It wasn’t as if an incorrect pronunciation was going to cause a country to institute sanctions on us, for Pete’s sake.
It’s just a game show after all. With a slightly uppity host. Who’s got plenty — tons, mind you — of mispronunciations beneath his own belt.
Besides, the dude doing the mispronouncing? A Midwesterner. With a twang. So he spoke weird to begin with. Couldn’t we have cut the guy a little slack for saying “WHim-bull-tin” instead of “WHim-bull-din” … ??? (“Man on ‘Jeopardy’ penalized for mispronouncing Wimbledon”)
Apparently not.
Here’s the way I see it: Everybody’s got their own little quirks and kinks. We all say things a little bit differently. I say “eggs” while some people say “ayeggs.” I say “wash” whereas my father used to say “woresh.” I used to call my mother “Mom” not “Mahm.” Animals of the lupine persuasion are “wolves” not “woofs.” It’s all about geography and upbringing, folks.
It’s not like the guy was pronouncing ask “axe,” Jeopardy Powers That Be. (“Hey … go axe dat guy how to say ‘WHim-bull-tin,’ will ya?”) *yeesh* The way I say Wimbledon? It almost sounds as if I’m pronouncing it with the “T” sound, but I’m not. But for that little slip? I would be penalized four Franklins, baby. And if that were to happen I would raise a ruckus with the judges ’til the cows came home.
I didn’t watch Monday evening’s episode of Jeopardy where all this fun took place. And the article didn’t say whether or not Reid Rodgers’ deduction resulted in a defining and game losing difference, so it probably didn’t make a difference in the final outcome when all was said and done. But seriously, folks: Are we really going to get that picky when the man knew the answer (or, rather, “the question”) to the statement made? Did it really make that much of a difference? Not to me it didn’t. Not under those circumstances.
But it did to the persnickety judges on Jeopardy Monday evening.
Ain’t television grand, folks?
I’d like to hear what you have to say. Vote below and voice your opinions in the comments.
P.S. Here’s the really funny aside I find about this entire thing (and it’s probably only funny to me):
You know how I say “Jeopardy” when I say it out loud? “Geo Party” … *heheheh*
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on Mar 13, 2012 @ 18:22 EST5EDT
I say…yard…my long time friend says…yahd. I say Milkshake..she says..frappe. I say Boston…she says Bawstun. I have an idea…she has an idear. And so it goes.. Oh yeah, she has always lived in Bawstun.
Seriously? From a guy with a Canadian accent to begin with? Cut it oot, you hoser.
Maybe there is a Whim-bull-tin … with a tennis match … that could have been the wrong question to the answer. Or maybe Jeopardy is the last intelligent game left on television and they have a right to be a little snobbish to keep their standards. Or maybe Alex Trebek really wanted to be called by his first name [George] instead of an abbreviation of his middle name [Alexander] and has been a stickler for details ever since childhood.
If you want to watch a game where the rules don’t really matter you should watch old episodes of The Newlywed Game, Dating Game, Pyramid, or Match Game. You won’t learn anything, but lots of points are given out to a lot of borderline answers.
Midwestern twangy accents rule.
Or so says my Mahm.
Try as I may……. I can’t make myself pronounce deaf right…… I ALWAYS say DEEEEF and I almost got my lights punched out once by a gal who assisted DEEEEF kids. No flippin’ kidding! Who knew a person could get penalized OR almost beat up for saying a word wrong. I stand in solidarity will Reid.
too many people speak in “crayon”. say it correctly.