(These have been floating around in various forms for years, but never fail to give me a small titter upon review. Ed.)

The project to renorm the original MMPI was vast, with hundreds of items tried and discarded before the final version was cast. However, it is not widely known how many of the discarded items were worded. Below is a sample of some of the discarded items.

• I am easily awakened by the firing of cannons.
• Sometimes I feel that things are real.
• I am troubled by attacks of optimism.
• When I grow up I want to be a child.
• I frequently notice that I am not trembling.
• It takes a lot of argument to convince most people that they are lying.
• Most of the time I don’t like to read newspaper articles about nuclear accidents nearby.
• I believe that my home life is as miserable as that of most people I know.
• My sex life is satisfactory, except when I am with another person.