2006 NAQT HSNCT

[Golden Tiger 86]

You should know everything about Bud Wilkinson, Gomer Jones, Jim Mackenzie, and Chuck Fairbanks, Che.

If they're not nicknamed "The Tuna," I don't have to know anything about them.

Don't forget about coaches nicknamed "Bear," either, Che. Or coaches named "John Vaught," or "Ed BY-GOD Orgeron"

[Trevkeeper]

I agree that the power marking on the New Orleans tossup was way too generous.

[conker]

The power on August Wilson was also very generous. I was very surprised when I still had power after "Joe Turner's Come and Gone."

[thepowerofche]

If they're not nicknamed "The Tuna," I don't have to know anything about them.

Well, you mentioned earlier that you negged with West Coast Offense, so the fact that the question was about a defensive scheme only tells you that you need to either learn a little more about football or stop making silly negs on football questions. That kind of attitude doesn't support your "argument", chief. </asshat>

I also mentioned earlier that I'm not going to play quiz bowl again, barring what is tantamount to an act of God. (http://www.hsquizbowl.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2287) This means whatever I say about what I "have" to know is infallibly true. </troll>

At least Golden Tiger got it.

[chaska]

To hopefully put an end to this more or less frivolous discussion, I will point out that, having read the book, the novel spans exactly one waking day of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, "from reveille to lights out." Therefore, I would say that the proper and only acceptable answer is "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," Russian's lack of articles notwithstanding.

Are you saying that the meanings of "A" and "one" aren't the same?

"A" is a singular pronoun.

You couldn't ever say "A" followed by some form of the word "day" and have it be talking about multiple days.

I have seen it written both ways (there are over 11,000 references to "A Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich" listed on google)...I think it should be correct but luckily it didn't matter.

[Captain Sinico]

Hi,
Okay, so again, the rule is, if a book's been published in the US as something, that's an acceptable answer. Otherwise, no. Since this book has never been published as A Day..., that's not an acceptable answer. Peoples' opinions on the indefinite article, the Russian language, or how frequently people make the same mistake on the internet have nothing to do with it.

MaS

[quizbowllee]

Hi,
Okay, so again, the rule is, if a book's been published in the US as something, that's an acceptable answer. Otherwise, no. Since this book has never been published as A Day..., that's not an acceptable answer. Peoples' opinions on the indefinite article, the Russian language, or how frequently people make the same mistake on the internet have nothing to do with it.

MaS

Is this actually a rule on the books? I always accept any reasonable translation of a foreign-language title.

[FCqb]

Amazon only returned "One Day..." for a query. I did find an "On Day..." though. No "A day..."
I think for early and maybe even mid year tourney should let it slide. States and nationals should def. get strict and reject it i think. Didn't someone get burned last year at panasonic on a carson McCullers book? "A/The Member of/at the Wedding". Something like that, i understand it's not a translation, but same strictness.

[Howard]

I think for early and maybe even mid year tourney should let it slide. States and nationals should def. get strict and reject it i think.

I can see both sides of the argument on this one, but the date of the tournament should not be a determining factor in whether an answer is acceptable.

[samer]

Don't think that applies in this case -- the original title opens with (transliterating) "odin," which means "one." There might be a case if the word "life" was omitted (unless "dyen'" implies "day in the life" -- I don't know much Russian).

In an idiomatic sense, it might, but "dyen" normally just means "day."

BTW, the NAQT rule regarding titles does have its exceptions, especially when you get to old Latin titles. Similarly, the rules tend to be fairly lenient for musical works (e.g., the Paganini Rhapsody).