Good Job, Brain! – Episode 276: "Title This" (Oct 29, 2024)

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode of Good Job, Brain! dives into the world of titles—from the full, forgotten versions of famous book and movie titles to how works and characters are named differently across cultures, languages, and even canine competitions. The episode features host Karen alongside Colin and Chris as they challenge each other (and listeners) with quizzes about title trivia, share fun insights about names and naming conventions, and uncover the strange world of alternative titles between countries (especially the UK and US). Play along and flex your own trivia muscles!

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Eggcorn Watch: Malapropisms and Language Mix-Ups

• Chris shares eggcorns—malapropisms where misheard phrases make a surprising kind of sense.
  • E.g. “Bi-curiously” instead of “vicariously” [04:34] (“Like half your story and half my story, I’m living, I, curiously, through you.”)
  • “Clip notes” instead of “CliffsNotes”: “Give me the clip, the highlight clips.” [05:14]
  • “Jack of all traits” instead of “Jack of all trades” [05:56]
• The team finds joy in how language morphs:
  • “Don’t put that in your resume, everybody.” – Karen [06:37]

2. Pop Quiz, Hotshot: Classic General Trivia Warm-Up

Starts at [06:43]

• Typical lightning round of pub quiz questions from a Trivial Pursuit card:
  • Geography: Which NYC borough isn’t an island? “The Bronx.” (Colin) [07:24]
  • Pop Culture: Which magician named daughter Moxie CrimeFighter? “Penn Jillette.” (Chris) [07:37]
  • US History: Who chooses president if electoral vote is tied? “House of Representatives.” (Colin) [08:02]
  • Art: Bird-identifying artist who inspired air corps? “Roger Tory Peterson.” [09:09]
  • Water Sport: SUP means? “Stand Up Paddle Boarding.” (Colin) [09:51]

3. Titles in Creative Work: Choosing the Perfect Name

Chris shares about his latest project

• Chris’ game company had to select a meaningful title for their new interactive documentary: Tetris Forever.
  • The title was inspired organically during documentary interviews.
  • “Everybody knows what Tetris is, and it is going to outlive all of us.” – Chris [12:22]
  • This launches the episode theme: Why titles matter and the ways titles evolve.

4. Quiz: Long Forgotten Book & Movie Titles

Colin hosts “Just Give Me the Long Version” at [14:03]

• Premise: Guess the famous work given its full, lesser-known title (with the common portion blanked out).
• Sample Questions & Answers:
  • “_____ or The Whale” – Moby Dick (Chris) [17:00]
  • “_____ or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” – Dr. Strangelove (Karen) [17:26]
  • “_____ His Grooms and Companions, The Autobiography of a Horse” – Black Beauty (Chris) [18:01]
  • “Eating, Praying, Loving” book’s full subtitle – Eat, Pray, Love (Karen) [18:31]
  • “_____ or The Modern Prometheus” – Frankenstein (Karen) [22:53]
  • “Travels into several remote nations of the world…by [blank]” – Gulliver’s Travels (Chris) [23:47]
  • “_____ a Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream” – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Karen) [24:05]
• Notable observation: “There was definitely a period mid-1800s where there was a lot of ‘or’ subtitling.” – Colin [20:33]

5. International Pixar Titles Quiz

Karen’s lightning round, “cool titles of Pixar movies in other countries” [24:19]

• Players match the translated-back title to the original Pixar film.
  • “Maze’s Bright Secret” (Korean) – Turning Red (Chris) [25:19]
  • “Legend of the Highlands” (German) – Brave (Colin) [25:29]
  • “Robot Actioneer” (Chinese) – WALL-E (Colin) [25:41]
  • “Brain Elves” (Polish) – Inside Out (Chris) [25:53]
  • “1001 Feet” (French) – A Bug’s Life (Chris) [26:08]
  • “In the Wake of Senile” (Hungarian) – Finding Dory (Chris) [26:43]
  • “Viva, Life is a Party” (Brazil) – Coco (Chris) [26:56]
  • “Half of the Magic” (Chinese) – Onward (Karen) [27:41]
  • “Magical Life” (Vietnamese) – Soul
  • “Four Wheels” (French) – Cars (Chris) [28:43]
  • “Grandpa Carl’s Flying House” (Japanese) – Up (Chris) [28:55]
• On the difference in titling:
  • “Pixar is known to have one-word titles…cool to see how other regions build the universe.” – Karen [29:11]
  • “Japanese retitlings…are a lot more literal.” – Chris [29:20]

6. Titles in the Animal Kingdom: Dog Show Naming Conventions

Inspired by listener Tina; starts [32:06]

• AKC registered dog names must be unique, sometimes long, and can include kennel names and personal in-jokes.
  • Listener’s dog “Trivia” registered as “[kennel name] Without Further Ado” in honor of GJB. [34:30]
  • “That without further ado wasn’t taken? That’s incredible!” – Colin [34:35]
  • The team feels honored, seeing their catchphrase immortalized.

7. Quiz: Trans-Atlantic Movie Title Changes

Chris hosts “UK/US Title Discrepancy Quiz” [35:21]

• Premise: Given titles used in both countries, guess the movie or why the name was changed.
• Key Matches:
  • “In Bed with Madonna” (UK) – Truth or Dare (US) [37:45]
  • “Die Hard 4.0” (UK) – Live Free or Die Hard (US) [38:28]
  • “Salazar’s Revenge” (UK) – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (US) [39:27]
  • “Belleville Rendezvous” (UK) – The Triplets of Belleville (US) [40:53]
  • “Zootropolis” (UK) – Zootopia (US) (Trademark reasons) [41:15]
  • “Avengers Assemble” (UK) – The Avengers (US) (To avoid confusion with 1960s UK spy show) [42:00]
  • “Dennis” (UK) – Dennis the Menace (US) (UK has its own “Dennis the Menace”) [43:23]
  • “Harold and Kumar Get the Munchies” (UK) – …Go to White Castle (US) (No White Castle in UK) [44:13]
  • “Howard: A New Breed of Hero” (UK) – Howard the Duck (US) [45:15]
  • Honorable mention: “Bonnie and Clyde…Were Killers” (UK) for clarity [46:08]
• “They changed the title because…they didn’t know who Bonnie and Clyde were. They had to finish the sentence.” – Chris [46:08]

8. The Daenerys Targaryen Title Challenge

Karen’s “Son of a Gun” segues into a brainstorm of Dany’s long titles [47:42]

• Collective recall of the whopping, evolving Daenerys titles:
  • “Mother of Dragons,” “Breaker of Chains,” “The Unburnt,” “Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men,” “Queen of Meereen,” “Protector of the Realm,” “Lady Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms.”
  • Chris: “She catches more Pokémon, she gets more titles.” [47:56]

9. Quiz: Patronyms (Son Of…Names)

Karen’s “Son of a Gun” quiz, [49:20]

• Explains how last names like “Johnson” or “Fitzgerald” originated as “son of X.”
• Notable patronymic trivia:
  • “Smith” = blacksmith; “Cooper” = barrel maker (and “Fassbender” in German is similar)
  • “Kohler” (Chris): “Means sinks.” “No, it’s coal/charcoal.” [50:44]
• Questions and answers:
  • Actress in various animal-titled films: Scarlett Johansson – (‘Johansson’ = son of Johan) [52:01]
  • Charlton Heston epic: Ben-Hur (‘Ben’ = son of Her) [52:36]
  • Yankees slugger: Alex Rodriguez (‘Rodriguez’ = son of Rodrigo) [53:18]
  • Fitzgerald (“The Great Gatsby” author): F. Scott Fitzgerald (‘Fitz’ = son of Gerald) [54:30]
  • First Black US Secretary of State: Colin Powell (‘Powell’ from Welsh “ap Howell”) [55:03]
  • Fast-food clown: Ronald McDonald – (‘Mc/Mac’ = son of Donald) [56:02]
    • Side fact: Ronald once had a pet dog named Sundae, played by Verne Troyer [56:41]

10. Modern Sports Oddity: One Man, Two Teams

• Brief note on Danny Jansen, the baseball player who played for both sides (due to a suspended, resumed game and mid-season trade) [57:09]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You can see all the time people using the wrong words, but when they use the wrong word but it feels really good, you know, sometimes even better.” – Chris on eggcorns [03:43]
• “I’m living, I, curiously, through you.” – Chris’s favorite eggcorn [04:34]
• “Vicariously… Vicarious… vicariously… vicarious… It’s messing you up.” – Karen and Chris riff [05:08]
• “Everybody knows what Tetris is and it is going to outlive all of us.” – Chris [12:22]
• “That without further ado wasn’t taken? That’s incredible!” – Colin on the AKC dog name [34:35]
• “Bonnie and Clyde… Were Killers.” – Chris, laughing at UK title [46:08]
• “Breaker of Chains. The Unburnt. Mother of Dragons.” – Lightning round on Daenerys titles [48:28]
• “Smith” = blacksmith… “Kohler – Means sinks. No, it’s coal/charcoal.” [50:40]
• “Ronald McDonald—Mac meaning son of Donald.” – Karen [56:02]
• “Baseball teams have really exhaustively planned travel schedule, they can't be like, 'we'll just do it tomorrow.'” – Karen on Jansen’s two-team oddity [57:53]

Episode Structure & Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Description | Timestamp | |---------|-------------|-----------| | Eggcorn Watch | Silly linguistic mix-ups | 03:02 – 06:43 | | Pop Quiz, Hotshot | Trivia warm-up | 06:43 – 10:23 | | Tetris Forever & Titles | Chris’ game launches title theme | 10:32 – 13:02 | | Long Version Quiz | Obscure, full book/movie/play titles | 14:03 – 24:19 | | Pixar International Titles | Pixar re-titlings around the world | 24:19 – 29:32 | | Dog Show Naming | AKC names and listener puppy “Trivia” | 32:06 – 35:17 | | UK/US Movie Title Swap | Why the US and UK rename movies | 35:21 – 46:47 | | Daenerys’s Titles | Name-building in Game of Thrones | 47:41 – 49:20 | | Patronym Quiz | “Son of” surnames across cultures | 49:20 – 56:50 | | MLB Oddity | Player plays for both teams in one game | 57:09 – 58:52 |

Closing Thoughts

The episode offers a playful but informative look at the power, hilarity, and history of titles, whether they’re epic, forgotten, whimsical, or simply lost in translation. From book covers to movie posters—and even dog show paperwork—Good Job, Brain! makes a convincing case that what you call something, and why, is serious trivia business.

For More

Listen to the full episode at GoodJobBrain.com or your favorite podcast app. Join the Lobe Trotters Facebook group for more trivia fun.