How To Win At 'Rock Paper Scissors'! | QI 

Lmao the Saudi Shoplifter joke was savage

Back in the stone age, before paper and scissors were invented, the game ended in a lot of draws.

"That's an engineering question I'm not prepared to answer" is now in my dictionary. I'm an engineer.

"That's an engineering question I'm not prepared to answer" was such a brilliant and funny response.

When people complain Jo Brand only talks about her weight and her husband, I'll direct them to this video and one of the grimmest fucking jokes I've ever heard.

I have never ever heard an American use the word "fargling." Maybe it's an old name for the game; we just call it Rock Paper Scissors like normal people. This is, hands down, my favorite episode of QI ever. Three of my favorite guests, interesting topics, and Phill flirted with Stephen like there was no tomorrow.

'Fargling' is apparently any game that can be used to settle a dispute, not just rock paper scissors.

That 'Saudi Shoplifter' comment was pretty underrated imo

The people who have played RPS championships have actually said that the secret is to be a split second slower so that you can start to see what they're going to throw before you throw. So Dara is completely right

Watching from the US and wondering if an intern make up the word "fargling" on a dare to see if Stephen would actually say it??

I saw a t-shirt with a picture of Churchill doing the victory v and Hitler doing his salute. It read 'Scissors cut paper'.

This was one of the all-time best episodes of qi

" ... paper doesn't really beat stone, does it?" Ah, yes... that existential crisis we all have around age 6, when we realize that everything in life we trust is all a bunch of lies.

If Ant can beat Elephant just imagine what size creature Dec could defeat.

In my 27 years of being alive, I've never once played elephant, human and ant!

Love the little snippets at the end.

The older clips are so much more casual, more conversational. Different energy, I just noticed. Made me want to have a bowl of soup and maybe a nap.

Thanks for bringing the volume to a reasonable level xD

In Malaysia, theres a different version of the game. It consists of water (which has the same gesture as the paper in RPS), rock (which has the same gesture as the rock in RPS), and bird (the gesture is by making so that all of the fingers on one hand meet at a point). It goes like this: rock beats bird, bird beats water, and water beats rock. There is another game in Malaysia that is quite similar. This other game can involve multiple people, but can't be played with only one or two people. There is also only two gestures. Either your palm face up, or face down. The winner is the odd one out. There isn't always an odd one out, so it's usually played several times until there is an odd one out.

OMG Jo Brand - that Saudi joke was class!!

60 Year old American here. Rock,Paper,Scissors is what i've always called it. I've NEVER heard the term 'Fargling' but it could be a regional thing.

Phil Jupitus is a treasure

Yet another 4 minute clip in which Jo makes me belly-laugh on three separate occasions.

Jo Brand was on fire in this one!

This video is Gold

This is my favorite-ever episode of QI.

Jo likes to pretend shes a ditz but then comes out with the line "that's an engineering question Im not prepared to answer"

Best episode from the F series lol.

Ant ''beats'' Elephant by running UP inside the trunk and stinging it. That is how it was explained to me in Cambodia.

TwoSet need to see this - Eddy you need to boost your chances!

How about Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock?

THANKING YOU

There was a game show in the US that arguably had the best version of RPS/PSS with Fire, Wood, and Water (fire burns wood, woods drinks water, water douses fire). I don't remember which show it was but I think it was another "on (an) island(s)" kind of game show.

As children my sister and I invented a version of Rock Paper Scissors, : rabbit, tree, well. The rabbit falls in the well, the tree falls on the rabbit, the well gives water for the tree to grow. So really the poor rabbit never wins…

I'm in my late mid 60's and have never heard of Farging. Put played a lot of rock, paper, scissors.

Jo Brand is my spirit animal.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary of American English has no entities starting with farg. Urban Dictionary has a few for fargle but this sense does not appear until the second page of results.

I'm always happy to listen to Jo when she's not just having her usual bash at her ex or men.

I’m from America and I’ve never referred to that game as Farguling.

There is a Cantonese saying蟻多摟死象, literally meaning multiple ants can swamp and kill an elephant, used to describe a situation where numerous weak individuals can overcome a powerful opponent. I wonder if it's related to the idea in the Indonesian version.

"Please tell me Human beats Ant!" 😂

Well beating is kinda the weong word for it. So it's whoever has the least damage I belive. So obviously sissors cut paper so the paper losses because it gets damaged. Sissors get blunted by the stone while the stone gets maby a chip but rather unlikely so sissors loose. And paper wraps around stone but it's incredebly hard to throw a paper at a stone and see any damage apon is so the stone losses. And the stone is also blocked by the paper from view so it's like a chunk of rock is missing or something.

It would make more sense if it was Elephant, Man, Bee. Since elephants are actually nervous of bees 😊

"You should always throw scissors first!" says the person who always throws Rock first.

Stephen: "It's an American word..." Me, an American: "It is?"

This episode was the best of Phil Jupitius.

Having opted for stone every time for a whole week, Abu Hamzer's cellmate grew really tired of him pleading: "Oh please, let's have another game, I think I am getting the hang of it now".

I have never heard an American call it Fargling.

I'm American and I have never heard the game called "farggaling" (or how ever you spell it), ever...ever.

I am Indian and had never heard of Elephant, man, ant before. For the rest of the day, I will be trying to look up which part of the country that is used.

saudi shoplifter .Oh man that's brilliant

I remember reading somewhere that if you insult your opponent, they are more likely to choose scissors.

QI research should have found out, if ant gets inside elephant trunk,it has ability to cause havoc!

back in the day, I guess we were bored or more imaginative? we added Waterfall, Sun and Black magic! each had different wins/looses to the standard Rock/Paper/Scissors, but added their own attributes. for example Waterfall was blocked by Rock, would rust Scissors, would soak through Paper, but was dried up by Sun I really can't remember all the extra rules 3 more items added, we were kids doing kid things lolz

I don't usually rate Jo Brand but she was good on this show.

Of course, if we all played rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock, the chances of a draw are a lot less.

We definitely use stone paper scissors in India. Have seen tiger, hunter, lady too

Shows about this one is, Jo Brand was still making an effort

Scissors cut paper. Paper covers rock. Rock crushes lizard. Lizard poisons Spock. Spock smashes scissors. Scissors decapitates lizard. Lizard eats paper. Paper disproves Spock. Spark vaporizes rock. Rock crushes scissors.

0:15 That's when Stephen should have got up and jumped up and down and waved his fingers and ran around the set

As an American I have never once heard the word fargling.

Used to play a drama version, or playground version, witches, dwarfs and giants Dwarfs catch giants, giants catch witches, and witches catch Dwarfs. Played in teams and a lot of running.

44 Years Old and I Have Never Heard an American use That word before!

Elephants avoid ants. A awarm of army ants will crawl up the inside of an elephant's trunk to attack it.

Don't know if I'm the first to say this, but elephants do have awful trouble with insects crawling up the inside of their trunks

Its true, Ants go in Elephants ears and trunk and bite them

I always choose Spock. To obscure?

In my childhood in Malaysia we played Rock Bird Water(pond). Bird Drinks Water sinks Rock kills Bird.

Mouse would beat elephant. Mythbusters proved they are actually afraid of them, and both were shocked at the truth of this

where does lizard and spock land?

Ant beats elephant by crawling up the elephant's trunk and biting it. elephants use their trunks alot, and they can use to to pick grass or a tree(ants are on grass and trees), and an ant can get into the trunk and cause a lot of damage.

Ant defeats elephant by going into its trunk and biting it.

I was taught the game with dynamite and water, as well as stone, paper and scissors. Dynamite beats rock and scissors. Water beats dynamite and scissors (unless they are stainless steel).

So what *is* fargling?

I’ve noticed that people always do scissors because it’s the last one they say and so my most successful opener has always been rock

I don't think I've ever played rock paper scissors

I always called it Scissors Paper Rock

But what about rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock? Scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitates lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and as it always has, rock crushes scissors.

Where I'm from we play rock, scissor and bag.

Currently the best way to win at Rock-Paper-Scissors consistently is to copy what your opponent did on the last round.

If you're playing against a man or male ... they will likely do rock so go scissors first. I've tried it against just a few people and that's worked every time. By no means an actual test, but as I said, worked for me!

Rochambeau is often used to settle arguments in our house

I've never seen or heard of anyone playing elephant, human, ant in India.

Everyone know the correct 1st move is to use lava. It beats everything…

_No one_ in America calls rock-paper-scissors "fargulling."

I think someone made up the word "fargling" just to mess with the QI elves.

Well, in India, an ant beats elephant by getting into its ear!

Thank goodness, no more obnoxious sandi at the end.

I'm an American and have never heard it called fargling

It would be reasonable to play "Elephant, Human, Bee" because elephants don't like bees and can be prevented from crop raiding by using fences with bee-hives attached.

I have lived in Indonesia for 10 years and I have never heard of elephant-ant-human. Rock, paper, scissors is what is used over here. QI, you are wrong.

Rookies Rock, Pros Paper, Savants Scissor

The ant can defeat the elephant by going into the trunk and biting the inner sensitive flesh

Phil looks less like Phil and more like if Ed Miliband had a child with a Mafia strongman.

rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock

But Spock still beats lizard !!

You forgot Spock and lizard... Rock. Paper, scissors, lizard, Spock!

anyone for a game of Stump, Stump, Stump?

"Oh, fuck off."

To our confused British and international friends: I promise you, "fargling" hasn't been said in America since the Civil War. Literally nobody will know what you're talking about. We'd recognize rock-paper-scissors, rochambeau, or paper-rock-scissors. I can't even find it on a reliable dictionary. The only spike in Ngrams is when this QI episode aired.