Final Jeopardy response ruled unacceptable due to minor misspelling

[snichols1973]

http://www.tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=821471

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) -- A Connecticut eighth-grader who misspelled the correct answer to a "Jeopardy!" question and lost money over it says he was cheated.
Thomas Hurley III correctly answered the final Jeopardy question about the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln. But Thomas spelled it "emanciptation" and was ruled out by host Alex Trebek.

He bet $3,000 of his $9,600 in winnings and lost to a rival who amassed $66,000.
The 12-year-old Newtown boy tells The NewsTimes of Danbury that he was cheated and upset.
Producers of "Jeopardy!" said in an email that the show would penalize other players if it credited a contestant's incorrect response.

Hundreds vented their anger at the game show on its Facebook page.
The "Kids Jeopardy!" program was filmed in February and broadcast last week.

Honestly, does an extra "t" make emancipation an entirely different word?

In some Final Jeopardy rounds, misspelled words are usually overlooked, unless the misspelling would make it look like a different word or affect its pronunciation.

 

[Drtooth]

This spelling...is...

UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!

 

[D'Snowth]

This reminds me of a time in Grade 4 when we had a spelling test, and I was certain I aced it, no problems whatsoever (spelling was one of my best subjects after all); we got our tests back, and I saw I had a 98, for missing one word. I couldn't see it until it was pointed out:

Instead of "strawberry", I apparently had written "starwberry" and didn't even realize it.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

My mother was once on a game show (some Canadian TV game show..) and mispronounced the answer to the final question. She was deemed incorrect too.

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, you Canucks insist on pronouncing certain words your own way.

 

[fuzzygobo]

If he tried crossing part of his answer out, or wrote in some illegible chicken-scratch, his answer might have been accepted. If he was clearly wrong and wrote "Gettysburg Address", or something else, definitely, no case.
But there have been misspellings before which have been overlooked.

And Alex himself said "You put an extra 'P' in there". (Actually, it was a 'T', Mr. Trebek).
The misspelling still wouldn't have had any bearing on the game's final outcome.
Maybe Master Hurley and Alex Trebek get together and reminisce over this. Over a cup of "t".

 

[MuppetsRule]

If he tried crossing part of his answer out, or wrote in some illegible chicken-scratch, his answer might have been accepted. If he was clearly wrong and wrote "Gettysburg Address", or something else, definitely, no case.
But there have been misspellings before which have been overlooked.

And Alex himself said "You put an extra 'P' in there". (Actually, it was a 'T', Mr. Trebek).
The misspelling still wouldn't have had any bearing on the game's final outcome.
Maybe Master Hurley and Alex Trebek get together and reminisce over this. Over a cup of "t".

Actually, misspellings are only overlooked when they do not change the phonetic pronunciation of the word. If they do, they have been ruled incorrect. I could cite several examples.

I'm not even sure why this is news. The outcome of the game didn't change. The kid took home $2000 for finishing second either way. I'm guessing he spent his entire life being told by Mom and Dad how smart he is and couldn't handle being told he was wrong.

 

[Teheheman]

Personally, I think that if the word is misspelled, then the answer is technically wrong. The only reason people feel bad for him is that he's a kid. That's it, no other reason. If it was an adult that did that, people would laugh at him and go "Man, what an idiot". I'm sure they'd feel a LITTLE bad for him, but they wouldn't feel so bad that they'd say "They should've accepted it" and bash the show. They would have went "Man, that sucked, but hey, he should've spelled it right".

Daniel

 

[Drtooth]

Ah, but that's the thing. He is a kid. The difference being that an adult has more education, and therefore can look like an idiot. Here, he's a kid that made a mistake. One that cost him as badly as if he wrote "Suck it Trebek." I can understand why it's frustrating to almost win. Especially misspelling a word that ONLY comes up in conversation when you mention the Emancipation Proclamation. Should he have got the money? Probably not.

Still, to say "he spent his entire life being told by Mom and Dad how smart he is and couldn't handle being told he was wrong" is complete mean spirited nonsense. He lost to a technicality I've seen adult contestants lose to. Mispronunciation, not knowing the first name of someone but getting the last name correct, and the ever popular "so in the moment of the game that you forget to answer in the form of a question." And even that last one, they give you a second chance. Freaking kid is smart enough to be on a game show that isn't on Nickelodeon.

 

[snichols1973]

If it was a spelling category where you have to verbally spell out the word, then it would be reasonably justified to rule "emanciptation" as incorrect beyond a shadow of a doubt, and I can understand when unnecessary extra information such as an extra letter or the inclusion of an incorrect name, initial, or suffix (Sr., Jr., III, etc.) can influence the judges' decision (such as saying "Johnston" instead of "Johnson"), as well as responses that are part of a quotation.

Another factor to be taken into consideration: would "Emancipation Proclamation" fall under the jurisdiction of proper nouns where exact spelling matters, and there is no apparent error margin?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emanciptation