‘Jeopardy!’ Gets More Backlash After Show Allows Champ’s Mispronunciation

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Some Jeopardy! viewers were left with a bad taste in their mouths after the judges allowed the returning champ to pronounce “Apéritif” incorrectly. The ruling didn’t impact the results, but it does come after a streak of more strict pronunciation rulings already bothered fans, with many questioning whether there really is an inconsistency on the board.

During the Jeopardy! round on Friday, November 22’s episode, Mehal Shah, a software engineer from Seattle, Washington, selected the $200 “French-Named Food & Drink Clue.” It was, “It’s a pre-dinner alcoholic drink, perhaps champagne, that gets you ready for the main event.”

He responded, “Ap-er-tif?” with three syllables. Ken Jennings shared that his answer was correct. Giving him the clue, the host clarified it was, “Apéritif,” with four syllables.

Shah lost his two-day streak to Adam Hersh, an attorney from Brooklyn, New York, who narrowly led going into Final Jeopardy and got the clue as “Gaslight.” Shah did not, and Jennings made abundantly clear (below), as Hirsch became the current champ with a one-day total of $29,000.

Many fans discussed the ruling on social media instead of the exciting results of the game, wondering why his mispronunciation was permitted while other recent instances were not.

“Mehal was given credit today for (what is an) “apertif?” (3 syllables) when the correct word is “apéritif” (4 syllables). Your thoughts??” one fan titled a post in a Jeopardy! Facebook group.

“I thought he pronounced it incorrectly too,” wrote another.

“He pronounced as a non French speaker would, it happens often with Italian clues, rarely are they pronounced the exact Italian pronunciation,” argued a third.

But a fourth also agreed, “I think you are right. They let you have it if the pronunciation can match the spelling but he left out a significant syllable.”

“Yes my French husband was yelling at the tv,” said a fifth.

“Gets me aggravated,” wrote another.

“My thoughts are………..the judges are sitting a few feet from the players and if they need a playback, they have some of the best equipment in the world to do it. They get paid a decent amount to make the decisions AND their decision is final. Once you realize that, you can stop looking for “errors” because it isn’t up to us……..and just enjoy the game,” wrote one more fan.

To which a last user replied, “All very well. But that doesn’t mean mistakes don’t happen.”

Over on Reddit, fans also discussed the ruling, one joking, “Today I learned that what I always thought was “aperTIF” is actually “aPERitif.”

“Interesting that it’s acceptable even if a whole syllable off,” wrote another.

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'Jeopardy!' Fans Unhappy With 'Unreasonable' Pronunciation Ruling

Jeopardy!’s rulings on pronunciations have hit a pinch point with fans recently because some responses are shut down, others allowed, in neither case without much transparency. Many are thinking there could be more clarity about what flies and what doesn’t when it comes to tricky or foreign words.

Earlier this month, a two-day champ was denied what many felt was a slight vocal hiccup on “Ichabod.” Last month, a four-day champ was denied a slight variation on “weimaraner” and earlier this season, the refusal of a player’s take on “anesthesiologist” caused a stir. But late last season, a player was ruled correct on a mispronunciation of “larynx” (“lar-nyx?”).

Around the same time, another player was ruled incorrect on “wagyu” because she said “way-gu,” Jennings justified that she “didn’t have a ‘y.’” And last May, all three contestants were ruled incorrect for not pronouncing Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s name correctly.