full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jon Ronson: Strange answers to the psychopath test

Unscramble the Blue Letters


So I gave it a try. I wrote to the Enron people. I said, "Could I come and interview you in prison, to find out it you're psychopaths?"

(Laughter)

And they didn't reply.

(lgetuahr)

So I changed tack. I emailed "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap, the aesst siepptrr from the 1990s. He would come into fiinalg businesses and close down 30 percent of the workforce, just turn American towns into ghost towns. And I emailed him and I said, "I believe you may have a very special brain anomaly that makes you ... special, and interested in the pdoarrtey spirit, and fearless. Can I come and interview you about your special brain almanoy?" And he said, "Come on over!"

Open Cloze


So I gave it a try. I wrote to the Enron people. I said, "Could I come and interview you in prison, to find out it you're psychopaths?"

(Laughter)

And they didn't reply.

(________)

So I changed tack. I emailed "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap, the _____ ________ from the 1990s. He would come into _______ businesses and close down 30 percent of the workforce, just turn American towns into ghost towns. And I emailed him and I said, "I believe you may have a very special brain anomaly that makes you ... special, and interested in the _________ spirit, and fearless. Can I come and interview you about your special brain _______?" And he said, "Come on over!"

Solution


  1. anomaly
  2. laughter
  3. failing
  4. predatory
  5. stripper
  6. asset

Original Text


So I gave it a try. I wrote to the Enron people. I said, "Could I come and interview you in prison, to find out it you're psychopaths?"

(Laughter)

And they didn't reply.

(Laughter)

So I changed tack. I emailed "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap, the asset stripper from the 1990s. He would come into failing businesses and close down 30 percent of the workforce, just turn American towns into ghost towns. And I emailed him and I said, "I believe you may have a very special brain anomaly that makes you ... special, and interested in the predatory spirit, and fearless. Can I come and interview you about your special brain anomaly?" And he said, "Come on over!"

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
mental disorders 3
mental disorder 3
faked madness 3
special brain 3
generalized anxiety 2
good idea 2
fake madness 2
yawn uncontrollably 2
pinstripe suit 2
cushy hospital 2
sexual pleasure 2
crashing cars 2
training bumblebees 2
classic psychopath 2
grandiose sense 2
psychopath spotter 2
brain anomaly 2
al dunlap 2
maddest edges 2
gray areas 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
special brain anomaly 2

Important Words


  1. american
  2. anomaly
  3. asset
  4. brain
  5. businesses
  6. changed
  7. close
  8. dunlap
  9. emailed
  10. enron
  11. failing
  12. fearless
  13. find
  14. gave
  15. ghost
  16. interested
  17. interview
  18. laughter
  19. people
  20. percent
  21. predatory
  22. prison
  23. psychopaths
  24. reply
  25. special
  26. spirit
  27. stripper
  28. tack
  29. towns
  30. turn
  31. workforce
  32. wrote