Breaking Literal Barriers Trivia Game | Television

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Dr. Sheldon Cooper, a genius in the field of theoretical physics, is an incredibly amusing character from 'The Big Bang Theory'. Many of the show's jokes rely on Sheldon's inability to understand sarcasm, but what is Sheldon's academic specialty?

Answer: String theory

When Sheldon's sister, Missy, came to stay she asked him if there was anything she wished to tell their mother. Sheldon mentioned that she may like to know that he had switched to studying heterotic string theory from bosonic string theory. His sister, who their mother had previously called "dumb as soup", clearly didn't understand.

Sheldon would most likely be horrified even at the suggestion that his specialty was astrology. He once ranted to his neighbour Penny (who introduced herself as a Sagittarius) that "...it tells us that you participate in the mass cultural delusion that the sun's apparent position relative to arbitrarily defined constellations at the time of your birth somehow affects your personality". One of the many lines uttered by Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons, that has had me roaring with laughter.

I remember watching the opening scene of the pilot episode for 'The Big Bang Theory' for the first time and remember grinning to myself as the first conversation was about Young's double slit experiment. I knew right then that I would love this programme!

2. Dr. Sheldon Cooper's roommate, a fellow physicist, is hopeless when it comes to understanding women. What is the name of Sheldon's roommate who helps develop Sheldon's life skills, such as the ability to understand sarcasm?

Answer: Leonard Hofstadter

Sheldon's roommate, Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, is obsessed with their neighbour, Penny who was originally from Omaha, Nebraska. When the character of Penny was first met, she was an aspiring actress who had to work in a cheesecake factory to pay the bills until she fulfilled her dream.

Leonard was Sheldon's social encyclopedia, his guide to social conventions and linguistic subtleties. Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali were both friends of Leonard and Sheldon whilst Eric Gablehouser was in charge of the physics department at Caltech.

3. In 'The Big Bran Hypothesis', an episode in the first series of 'The Big Bang Theory', Sheldon says how wonderfully he slept after cleaning his neighbour's apartment in the middle of the night. His friend, who begrudgingly helped Sheldon responds,"I'm not surprised. A well known folk cure for insomnia is to break into your neighbour's apartment and clean". How did Sheldon respond?

Answer: "Sarcasm?"

This is a classic example of how Sheldon Cooper, a physicist at Caltech, struggles to understand sarcasm. In this example he makes it known that he is unsure and proceeds to ask his friend and fellow physicist, Leonard Hofstadter, whether he was being serious.

In other examples, Sheldon completely disregards the fact that the person he is speaking to is being sarcastic and treats the statement literally.

4. In 'The Big Bran Hypothesis', an episode from 'The Big Bang Theory', Sheldon Cooper sneaks into his neighbour's room to clean. When Sheldon says that it should improve Penny's standard of living, his friend jokes, "...maybe tonight we should sneak in and shampoo her carpet!" Does Sheldon take this suggestion seriously?

Answer: Yes

Sheldon replies, "You don't think that crosses a line?". His friend Leonard winces at this point and even though you feel his frustration, one can't help but to find this awkward literal barrier amusing! Leonard eventually has enough and snaps, "...do I have to hold up a sarcasm sign every time I open my mouth?" Unbelievably, Sheldon exclaims, "You have a sarcasm sign?" For me, this was one of the funniest dialogues of the first series of 'The Big Bang Theory'.

5. In an hysterical episode of 'The Big Bang Theory' called 'The Big Bran Hypothesis', Sheldon Cooper is mortified by the mess in his neighbour's room. When Penny, his neighbour, finds out that Sheldon used a spare key to get in to her room while she was sleeping to clean, she becomes very angry. Penny bursts into Sheldon's room the next morning and they argue. When Penny moves to leave Sheldon asks a question. Complete the following quote: "Is you objection solely to our presence in your apartment, or do you also object to..."

Answer: "...the imposition of a new organisational paradigm?"

Poor Sheldon! This exchange with Penny illustrates how great Leonard's task is to break the literal barriers that inhibit Sheldon's understanding of social mannerisms and the nuances of language.

He entered Penny's room by using a spare key that was given to his friend, Leonard, so that they could sign for a piece of furniture whilst she wasn't home. Upon stepping into the room, Sheldon exclaims "...great Caesar's ghost, look at this place!" His friend replies, "So, Penny's a little messy". Obviously unsatisfied with that answer, Sheldon retorts, "A little messy! The Mandelbrot set of complex numbers is a little messy. This is chaos!" Sheldon later describes the room as a "...swirling vortex of entropy".

6. In the 'Big Bang Theory', Sheldon's neighbour, Penny, wakes up to find that someone had entered her apartment and cleaned. Upset, she storms into Sheldon's apartment and after a lengthy discussion where Penny mentions how creepy it is to have two men running around her room whilst she is sleeping, Sheldon just had to add his pearl of wisdom. He mentions how she was snoring and that she should see an otolaryngologist. Penny then asks what type of doctor removes shoes from a certain part of the anatomy. How does Sheldon respond?

Answer: "Depending on the depth, either a proctologist or a general surgeon"

Sheldon's friend, Leonard, proceeds to hold up a sign he had just created saying 'sarcasm'. Once Penny storms out of Sheldon's apartment in disgust and disbelief, Leonard tells Sheldon that "...you are going to march yourself over there [Penny's apartment] right now and apologise!" Sheldon giggles (and I have to admit that his laugh makes me laugh until it hurts) because he thinks Leonard is being sarcastic! Again, Sheldon is wrong and crashes into yet another literal barrier. Eventually, he understands that Leonard is being serious and he goes to apologise musing "...boy, you [Leonard] are all over the place this morning!"

7. In the first series of 'The Big Bang Theory', during an episode called 'The Luminous Fish Effect', Penny tries to make Sheldon feel better about his current circumstance. Why does Penny say, "...when one door closes, another one opens"?

Answer: Sheldon had been sacked

Sheldon was sacked for insulting his new boss, a man that Sheldon believed was far inferior to him in the field of physics. After Sheldon was sacked, Penny tried to make him feel better about the situation saying, "...when one door closes, another one opens".

Sheldon, unable to understand the nuances of language replied, "No it doesn't. Not unless the two doors were connected by relays or there are motion sensors involved".

8. In an episode of 'The Big Bang Theory' called 'The Middle Earth Paradigm', Leonard, a physicist who is attracted to his neighbour Penny, gets into a confrontation with Penny's tall ex-boyfriend, Kurt. Leonard says, "...I am going to assert my dominance [over Kurt] face to face". Sheldon responds by saying, "Face to face? Are you going to wait for him to sit down or are you going to stand on the coffee table?" Sheldon says this in a Halloween party while dressed as what?

Answer: The Doppler Effect

In this case, Sheldon doesn't realise that Leonard doesn't mean what he said in a literal sense. Leonard is so used to Sheldon's amusing misinterpretation of popular cultural expressions that he doesn't even respond!

The Doppler effect is, as described by Sheldon, the "...apparent change in the frequency of a wave caused by relative motion between the source of the wave and the observer"!

9. In 'The Big Bang Theory', Penny needed to test out her drink mixing abilities and thought she would ask Sheldon, Leonard, Rajesh and Howard if they could help out. Which of the following animals fits the following dialogue from this particular scene? Penny: "Hey guys I need some _____!" Sheldon: "OK, there's a lab animal supply company in Reseda you could try".

Answer: Guinea Pigs

Of course, Penny meant that she needed to try something out on the guys, not that she actually wanted guinea pigs! The literal barrier between Penny and Sheldon is so obstructive that they may as well be speaking in different languages! After Sheldon tells Penny that she can find guinea pigs in Reseda, Los Angeles, Penny replies, "I swear to God Sheldon, one day I'm gonna' get the hang of talking to you". Don't hold your breath Penny!

The reason that Penny needed the guys to order and taste cocktails is that she had landed herself a new job at a cocktail bar.

10. One of the central characters of 'The Big Bang Theory', Dr. Sheldon Cooper, was seen throughout the first series of the show to be unable to detect when someone was being sarcastic. He also struggled to understand another type of linguistic device. Which of the following completes the quote? Sheldon: "Good morning" Penny: "Do you have any idea what time it is?" Sheldon: "Of course I do, my watch is linked to the atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado. It is accurate to one tenth of a second. But, as I am saying this it occurs to me once again that..."

Answer: "...that question may have been rhetorical"

Sheldon had knocked on Penny's door, in the same style as he always does, early in the morning so that he could tell her about how his roommate, Leonard, had lied to her. Sheldon had been unhappy about Leonard's lie all night and so decided to take it upon himself to correct the situation. He manages to expose Leonard's lie, but, in order to keep his roommate out of trouble, he had to make up lies of his own!

It would seem from this exchange that as well as being unable to understand sarcasm, Sheldon finds it difficult to detect rhetorical questions! Quite a lot of literal barriers in Sheldon's life, wouldn't you agree?

Source: Author jonnowales

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Breaking Literal Barriers Trivia Quiz

'The Big Bang Theory' is, for me, one of the best comedies to come out of America for a long while. This quiz is about the character Dr. Sheldon Cooper and his amusing attempts to understand sarcasm. Enjoy!

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>