially recognizes the activity as "quizbowl".