What was really sad was how he kept doing it! You got to see the whole show to see how bad this guy was, and the chick next to him was just getting it all. Somehow he made it to the final round and lost, of course. I felt embarrassed for the guy and Sajak was speechless.
Don't feel bad for him, I saw an interview with him on the morning news here in LA, and he says it was a great learning experience and he has no regrets.
He said Ay-chill-ees. He also guessed a person clue as 'world's fastest cat' instead of man and said "on the spot dicespin' instead of decision. 3 famously incorrect guesses and he still ended up in the final game. Unreal.
They should have given it to him. For example, on Jeopardy if you pronounce something the way it could be pronounced if you had never heard it spoken, they'll give it to you.
It's pronounced UH-KILL-EEZ but if I had never heard it I might pronounce it the way he did.
Basically they penalized him for not knowing Greek mythology - which is not a requirement for solving a Wheel of Fortune puzzle. This isn't a trivia quiz show, it's a "pick a letter spell a phrase" quiz show.
If he had added a syllable, or pronounced it in a way that wasn't supported by the letters up there, I'd say don't give it to him.
Princepessa-Uh no..Jeopardy will not always let you slide. That snotty Alex takes great pains in making the contestants feel like total dumbasses half the time.
I WILL agree they should have let him off on the pronunciation unless that is one of the rules, which we may deduce from this painful display, it probably is.
There's also a (I think) European pronunciation of Achilles as "Ah-SHEEL". There's a character in some of the Ender's Game books with that name, and on the audiobooks, it gets pronounced differently (sometimes within the same audiobook), depending on the reader.
@Sherry, I've noticed that too. I love Jeopardy and Alex "TREH-bek!" but he does have a slightly underhanded way of cutting someone down when they make a mistake!
@Principessa, while I agree with "how does he not know how to say this?" (I learned how to say it in 6th grade!), I also agree that a slight mispronunciation shouldn't have been grounds for a buzzer. Geez Achilles!
@Sherry I've been on Jeopardy. Note my changed profile photo :-)
Alex is indeed snotty. He came up to each of us before taping, put his arm around us, hand on shoulder, posed for photo, then moved on WITHOUT A WORD.
It's possible that he's not allowed to talk to the contestants before taping, due to past game show scandals, etc.
@Kristen - uh, did you mean Achilles TENDON is a body part?
The kid may have heard "Achilles tendon" and "Achilles heel" spoken out loud but associating the spoken word with A-C-H-I-L-L-E-S is maybe not something he had done before.
@Charles in French it is spelled ACHILLE without the S and is pronounced the way you said.
I will give someone a pass for not having studied Greek mythology. It doesn't make him dumb.
Alex Trebek does one thing that drives me nuts. When all three contestants give the same (incorrect) response and lose the same amount of money, he says "no harm no foul." But that's not always the case.
Let's say it's the last question of Double Jeopardy. Guy in the lead has $6000, next guy has $3500, next guy has $2000.
They all lose $2000 so now it's:
#1: $4000 #2: $1500 #3: $0
Before the triple stumper, the guy in second had a chance to win. Now it's a runaway game for the guy in first. And the guy in third went from having a chance at second to not getting to play Final Jeopardy at all because you don't get to play FJ unless you have positive earnings.
Neither Alex nor Pat are the actual judges of their shows, that is up to people in the control booth. They just host and make announcements of other people's decisions. I remember years ago on Wheel, the answer was Los Angeles Dodgers. The woman who solved it said 'The Los Angeles Dodgers' and she was buzzed for an incorrect answer. Wheel said that correct pronunciation of the word is required to solve the puzzle. 'On the spot dicespin' is my favorite. What the hell is a dicespin? And if the p in spot was already turned, then how could you guess that was part of the last word if it wasn't showing?
It was pretty lame that he didn't get it because he pronounced Achilles wrong. Seems unfair. It would be one thing if he hadn't had all the letters solved, it isn't like he just made a wrong guess.
Man, that was pitiful.
ReplyDeleteI saw this live and I thought I was going crazy. The look on Pat Sajack's face... (if it could move it would have been shock)
ReplyDeleteMore embarrassing than Zac Efron and his spray painted abs at the Movie Awards.
ReplyDeleteI assume he didn't grow up discussing greek gods/heroes
ReplyDeleteI can guarantee you that a lot of college kids would mispronounce a lot of mythological greek god/hero names if read cold.
DeleteIndiana must be really proud.
ReplyDeletehahahaha. how did he pronounce it??
ReplyDeleteH-uh-leeze?
ReplyDeleteseriously dude???????
ReplyDeleteI felt awful for him. If you'd never heard someone say Achilles, how would you pronounce it?
ReplyDeleteIronically he has probably heard it pronounced hundreds of times but never read it or thought about how it spelled or pronounced.
DeleteWhat was really sad was how he kept doing it! You got to see the whole show to see how bad this guy was, and the chick next to him was just getting it all. Somehow he made it to the final round and lost, of course. I felt embarrassed for the guy and Sajak was speechless.
ReplyDeleteI learned all about Greek mythology in my history class growing up. It's also a metaphor for someone's weakness..."What's your Achilles heel?"
ReplyDeleteI won't even watch this. I already feel bad for the kid, and now especially that its going to be all over the internet. How embarrassing. Poor Fella.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad for him, I saw an interview with him on the morning news here in LA, and he says it was a great learning experience and he has no regrets.
ReplyDeleteHe said Ay-chill-ees. He also guessed a person clue as 'world's fastest cat' instead of man and said
"on the spot dicespin' instead of decision. 3 famously incorrect guesses and he still ended up in the final game. Unreal.
They should have given it to him. For example, on Jeopardy if you pronounce something the way it could be pronounced if you had never heard it spoken, they'll give it to you.
ReplyDeleteIt's pronounced UH-KILL-EEZ but if I had never heard it I might pronounce it the way he did.
Basically they penalized him for not knowing Greek mythology - which is not a requirement for solving a Wheel of Fortune puzzle. This isn't a trivia quiz show, it's a "pick a letter spell a phrase" quiz show.
If he had added a syllable, or pronounced it in a way that wasn't supported by the letters up there, I'd say don't give it to him.
But sheesh.
Randy Marsh was worse
ReplyDeleteHere in the UK we enjoy more sophisticated word games...
ReplyDeletehttp://i7.minus.com/iLiJrR5qx9diF.jpg
Achilles is actually a real body part though.
ReplyDeleteAchilles is also some fine Pitt butt.
DeletePrincepessa-Uh no..Jeopardy will not always let you slide. That snotty Alex takes great pains in making the contestants feel like total dumbasses half the time.
ReplyDeleteI WILL agree they should have let him off on the pronunciation unless that is one of the rules, which we may deduce from this painful display, it probably is.
There's also a (I think) European pronunciation of Achilles as "Ah-SHEEL". There's a character in some of the Ender's Game books with that name, and on the audiobooks, it gets pronounced differently (sometimes within the same audiobook), depending on the reader.
ReplyDelete@Kristin, YUM. Come on over, Brad!
ReplyDelete@Sherry, I've noticed that too. I love Jeopardy and Alex "TREH-bek!" but he does have a slightly underhanded way of cutting someone down when they make a mistake!
@Principessa, while I agree with "how does he not know how to say this?" (I learned how to say it in 6th grade!), I also agree that a slight mispronunciation shouldn't have been grounds for a buzzer. Geez Achilles!
@Sherry I've been on Jeopardy. Note my changed profile photo :-)
ReplyDeleteAlex is indeed snotty. He came up to each of us before taping, put his arm around us, hand on shoulder, posed for photo, then moved on WITHOUT A WORD.
It's possible that he's not allowed to talk to the contestants before taping, due to past game show scandals, etc.
@Kristen - uh, did you mean Achilles TENDON is a body part?
The kid may have heard "Achilles tendon" and "Achilles heel" spoken out loud but associating the spoken word with A-C-H-I-L-L-E-S is maybe not something he had done before.
@Charles in French it is spelled ACHILLE without the S and is pronounced the way you said.
I will give someone a pass for not having studied Greek mythology. It doesn't make him dumb.
Alex Trebek does one thing that drives me nuts. When all three contestants give the same (incorrect) response and lose the same amount of money, he says "no harm no foul." But that's not always the case.
ReplyDeleteLet's say it's the last question of Double Jeopardy. Guy in the lead has $6000, next guy has $3500, next guy has $2000.
They all lose $2000 so now it's:
#1: $4000
#2: $1500
#3: $0
Before the triple stumper, the guy in second had a chance to win. Now it's a runaway game for the guy in first. And the guy in third went from having a chance at second to not getting to play Final Jeopardy at all because you don't get to play FJ unless you have positive earnings.
Who gives a fuck?
DeleteHe sucks!
ReplyDeleteNeither Alex nor Pat are the actual judges of their shows, that is up to people in the control booth. They just host and make announcements of other people's decisions. I remember years ago on Wheel, the answer was Los Angeles Dodgers. The woman who solved it said 'The Los Angeles Dodgers' and she was buzzed for an incorrect answer. Wheel said that correct pronunciation of the word is required to solve the puzzle. 'On the spot dicespin' is my favorite. What the hell is a dicespin? And if the p in spot was already turned, then how could you guess that was part of the last word if it wasn't showing?
ReplyDeleteUm, nobody here said that Alex Trebek or Pat Sajak is the judge on his show. Not the point.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty lame that he didn't get it because he pronounced Achilles wrong. Seems unfair. It would be one thing if he hadn't had all the letters solved, it isn't like he just made a wrong guess.
ReplyDelete"People who annoy you."
ReplyDelete