# Anyone else read Trivial Pursuit cards for fun? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 6, 2001, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831 "2001-11-06T18:51:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@Thunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thunder)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/21 "2001-11-07T20:17:20Z")
Oh no no no… It’s the “Moops”! ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/22 "2001-11-07T23:33:44Z")
I did that when I went through and put all the cards in numerical order which took forever. I was pretty good at the game for years afterwards. Remembered many of the answers. ---
**Author:** ![Kbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kbean)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/23 "2001-11-07T23:33:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tiburon \* > \*\* > Anyone else do this? I’m not even trying to get on a game show! Useless information = GOOD. > \*\* Hell yes, I thought I was the only one. In fact, our school has this Spirit week thing where the classes compete in games such as tug of war and stuff. I, being the weird person I am, play in the Trivial Persuit tournament every year. And every year, because I have a tendency to read all the questions, I play for our class with my closest friend (who is also a Trivial Persuit card-reader). And every year, we win. Rock on. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/24 "2001-11-07T23:46:45Z")
That’s not all. I sometimes read Balderdash questions, too. If you think Trivial Pursuit is the way to go for useless, obscure trivia, you’ve never played Balderdash. It’s apparently unusual for a group of 6 people to get two questions right among them in the course of an entire game. The closest thing to a common-knowledge question I’ve seen in the game was “Define pahoehoe.” It’s always been the Sports and Entertainment categories that gave me fits. Science/Nature is my strong suit. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/25 "2001-11-08T00:39:29Z")
How do you think Billy Joel wrote _We Didn’t Start the Fire_? Flipping through the answers on a baby boomer edition set of cards. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/26 "2001-11-08T02:11:28Z")
Yes, I do it. Or did, since I don’t have any Trivial Pursuit cards around me. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/27 "2001-11-08T04:37:05Z")
Yeah I do. Since I have a good memory, I can remember the answers for the next time we play the game. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/28 "2001-11-08T05:47:42Z")
I just got the Genus 5 myself. I won’t do the random cards thing until I’ve gone through the whole set of cards, since I (for the first time in years) have actually been playing with the board and pie pieces lately with some fellow teachers after school. Traditionally for me, it’s just grab a stack of cards and maybe keep score on a paper (total number right) if you feel like it. A couple of random thoughts on Trivial Pursuit and high school kids (I notice this since I teach them) : 1. Invariably, at least one in every crowd will say, “So, that’s the _Genius_ edition, huh?” Genius. Hee hee. 2. Playing Trivial Pursuit against teens is the most ego-boosting activity I know of. It’s not that they’re not intelligent (because they are); it’s just that they haven’t been around for very long, and therefore my getting answers about Farrah Fawcett or All in the Family seems impressive to them. I used to do “Everybody in homeroom vs. Me” if it was a convenient time, and it was never even close. I feel like Adam Sandler’s character in “Billy Madison”: “I am the smartest man in the world!” 3. The temptation is always to reply to their “How do you know that?” with a “How do you NOT?” However, I usually manage to keep that comment to myself, as it might come off as a wee bit smarmy. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/29 "2001-11-08T08:02:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tiburon \* > **SilentRob, > I hadn’t thought of that…hmm…maybe I should go earn some bucks over my lunch hour! > \ > And…care to make it interesting?** There you go, then; definitely some easy money. But the way to go about it is you start off by “not knowing” a couple of $5 bets. Then you ask for a chance to win your money back…and up the bets to $20. 😉 Hehehe…well, I gave you the idea, so I think I’ll stay away from your “interesting” games, thank you very much. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/30 "2001-11-08T08:15:40Z")
ctually ntn used to have a pretty good trivial pursuit game until hasbro bought the company and licensed the game on Sony’s online game site Its exactly the board game and moves pieces around But ya can play ntn on the web and AOL(kW: ntn) but if ya play on aol be warned most people use cheating programs and if ya see someone win 12 times in a row at 2 am there probably not even there the web site used to be [http://www.ntn.com](http://www.ntn.com) Actually I have a deck of economic trivia cards from the 80s its not an official trivial pursuit add on but ya can switch cards and it works the same I used to watch jeopardy until I thought they were dumbing down the questions and millionaire was annoying and I beat weakest link first night it was on so i now mainly watch Ben steins money although its not as funny since jimmy kimmel left ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/31 "2001-11-08T17:30:06Z")
Is “NTN” the network of trivia games that many bars have, and you get your own little keyboard? I used to love that! For a while around here it was really popular (at least at the place my friends and I used to go) and there would be some great competitions. Then it just sort of died out. You can still play it at a couple of places, but there’s hardly ever anyone else playing. The fun was always seeing if your trivia-playing abilities changed after a couple of beers. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/32 "2001-11-08T19:56:31Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Balance \* > \*\* The closest thing to a common-knowledge question I’ve seen in the game was “Define pahoehoe.”_\* It’s a Hawaiian term for lava, no? Like “aa.” I’ve read encyclopedias, but it’s not like I wake up and think “I’m going to read the encyclopedia.” Usually, I’m searching for something, and get distracted by another entry. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/33 "2001-11-08T20:06:21Z")
**MY PEOPLE!** When I was a kid, I used to do it. No one would play the game with me because they thought I was memorizing the cards. To this day, they swear up and down that I memorized them. Now they call me at 3am to ask me what the name of the chemical is in turkey that makes you tired. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/34 "2001-11-08T20:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by easy e \* > It’s a Hawaiian term for lava, no? Like “aa.” Yes, pahoehoe refers to a smooth or rope-like lava flow, while aa is a blockish, chunky flow. As a said, that’s relatively common knowledge for Balderdash. The real fun in that game is trying to get people to believe your phony answers. Example: Define “alactaga”. Phony answer: a subspecies of milkweed found only in New England; derived from the Algonquin language Actual definition: A rodent closely related to the jerboa, found across Asia. (I seem to recall that the game card definition also included something about its peculiar toe structure.) **Superdude** , just record “tryptophan” as your answering machine greeting and turn off the ringer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/35 "2001-11-09T11:23:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by easy e \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by Balance \* > > \*\* The closest thing to a common-knowledge question I’ve seen in the game was “Define pahoehoe.”_\* > > It’s a Hawaiian term for lava, no? Like “aa.”\*\* Yes. When I was a teenager in Joliet, Illinois, the borders and paths in most people’s yards were composed of volcanic rock. We knew it was called “aa” because that’s the sound you make when you walk on it barefoot. ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/36 "2001-11-09T15:31:55Z")
Ah, Trivial Pursuit. The game my dad _never_ wants to play, but then insists on shouting out the answers from the other room. _grrr_ My _Beyond Balderdash_ playing abilities have been helped by this site once. The expanded version includes dates, and 1978 allowed me to ride the Jimmy Carter vs. the swamp bunny story to certain victory… (“I think I remember reading about that,” one of the other players remarked. Heh heh.) ---
**Author:** ![aramis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@aramis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aramis)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/37 "2001-11-09T17:17:03Z")
Am I the only one that thinks this would be cheating? If I did this, I’d never be able to honorably play the game again. IMHO, it isn’t trivia unless you come by it naturally in the course of learning something else. Guess I’m just an old stick-in-the-mud. ---
**Author:** ![Tiburon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e36b37/32.png) [@Tiburon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiburon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831/38 "2001-11-09T19:30:20Z")
I suppose if I played the game after having just read the cards, that’d be cheating. But, I tried to make clear in my OP that I really don’t care about playing the game - I just like learning the stuff. To add to it, I really just don’t recall a lot of the answers and with both of those boxes, well, it just ain’t happening for this kid. Tibs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-read-trivial-pursuit-cards-for-fun/91831.md?page=1)