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The clue was “The main difference between these two desserts that end in the same three letters is that one contains dairy and the other does not.”
The contestant's (Austin’s) response – spelled here phonetically - “What is sor-bay and shur-burt?” – was ruled as incorrect. The judges claimed that Austin neglected to observe the part of the clue that required the two responses to “end in the same three letters.” They felt that by Austin pronouncing an r in the second syllable of sherbet, that part of the clue was not met.
Everyone I know pronounces it shur-burt. Maybe in some parts of the country people prounounce it differently. It doesn't make it wrong. The way it's pronounced doesn't change the spelling. If I put it on my grocery list, I write "sherbet." The is no product at the grocery store spelled "sherbert" regardless of which way it's pronounced.
The contestant wasn't required to say "sor-BET" even though that's how it's spelled. I think of words like Wednesday, colonel, bologna, corps....spelled completely differently than how they sound.
I think the judges were off the mark on this. The word that I pronounce as "shur-burt" ends in b-e-t, and the word that I pronounce as "sor-bay" ends in b-e-t.
Not a major crisis, I know, but a fun little thing in the news this week. Anyone else think the judges should change their decision?
But then again a friend that I have over for dinner fairly often and I have a running joke about this because I occasionally serve sherbet for dessert, and she pronounces it sherbert. Then again, she's from Texas!
These types of rules have been in place for a long time on Jeopardy. Correct pronunciation and spelling have always been required. Just because a lot of people mispronounce a word does not make it an acceptable alternative.
Everyone you know is pronouncing it incorrectly. It's not a dialect issue. There is no "R" in the second syllable of "sherbet."
Where I grew up everyone said sher-bert too. It wasn't until I met my husband, from a different part of the country, that he pointed out I was adding a letter. I never even thought about it because its how I always heard it.
Same with Ibuprofen. Everyone said IbEprofen, but its IbUprofen.
Down south a lot of people add an 'r' to wash, washer, Washington. So it sounds like warsh...
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