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That would be my husband. He regularly spews factoids about everything under the planet, because he collects this stuff in his encyclopedic head. It doesn’t have to be something that interests him. It still sticks in his memory. Meanwhile, if I read it last year and didn’t save it in a file somewhere it’s gone. And if it’s something that doesn’t interest me (fashion or sports or physics or, oh, sports), it never even registers. So as Trivia Superman is merrily going about collecting brain fodder, what do I do? Reap the benefits.
There are many such benefits for an author who gets tired of researching EVERY LITTLE FREAKING THING. Sometimes I just ask Trivia Superman. At least half the time he knows the answer. Off the top of his head. Because he read it sometime in the late 80′s.
Then there’s the entertainment factor. We’ll be discussing garlic, and he’ll pop out with the fact that it was used to prevent gangrene during the world wars. I guess it’s geeky of me, but I find such factoids entertaining. And since I don’t know any of them, they’re always fresh and new.
It’s also quite entertaining to watch him beat every member of my family repeatedly at Trivial Pursuit. The members of my family are gregarious know-it-alls who loudly voice their knowledge. Trivia Superman is quiet and introverted, so he shocked them the first time he beat them soundly in every subject at Trivial Pursuit. I thought it was hilarious!
So who’s the Trivia Superman in your family? Do you find the tendency to spew miscellaneous facts annoying or fun? Does your family play Trivial Pursuit? What’s your favorite piece of trivia?
76 Comments on “Living with Trivia Superman”
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I would have said at one time that my sister and I shared the honor but now, my youngest son has taken our joint crown and placed it upon his shaggy head. However I, The Mama!, am the person who beat the socks off a loud-mouth Texan (no offense to Texas) and won a tri-colored gold braided bracelet. He was one of those, been everywhere, done everything, and smarter then everyone on the planet folks. So his future BIL asked me to take him down and I did.I also won a week long round trip all expense paid trip to Dallas for my friend and his fiance in that little contest. Hero music UP!!
No one will play with me anymore.
Still and always favorite piece of trivia; during the neolithic era in Skara Brae, Scotland they used sesame seeds on their bread. I don’t know why I love that tidbit but I do; maybe because it is so very random.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 4:37 am.
Go, eviqn!!! I say, beat the pants off the guy.
That IS cool!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:42 am.
You rule, E !! And I LOVE that little bit of trivia! Sesame seeds. Who knew??
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:38 am.
In my small family (there’s only my sister and I) I would be Trivia Superwoman. I only need to read something once, and I can recall it later on. I don’t always do it consciously, but it’s stored away in my brain and when I need it, it pops up!
Very handy, as I don’t have to do a lot of research when I’m writing.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 5:30 am.
Yes, I really wish I had that talent. I remember things, but they seem to be skewed.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:43 am.
I can sometimes freak people out with the random crap which lives inside my head. While I haven’t played Trivial Pursuit in a very long time I have played a game called Sexual Trivia and won quite a few times. My favorite piece of trivia is that The Exorcist was loosely based upon an exorcism done on a boy back in the 1940′s and The Exorcism of Emily Rose was based upon an exorcism done on a German woman named Annelise Michel. Oh and Linda Blair was so disturbed from her part in The Exorcist that she needed help. I’m sorry if it is a little dark for this blog but it is the way my head has gone with it being Friday the 13th.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 6:00 am.
Kelly, I didn’t even REALIZE it was Friday the 13th! Oh, crap.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:58 am.
Me me me, oh so obnoxious me!
My friends stopped playing Triv (we’re lazy) with me because of my love of tedium, uh, trivia.
Book group last night was about the Queen Elizabeth recent bio, I didn’t read it and still had lots of trivia to share. I got some cross eyed stares.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 6:45 am.
Laughing….me, too. It’s obnoxious how many weird things are stored up in my head. Most of them are not contemporary, however. So sports…? Nope.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 8:42 am.
LOL, Fresh!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:00 am.
I’ve only played Trivia Pursuit a couple of times. Why? Because I always won so no one wanted to play. Have you noticed that four of us responding are the winners and that we are the winners. Do you think there is a connection?
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 6:48 am.
I’m beginning to wonder about this–how is it that *I’m* bad with the trivia?
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:01 am.
I’m trivia superman in our family. No one will play Trivial Pursuit with me anymore.
My kids roll their eyes when I impart trivia wisdom, so I guess it’s annoying. Oops.
My trivia wisdom of the moment is post Civil War factoids. Hey, a cow cost $26 back then. Fascinating, yes?
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 7:34 am.
See, that’s the thing. I don’t know the trivia myself, but I love hearing it. I find it all fascinating.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:03 am.
I can totally sympathize with you – my husband absorbs odd facts, particularly about anything animal (including reptiles) or space (quantum theory) – but by far the worst is the reciting movie lines! And he expects me to actually know what movie they came from! But when it comes to trivial pursuit, I would have to say I can usually beat him since if it doesn’t interest him, he can’t remember doo-doo.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 7:35 am.
My husband does that, too–recites lines from movies or songs. And then I don’t know what they’re from, even if I saw the movie! I always recognize the song lyrics, though, if I know the song. For some reason, I remember song lyrics.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:19 am.
In my younger years it was me (and nobody would play against me at Trival Pursuit!) but one of my younger brothers has surpassed me. That man has a memory like a steel trap! If you’re talking sports trivia though, the honor goes to my nephew. He’s an engineer but we’ve always said he should have worked for ESPN. Amazing the sports stats and trivia that he remembers!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 8:05 am.
My husband isn’t good with sports, but one time when we played Trivial Pursuit with the family, they chose a sports question for him as the final thing, and he knew it. My brothers about fell over. It was just one of those random pieces of knowledge he acquires. *G*
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:59 am.
I can confidently say there are no Trivia superstars in our family. Usually, our conversations are spent trying to find the right word for the “thingy” du jour, trying to remember some obscure family event, person, or name, and repeating stories we’ve all heard a million times but forget until we start to hear it again, or forget we’ve told.
In reading that paragraph, I’d say we have some dolt superstars in my family, LOL
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 8:20 am.
Julia, I am sure that you all have your own special gifts that are unique to you all and that is a good thing.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 9:58 am.
That sounds like ME. Especially these days when the words escape me at odd moments. I hate menopause!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:00 pm.
My husband is Trivia Superman in our family. He remembers everything, and yes at times it can be annoying. Like when he will ask me a question and pretend like he doesn’t know the answer, just to see if I know it. If I get it right, I get ‘just checking. Making sure you know’, and if I get it wrong, then he loves to inform me of the right answer.
We usually play Trivial Pursuit in pairs (guys against girls), or we play a drinking version. A drink for every wrong answer and when someone gets a pie. There have been many arguments in our family about what answers we take. In my rules, it must be said exactly as it’s shown on the card or it’s wrong. I need to take any advantage I can get.
Favourite categories are history, sports and entertainment.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 8:21 am.
Ooh, I like the drinking version! We’ll have to try that one!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:01 pm.
My mother is the Trivia Queen in our family. We had a Trivia Bash for her 70th birthday.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 8:44 am.
I’ll be she loved it!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:01 pm.
My husband is our trivia Superman. His mind’s like a steel trap, but he’s also got photographic memory, so it’s hard to pull a fast one on him. In all my years in PR and at special events, he was like my walking Rolodex, which is good … but when he gets to chatting, occasionally you can see the eyes begin to glaze over on who he’s talking to. So a few years ago I started calling him Dr. Science when I could see the glaze begin to set in. It’s a bit of a joke now, but he knows that if I ever call him Dr. Science in a crowd, it’s time to wrap it up.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:01 am.
LOL, Becky! What would we do without our spouses? Hubby doesn’t tend to go on to the extent that people’s eyes glaze over, but only because he’s an introvert. I’ve NEVER seen him go on and on. He’s kind of quiet. Except with me.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:03 pm.
I’m actualy the Trivia Superwoman in my little family. My husband thinks it’s hilarious. I generally know most of the answers on trivial shows on TV and I can spount information on strange and wonderful things. He usually just calls me a nerd or a dork (with a fond smile) and laughs. Even I think it’s strange some of the stuff that bubbles up from the depths of my brain. We don’t play Trivial Pursuit but we watch trivia shows and I trounce him every time. My Mom has be beat though. She knows more trivia than anyone on the planet except Ken Jennings I think. She regualarly knows almost all the answers on Jeopardy (I can get 3/4 generally but she tops that). When my strange brain doesn’t know the answer I don’t look it up on the internet, I call Mom.
We are a strange and wonderful family when it comes to useless knowledge.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:17 am.
My brother calls ME a nerd, and I don’t know trivia! But I am something of nerd. I like math and computers.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:33 pm.
I’m the one who loves trivia in the family. Some favorites–
Who holds the patent for the invention of barbed wire? (Joseph Glidden, who sounds like he should have been painting instead.)
Who won the first Heisman Trophy? (Jay Berwanger of Chicago–Ask your husband; he’ll probably get it wrong.)
Name Disney’s seven dwarves. (Sure, everyone knows Doc, Grumpy and Dopey…but do they always remember poor Happy, Sneezy, Sleepy and Bashful?)
And if it’s Presidential trivia, guess Grover Cleveland; there’s so much weird stuff associated with his terms.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:46 am.
I will trust you on the Grover Cleveland, because I know NOTHING about him.
Hey, can you name the 8 reindeer in Twas the Night Before Christmas? Here’s a bit of trivia for you–what was Donner’s name originally?
Hee Hee.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:35 pm.
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner/Donder, Blitzen
Love that story. Memorized it and performed it as a kindergarten student many, many, many years ago.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 6:55 pm.
Number One Son is the King of Facts At His Fingertips.
One time, Only Girl got in a car accident (single car, tire blew, hit a guardrail, *shudder*) and she was at the side of the road and wondering if her insurance covered that. She calls Number One Son and asks (same coverage) and OFF THE TOP OF HIS HEAD he starts quoting page 42, paragraph 8, subparagraph q.
It was freaking awesome.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:48 am.
That IS freaking awesome! Hubby can’t do THAT, but he can quote a lot of stuff off the top of his head. I LOVE that!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:38 pm.
That would be me! The font of useless and trivial information. :O) When I first met my husband in graduate school we were part of a large group of geologists and speech audiologists. I was the only historian in the group. Trivial pursuit back then was the game of choice and they played for shots. If you did not know the answer or got it wrong your team would have to drink. I am not a drinker by nature so I was hesitant to play the game. I was chosen to be on my future husbands team. Needless to say we won and walked away very, very, sober.
I am still the vessel of odd, minutia material. What can I say, just have that type of brain. By the way – the human brain stops growing at 18 or so years but the nose and ears continue to grow throughout your lifetime. :O)
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:51 am.
Debbie, I had heard that years ago about the ears and nose….God help me–mine are big enough already! LOL
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:12 am.
I remember my grandpa’s ears–they were huge! It’s kind of depressing.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:39 pm.
LOL, I had to laugh when I read your post. It’s usually me. What is even more funny about that is because if I carry on a conversation with you on Saturday about something fairly important and I don’t write the info down or save it somehow in my trust phone, it’s ususally gone by Monday. On the other hand, if it is some random piece of nonsensical information, THAT is somehow retained.
Most people in the hub’s family always want to be on ‘my team’ and usually fight over me when we play games at family get togethers, and my daughter has taken after me. We cleaned up on the prizes (usually $1 scratch-off tickets at the in-laws) one year because we paired up and won every game we played (Scrabble, Scattergories, Bananagrams, Win/Lose/Draw, Hangman, etc.). They decided we could not be on the same team anymore–LOL.
I have two different friends–one I’ve known since 7th grade, and the other I’ve had for about 8 years now, and they are both trivia geeks like me. My friend Michelle and I have known each other for so long, we can usually finish sentences. I am almost certain that all the gameshows we have applied to play on have been scared we would take them for every cent they have–what I don’t know, she does; and vice versa. Jeopardy, Millionaire and Wheel of Fortune would be terrified. We both wish they still played $10K Pyramid.
My other friend, Ginny, is a HUGE history buff. In fact it was her minor in college. We both love England/Ireland/Scotland/Wales info, and love hearing about the castles, stone circles, King Arthur stuff, etc. She is another one that would be a great partner in any of those game shows. We want to find the Cash Cab–LOL!
I love the Scene-It games, Trivial Pursuit, etc. I just love playing games like that where you have to think quickly on your feet. I’m glad my daughter got that as well–we have a lot of fun with it.
Enjoy your Trivia Superman!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:10 am.
And I’m the opposite. I don’t remember facts, but I tend to remember conversations (I also don’t remember appointments, so it’s not a matter of what’s important and what’s not, sadly enough).
I’m good at Scrabble, though. Does that count?
Hey, I want to find the Cash-Cab, too, but only if Hubby is with me!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:41 pm.
My youngest is fond of saying I’m a font of useless information, so I guess that makes me the guilty one in our family. What can I say? I like the details and knowing the ‘why’ of things. One of my favorite trivia discoveries has to do with manure, ships blowing up courtesty of methane gas, and the origin of a common curse word. It’s veracity is questionable, but it makes a good story. I’ll save you the particulars, but the punch line is: Ship High In Transport.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:19 am.
Ha ha ha!
Yeah, I’d doubt its veracity, too, since that curse word has been around for centuries and comes from old English. *G* But if it interest you, here’s some cool info about its origins: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=shit&searchmode=none
See, I can pass on the knowledge once in a while. *G*
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:45 pm.
Not such a fountain of trivia anymore… but when Trivial Pursuit first came out, I was pretty up on stuff… Still do pretty good with Jeopardy on tv…
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:34 am.
And I suck at Jeopardy. My mind just doesn’t work that way. I don’t know why not.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:45 pm.
I am the Trivia Queen in our family. My brothers refuse to play with me. However, my niece and nephew always want me on their team when we play at large family events. I tend to remember almost everything I read. Sometimes it may take me a minute or two to retrieve from the beat up file cabinets of my brain, but it is in there. Comes in handy when I am researching for my writing. Even if I can’t remember the exact information I can remember where I saw it and look it up.
Television and movie trivia, music trivia, history, literature, you name it. My nephew thought it was beyond cool I could remember the ingredients in mixed drinks in spite of the fact I’ve never had a drop of alcohol in my life.
Favorite bits of trivia :
Snakes cannot hear. They have no organs related to hearing at all.
Also male snakes have spurs which enable them to lock onto the female when mating. Ouch!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 11:49 am.
Did you know that giraffe’s have the same amount of neck
bones than a human. :O)
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:23 pm.
I didn’t know that about snakes not hearing.
And as for the spur thing, cats do that, too, which is why they yowl in mating. Eek!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:47 pm.
My DH is the trivia expert in our family. He must remember everything he reads. He is full of interesting but useless facts.
We once played Trivial Pursuit with friends and he hijacked the whole game. The only area where he was weak was art (I did those) and popular culture. In the latter he is ignorant. But if you need to know the name of the second highest mountain in the world, just ask him.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:10 pm.
Hubby isn’t great at popular culture if it’s in the last ten or so years. Neither am I. If I didn’t have young friends and watch Saturday Night Live occasionally, I would have no idea who Lady GaGa and Gotye are.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:48 pm.
Trivia Superman is my brother. I know a lot of things myself, but the facts I know are more… normal facts… you know, subject related. I know maths, science, literature. My brother is the one with all “Did you know that…?” All his “Did you know that..?” inspired me to a book idea once, which will be dedicated to him, of course! Also, that’s such a great inspiration for an annoying little brother may I ever write one!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:32 pm.
Oh, yeah, that would make a great character! Little brothers are wonderful inspiration (says the woman who based Gabe on her little brother).
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:49 pm.
I used to be a Trivial Pursuit maven when I was younger. Now I’m pretty much brain dead except when it comes to sports. Of course, even then it depends on the question. hahaha
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:41 pm.
I was NEVER a maven, and the brain dead thing has started setting in. Sigh.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:50 pm.
Just yesterday, a clerk at a gift shop told me that the phrase “rose-colored glasses” started because of chickens. Evidently, chickens attack when they see blood, so farmers gave them tiny rose-colored glasses so that they wouldn’t see blood and wouldn’t attack. I couldn’t believe that was true, so I came home and Googled “chicken glasses” and was surprised to find many sources saying the same thing! Who knew?
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:45 pm.
I actually saw an episode of Storage Wars (or one of those other shows about people buying storage units) where the guy was selling those chicken glasses to a farmer. It was really funny to see them on the chickens!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:51 pm.
Oh, I need to find some chicken glasses to give to family members at Christmas.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 2:47 pm.
Wow. That’s actually rather fascinating! Thanks for sharing
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 1:27 am.
LOL, Sabrina. I think I’m the trivia superman in my family, but I’m only placeholding until the 10-year-old nephew grows up. He has all the makings. Trust me. *g*
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 12:47 pm.
Hey, one always needs a successor. I think in my family it’s going to be MY nephew. He’s such a geek. And I mean that in a good way.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:52 pm.
We have 4 different version of Trivial Pursuit. We haven’t played in awhile, but when we do play, we play for um, favors. The loser has to do whatever the winner wants. When we’re with friends, we’re never allowed to be on the same team. But if it comes down to knowing completely random information, I get that title. All that information sticks when I read it.
If you ever get sprayed by a skunk, use hydrogen peroxide to get rid of the smell. Unlike tomato juice which just covers up the smell, hydrogen peroxide gets rid of it. Fortunately, I’ve never had the opportunity to use it.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:00 pm.
Ooh, good thing to know! I’ll tell Hubby. He’ll remember. *G*
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 1:52 pm.
I’m the Trivia Pursuit Winner in this family as well as the useless knowledge Queen.
Once, my husband and I were playing his brother and his brother’s gf. Our team won, much to the shock of b-i-l and GF. Turns out they’d tried memorizing all the answers before inviting us over to play.
BWAHAHAHA! Cheaters never WIN!
But my Achilles’s heel is sports. Always get tripped up with those.
Great blog, Sabrina!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 2:44 pm.
Actually, if they could do that, I’d be impressed. There’s a lot of questions in that game!
Yeah, I lose in the sports section, too.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 3:19 pm.
The last year I taught school I spent two or three final sessions with one high school class beating the heck out of them in Trivial Pursuit. It was rather petty of me, but my overloaded, burned-out system was in need of some sort of victory.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 2:45 pm.
Hee hee hee. That’s always fun, to win a victory when you’re burned out.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 3:20 pm.
Actually, at the end of the year, I make my students play a game on the computer. It is on a site called freerice.com
Since I teach art history I make them take the art category. They have a great deal of fun doing this. it is filled with Trivial Pursuit information.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 2:51 pm.
What a creative teaching method! You must be a fun teacher to have.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 3:21 pm.
I’m the queen of useless information, but when it comes to games my brain freezes up. My favorite tv show to watch is jeopardy.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 3:33 pm.
That’s why I could never be on any of those game shows. I don’t think fast on my feet!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 4:39 pm.
Your hubby reminds me of Shelton on the Big Bang Theory. Love that show.
I am really good on the entertainment portion on trivia pursuit. I tell my friend my brain is filled with useless information.
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 5:08 pm.
We both love that show! Fortunately, he’s not THAT geeky. Strangely enough, he’s not good with computers at all (or physics *G*). He just knows lots of strange facts!
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 6:33 pm.
I LOVE The Big Bang Theory! Great show
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 1:25 am.
I’m the trivia nerd in our family. I’ve gained a LOT of information from reading Romance novels, so much, in fact, that when my mother and I watch Jeopardy together, I answer most of the questions and my mother will turn to me and say, “How do you know this stuff??!!!”
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 1:04 am.
In my family, the trivia superman (or super WOman) is my mother-in-law. She has never been beaten at Trivial Pursuit. My husband takes after her, but his topics are slightly varied from hers. He knows about cars, electronics, physics, video games, automotive upholstery, and odd facts about cigars… he’s also a whiz when it comes to building things and fixing things. He’s an electrician, so he knows all about that as well. But when it comes to social media or famous persons, he isn’t as ‘up-to-date’ as others…
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 1:24 am.
My friends think I’m good at trivia until they meet my Dad and oldest brother. They are the trivia masters, the random stuff they know is incredible. My younger brother always says he doesn’t need wikipedia he just asks my Dad and I have to agree with him. On occasion over the years I’ve asked my Dad to explain something and to my surprise he didn’t know or wasn’t 100% sure so we’d have to get the dictionary out although now he just googles it. My younger brother can quote whole scenes from movies and tv shows not just lines. I think we have a leaning towards geekiness in our bloodline.
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 7:55 am.
I can’t tell you nice it is to read that someone else suffers from uncontrolled memory collection… and spew…
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 8:49 am.
LOL!
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 3:37 pm.