Jeopardy contestant ruled incorrect due to regional dialect

[Tek_Freek]

Used to be called a motorman's friend....

[AnnieA]

https://wordsmith.org/board/ubbthrea...&Number=177468 I love this site. the quote I posted was in 2008 and I wonder if it is in the same vein as we are discussing ?


[LEFT]"After reading the sherbert article on MSN I was wondering if anyone could explain the pronunciation of salmon....snipped....." [/LEFT]

Originally Posted by HighFlyingBird

Down south a lot of people add an 'r' to wash, washer, Washington. So it sounds like warsh...

Nobody I know "down South, says warsh.....

Originally Posted by DubbleT

How is adding r different than dropping r? Neither affects the spelling of a word. Are we to assume that people who say caw-fee think there is a w in coffee?
They made an assumption that he didn't know what word he was trying to use based on his pronunciation.

I do agree with you, DubbleT, though I suspect we are wrong.

Originally Posted by shorman

Whatever, the only suggestion that I can offer to you is to not be a contestant on Jeopardy. They are notoriously picky, many people have lost due to bad pronunciations and misspellings. BTW, the judges disagreed with you, that is the heart of the entire dispute. In the opinion of the only people that mattered, sherbet cannot be pronounced differently than it is spelled. Just because some people do doesn't mean that it is correct.

So there......

Originally Posted by DubbleT

And dropping letters, or changing letters is acceptable? I'm not being absurd and people aren't adding letters to words, they are pronouncing them differently.....snipped....

Agreed.

Originally Posted by jackmccullough

This has been a big topic of debate both on the Facebook page of A Way With Words, the NPR show about language, and the Jeopardy web page.

Jeopardy is sticking to their position, although I disagree with them. Fortunately it didn't change the outcome of the game.

Oh, and did you know that there is an appeal process in the show? When Alex comes back with a correction of a previous ruling sometimes it's because the person who was ruled against appealed and they changed their decision.

So they are not always correct on first ruling. Good to know.

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Speak for yourself! This thoroughly Southern girl has never added an R to words like "wash" or whatever. I also say "foil, oil, boil" etc., with no problem at all.
....snipped.....

This

Originally Posted by spencgr

I've never heard anyone pronounce it IbEprofen. Curious as to what region of the country do you live?

USA. I say it that way and a lot of people I know pronounce it that way and some the other way.

Originally Posted by BobCaldwell

I get sick of folks calling pecans 'pee cans'.

hahahahaha. pee cans, pecahns.....what's wrong with either one....? My dh spent the first 5 years of our lives together correcting my pronunciation of salmon....everybody I knew then and now pronounces the "l". It never did change the taste not one bit......lol


I loved this thread, the posters who made it interesting and respectful.....

[GeoffD]

It's a mute point

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

It's a mute point

I haven't uddered a word.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by BobCaldwell

I get sick of folks calling pecans 'pee cans'.

That just doesn't sound right.

[beachie123]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

I grew up saying "sherbert" and now it's one of those food words I don't want to say at all, like "gyro."

mine is worcestershire. i can never say that one right.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by beachie123

mine is worcestershire. i can never say that one right.

Wor cester shire. That wasn't happening in my house because my mother grew up in England.

[beachie123]

Originally Posted by WannaliveinGreenville

Let's see if I have this right: I was wrong to pronounce it: SURE BERT and now I need to pronounce it SURE BET!

and what about sure? there's no h is sure. but that's how it's pronounced!

[beachie123]

Originally Posted by Gerania

Wor cester shire. That wasn't happening in my house because my mother grew up in England.

you can tell me the correct way to pronounce it until the second tuesday of next week and i'll still say it wrong.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by beachie123

you can tell me the correct way to pronounce it until the second tuesday of next week and i'll still say it wrong.

Until the second Tuesday of next week? That's seriously funny.

Woos ta sheer. Now you know. Welcome to the club.