Thursday, March 13, 2008

Q 8 Connect Abbott and Costello, Dustin Hoffman, and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Answer : "Who's on first". The famous play on words by Abbott and Costello where Who was the name of the first base, What was the name of the second base, etc has been translated into many languages and is still a standard joke, as well as the basis of works on epistemology. A disc recording of the Abbot and Costello routine was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956. The line was also successfully used by Dustin Hoffman who played the role of an autist in the film "Rain Man".

Background trivia: The routine was born out of turn of the century burlesque sketches, with references to Watt Street, etc

Additional trivia: The complete list :

* First Base: Who
* Second Base: What
* Third base: I Don't Know
* Left field: Why
* Center Field: Because
* Pitcher: Tomorrow
* Catcher: Today
* Shortstop: I Don't Give a Darn! (at other times the phrase was stated as "I Don't Care" or "I Don't Give a Damn")


References : The Wikipedia article on Who's on First.

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