ODU Professor's new book: 'Sorry, wrong answer'

VIRGINIA BEACH

Don't call Rod Evans a nerd. He lives and breathes words, but Evans isn't socially inept or awkward, or he couldn't be a well-respected professor at Old Dominion University.

Nor is he a geek. Though geeks are known for their intelligence, they tend to be obsessed about a particular subject. Evans can be obsessed about many.

Evans admits to being "scripturient," though, which is one who has a violent desire to write. That could explain the recent release of his 16th book.

Called "Sorry, Wrong Answer," it's a compilation of factoids and stories that could put know-it-alls to shame. It contains quizzes on topics such as sports, astronomy, origins and literature, with answers that clear up common misconceptions.

The book, and several of his earlier works, allows Evans to play with his love of trivia and the quirky.

"I like the idea that you could call 911 and say you have a ucalegon," he said. (That would be a neighbor whose house is on fire.)

Evans spent about six months on his latest book, collecting misleading trivia and commonly held assumptions.

For example: In what country did French horns originate? Germany.

Or: During the 1980 Winter Olympics, America's hockey team received a gold medal after defeating what team? That would be the Finns, not the Soviets. (The Miracle on Ice was an earlier round.)

After whom was the dish eggs benedict named? According to Evans, not Benedict Arnold, the infamous traitor of the Revolutionary War. It was named after Samuel Benedict, a socialite, who, when suffering from a hangover in 1894, ordered bacon and poached eggs on toast with hollandaise sauce. Instead, he received the eggs with ham and an English muffin, which became the rage.

Evans has written books on a variety of topics, including the misuse of the Bible and drug legalization. But he loves delving into language and how people use and abuse it.

"I like to questions things; I like drawing distinctions," said Evans, who teaches philosophy at the Virginia Beach Higher Education Center. "That's why I was driven to philosophy."

Evans has had a love affair with words for years. He began studying dictionaries during his junior high days in the 1960s and still collects them, all types, and has more than 100.

He's tried unsuccessfully to get on the TV shows "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"

"I think that not only would I do well," he said, "but I think I would be entertaining."

But until a network calls, he still has teaching, and he's working on his 17th release, with the working title "Name That Thingamajig: A Dictionary of Unfamiliar Terms for Familiar Things."

It could include words such as "phloem bundles," those strings in bananas, and "ait," a small island, particularly one in a river.

He wants readers to learn something while enjoying his books.

"I think you can entertain people and educate them at the same time."

Denise Watson Batts, (757)446-2504, denise.batts@pilotonline.com