The music is way too loud. The food is hit-or-miss. It’s always crowded. It’s trivia night at the Burgundy Lion, where every Monday evening we trivia enthusiasts fill two floors of the British pub under the largely-benevolent dictatorship of the Quiz Master. Most weeks begin with his shout of “Shut up, it’s my meeting,” like we’re trapped in a drunken union hall general assembly. He’s right, of course: as moderator, we are all hopelessly at his mercy. 

The Quiz Master calls his events’ language policy “the opposite of Quebec City,” in that it’s proudly bilingual, a line that reliably causes groan-tinged laughs. My team of six, dubbed Henry Cavill’s CGI Upper Lip—if you know, you know—leans anglo, but the questions are asked in both English and French. We started participating regularly in January, and as the weeks have gone by, we ...