イグノーベル賞 文学部門 受賞者一覧
イグノーベル賞の文学部門では、2025年「35年間にわたる爪の成長記録」、2023年「同じ語を何度も何度も繰り返したときに感じる違和感の研究」、2022年「法律文書が不必要に難解になる原因の分析」などを扱っています。
受賞研究
35年間にわたる爪の成長記録
自分の爪が伸びる速さを長期に記録し続けた、執念型の観察研究。
The late Dr. William B. Bean, for persistently recording and analyzing the rate of growth of one of his fingernails over a period of 35 years. REFERENCES: “A Note on Fingernail Growth,” William B. Bean, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, vol. 20, no. 1, January 1953, pp. 27-31. <doi.org/10.1038/jid.1953.5> “A Discourse on Nail Growth and Unusual Fingernails,” William B. Bean, Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association, vol. 74, 1962; pp. 152-67. <pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2249062> “Nail Growth. Twenty-Five Years’ Observation,” William B. Bean, Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 122, no. 4, October 1968, pp. 359-61. <doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1968.00300090069016> “Nail Growth: 30 Years of Observation,” William B. Bean, Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 134, no. 3, September 1974, pp. 497-502. <doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1974.00320210107015> “Some Notes of an Aging Nail Watcher,” William B. Bean, International Journal of Dermatology, vol. 15, no. 3, April 1976, pp. 225-30. <doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-4362.1976.tb00696.x> “Nail Growth. Thirty-Five Years of Observation,” William B. Bean, Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 140, no. 1, January 1980, pp. 73-6. <doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1980.00330130075019> WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Bennett Bean (William B. Bean’s son)
- 受賞者
- William B. Bean
同じ語を何度も何度も繰り返したときに感じる違和感の研究
Chris Moulin, Nicole Bell, Merita Turunen, Arina Baharin, and Akira O’Connor for studying the sensations people feel when they repeat a single word many, many, many, many, many, many, many times. REFERENCE: “The The The The Induction of Jamais Vu in the Laboratory: Word Alienation and Semantic Satiation,” Chris J. A. Moulin, Nicole Bell, Merita Turunen, Arina Baharin, and Akira R. O’Connor, Memory, vol. 29, no. 7, 2021, pp. 933-942. <doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1727519> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Chris Moulin, Akira O’Connor
- 受賞者
- Chris Moulin, Nicole Bell, Merita Turunen, Arina Baharin, and Akira O’Connor
法律文書が不必要に難解になる原因の分析
Eric Martínez, Francis Mollica, and Edward Gibson, for analyzing what makes legal documents unnecessarily difficult to understand. REFERENCE: “Poor Writing, Not Specialized Concepts, Drives Processing Difficulty in Legal Language,” Eric Martínez, Francis Mollica, and Edward Gibson, Cognition, vol. 224, July 2022, 105070. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105070> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Eric Martínez, Francis Mollica, Edward Gibson
- 受賞者
- Eric Martínez, Francis Mollica, and Edward Gibson
複雑な製品の説明書を大半の人が読まないことの記録
Thea Blackler, Rafael Gomez, Vesna Popovic and M. Helen Thompson, for documenting that most people who use complicated products do not read the instruction manual.
- 受賞者
- Thea Blackler, Rafael Gomez, Vesna Popovic and M. Helen Thompson
死んだハエと生きたハエを集める楽しみを綴った自伝
Fredrik Sjöberg, for his three-volume autobiographical work about the pleasures of collecting flies that are dead, and flies that are not yet dead.
- 受賞者
- Fredrik Sjöberg
「えっ？」に当たる語がどの言語にも存在する発見
Mark Dingemanse [THE NETHERLANDS, USA], Francisco Torreira [SPAIN, THE NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM, USA, CANADA], and Nick J. Enfield [AUSTRALIA, THE NETHERLANDS], for discovering that the word “huh?” (or its equivalent) seems to exist in every human language — and for not being completely sure why.
- 受賞者
- Mark Dingemanse [THE NETHERLANDS, USA], Francisco Torreira [SPAIN, THE NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM, USA, CANADA], and Nick J. Enfield [AUSTRALIA, THE NETHERLANDS]
報告書についての報告書の作成を勧める報告書
The US Government General Accountability Office, for issuing a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports.
- 受賞者
- The US Government General Accountability Office
重要な仕事を避けるために働く「構造化された先延ばし」
John Perry of Stanford University, USA, for his Theory of Structured Procrastination, which says: To be a high achiever, always work on something important, using it as a way to avoid doing something that’s even more important.
- 受賞者
- John Perry of Stanford University, USA
同一人物と誤認された運転者への50枚超の交通違反切符
Ireland’s police service (An Garda Siochana), for writing and presenting more than fifty traffic tickets to the most frequent driving offender in the country — Prawo Jazdy — whose name in Polish means “Driving License”.
- 受賞者
- Ireland’s police service (An Garda Siochana)
組織の中で感じる憤りを物語として探究した研究
David Sims of Cass Business School. London, UK, for his lovingly written study “You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations.”
- 受賞者
- David Sims of Cass Business School. London, UK
冠詞theが五十音順整理を狂わせることの研究
Glenda Browne, for her study of the word “the” — and of the many ways it causes problems for anyone who tries to put things into alphabetical order.
- 受賞者
- Glenda Browne
必要もなく難しい言葉を使うことの弊害
Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton University for his report “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly.”
- 受賞者
- Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton University
ナイジェリアの詐欺メールが生んだ登場人物群
The Internet entrepreneurs of Nigeria, for creating and then using e-mail to distribute a bold series of short stories, thus introducing millions of readers to a cast of rich characters — General Sani Abacha, Mrs. Mariam Sanni Abacha, Barrister Jon A Mbeki Esq., and others — each of whom requires just a small amount of expense money so as to obtain access to the great wealth to which they are entitled and which they would like to share with the kind person who assists them.
- 受賞者
- The Internet entrepreneurs of Nigeria
ヌーディズムの歴史の保存
The American Nudist Research Library of Kissimmee, Florida, USA, for preserving nudist history so that everyone can see it.
- 受賞者
- The American Nudist Research Library of Kissimmee, Florida, USA
自分が苛立ったことを80本以上の論文にした執念
John Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of Business, New York City, for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80 detailed academic reports about things that annoyed him (such as: What percentage of young people wear baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the front; What percentage of pedestrians wear sport shoes that are white rather than some other color; What percentage of swimmers swim laps in the shallow end of a pool rather than the deep end; What percentage of automobile drivers almost, but not completely, come to a stop at one particular stop-sign; What percentage of commuters carry attaché cases; What percentage of shoppers exceed the number of items permitted in a supermarket’s express checkout lane; and What percentage of students dislike the taste of Brussels sprouts.)
- 受賞者
- John Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of Business, New York City
不適切な蛍光ペンが読解力に与える影響
Vicki Silvers Gier and David S. Kreiner of Central Missouri State University, for their colorful report “The Effects of Pre-Existing Inappropriate Highlighting on Reading Comprehension.” [ PUBLISHED IN: Reading Research and Instruction, vol. 36, no. 3, 1997, pp. 217-23.]
- 受賞者
- Vicki Silvers Gier and David S. Kreiner of Central Missouri State University
複数形と所有格の違いを守り広めた活動
John Richards of Boston, England, founder of The Apostrophe Protection Society, for his efforts to protect, promote, and defend the differences between plural and possessive.
- 受賞者
- John Richards of Boston, England, founder of The Apostrophe Protection Society
人は本当は食事を必要としないとする著書
Jasmuheen (formerly known as Ellen Greve) of Australia, first lady of Breatharianism, for her book “Living on Light,” which explains that although some people do eat food, they don’t ever really need to.
- 受賞者
- Jasmuheen (formerly known as Ellen Greve) of Australia, first lady of Breatharianism
紅茶の正しい淹れ方を定めた6ページの規格
The British Standards Institution for its six-page specification (BS-6008) of the proper way to make a cup of tea.
- 受賞者
- The British Standards Institution
言い難い恐怖への防御としてのおならの研究
Dr. Mara Sidoli of Washington, DC, for her illuminating report, “Farting as a Defence Against Unspeakable Dread.”
- 受賞者
- Dr. Mara Sidoli of Washington, DC
聖書に隠された暗号があるとする統計的発見
Doron Witztum, Eliyahu Rips and Yoav Rosenberg of Israel, and Michael Drosnin of the United States, for their hairsplitting statistical discovery that the bible contains a secret, hidden code.[REFERENCE: Witztum, Rips and Rosenberg,’s original research was published as”Equidistant Letter Sequences in the Book of Genesis,” “Statistical Science,” Vol. 9, No. 3, 1994, pp. 429-38. Drosnin’s popular book, “The Bible Code,” was published by Simon & Schuster.]
- 受賞者
- Doron Witztum, Eliyahu Rips and Yoav Rosenberg of Israel, and Michael Drosnin of the United States
著者本人が無意味だと言う論文の掲載
The editors of the journal Social Text, for eagerly publishing research that they could not understand, that the author said was meaningless, and which claimed that reality does not exist.
- 受賞者
- The editors of the journal Social Text
直腸内異物の症例と世界文献の網羅的review
David B. Busch and James R. Starling, of Madison Wisconsin, for their deeply penetrating research report, “Rectal foreign bodies: Case Reports and a Comprehensive Review of the World’s Literature.” The citations include reports of, among other items: seven light bulbs; a knife sharpener; two flashlights; a wire spring; a snuff box; an oil can with potato stopper; eleven different forms of fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs; a jeweler’s saw; a frozen pig’s tail; a tin cup; a beer glass; and one patient’s remarkable ensemble collection consisting of spectacles, a suitcase key, a tobacco pouch and a magazine.
- 受賞者
- David B. Busch and James R. Starling, of Madison Wisconsin
著書『ダイアネティックス』
L. Ron Hubbard, ardent author of science fiction and founding father of Scientology, for his crackling Good Book, “Dianetics,” which is highly profitable to mankind or to a portion thereof.
- 受賞者
- L. Ron Hubbard, ardent author of science fiction and founding father of Scientology
ページ数の100倍の著者を並べた医学論文
Eric Topol, R. Califf, F. Van de Werf, P. W. Armstrong, and their 972 co-authors, for publishing a medical research paper which has one hundred times as many authors as pages. [REFERENCE: “An International Randomized Trial Comparing Four Thrombolytic Strategies for Acute Myocardial Infarction,” Eric Topol, R. Califf, F. Van de Werf, P. W. Armstrong, and the GUSTO Investigators, The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 329, no. 10, September 2, 1993, pp. 673-82. The authors are from the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.] [Click here for additional details.]
- 受賞者
- Eric Topol, R. Califf, F. Van de Werf, P. W. Armstrong, and their 972 co-authors
10年で948本、3.9日に1本の論文発表
Yuri Struchkov, unstoppable author from the Institute of Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds in Moscow, for the 948 scientific papers he is credited with publishing between the years 1981 and 1990, averaging more than one every 3.9 days.
- 受賞者
- Yuri Struchkov, unstoppable author from the Institute of Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds in Moscow
古代宇宙飛行士が人類文明に影響したという説
Erich von Daniken, visionary raconteur and author of “Chariots of the Gods,” for explaining how human civilization was influenced by ancient astronauts from outer space.
- 受賞者
- Erich von Daniken, visionary raconteur and author of “Chariots of the Gods,”