# Did 'Wheel of Fortune' cheat contestant?



## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

From Fox News:



> Presented with the puzzle "SE_EN S_ _NS A-S_ _MM _NG" under the clue "Living Things," the contestant, Renee, correctly guessed "Seven Swans A-Swimming." Only problem? She pronounced it "Seven Swans A-Swimmin'," causing host Pat Sajak to tell her she was incorrect and move on to the next contestant.
> 
> Amy, the next contestant, then chooses a V and a W before she's forced to solve the puzzle because all of the remaining letters are vowels. She offers the same response as Renee did seconds earler, but makes sure to emphasize the "G" sound.
> After congratulating Amy, Sajak asks, "Do you know what happened there?"
> ...


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

Wheel of Fortune has always required exact pronunciations. This isn't new, and has happened before. 

So I guess my answer is "no".


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## Galaxie6411 (Aug 26, 2007)

IS funny how she really enunciated every letter than screwed it up at the end.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

While I have never seen this happen on the show myself, I can see how the judges would have a problem with this as she clearly dropped the 'G'.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

I know a lot of people , including myself, that say swimmin.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

jimmie57 said:


> I know a lot of people , including myself, that say swimmin.


Just because lots of people say it incorrectly, doesn't make it right. It's a game show centered on words, and proper pronunciation is paramount.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

hilmar2k said:


> Just because lots of people say it incorrectly, doesn't make it right. It's a game show centered on words, and proper pronunciation is paramount.


And that's not the lyric, nor how it's sung ...

_On the 7th day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
7 swans a-swimming, _

Also, there would one less space for a letter in the puzzle board if that were the answer they wanted.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

SayWhat? said:


> And that's not the lyric, nor how it's sung ...
> 
> Also, there would one less space for a letter in the puzzle board if that were the answer they wanted.


Exactly.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

fluffybear said:


> While I have never seen this happen on the show myself, I can see how the judges would have a problem with this as she clearly dropped the 'G'.


I would have an easier time supporting the decision if the G was not visible on the board. But the rules of the game seem clear and contestants should know to follow the rules to win.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Time for me to pop in and say... this is a good example of what happens when it becomes taboo to correct people for being incorrect.

Had someone somewhere in that first person's past been "allowed" to correct without being chastised for being "grammar police"... maybe that person could have won some money


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## chick3112215 (Jul 20, 2010)

we have a guy with a fair trailer that says "sausage Sangwich" on the side of it, my boss at work offers to take us out to lunch for a sammich, as soon as I figure out what that is I might stop at the trailer or go out to lunch... They just don't teach english anymore, and 4 years ago we had a V.P. candidate who dropped every "G" in every word that should have had one. ohwell, rant over. My son has a key cell phone and if he ever texted me C U L8R I would shove that phone where the sun does not shine.
Oh and Stewart +10000000


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

hilmar2k said:


> Wheel of Fortune has always required exact pronunciations. This isn't new, and has happened before.
> 
> So I guess my answer is "no".


So if you have a speech defect, don't even try out for the show.

I hate Wheel of Fortune.

Get Hollywood Squares back.


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## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

People from Dracut, Massachusetts say, "Youse guys". I wonder if that would be a wrong answer if the letters spelled out Y-O-U G-U-Y-S.

I was watching Concentration once when the correct answer to a puzzle was "Archimedes Principle" and when a contestant with really poor enunciation said. "A committee's principle", the host declared that she had correctly solved the puzzle, but by the time they came back from the commercial break, they were concerned that a mistake had been made and had her repeat her answer three or four times before finally ruling that she had not answered correctly and continued the game from there. I would have thought that, with a taped show, they could have just edited that round out and replaced it with another round.

Dumbest answer ever: ST_R_F__M _ _ _. Why waste money on a vowel.? Anyone can see the answer is STYROFOAM HAT!

Trivia question, to be answered without Googling or IMDBing. Who hosted the pilot episode of Wheel of Forutne?


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

Drucifer;3149453 said:


> So if you have a speech defect, don't even try out for the show.


And a paraplegic shouldn't try out for Wipeout.


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## HinterXGames (Dec 20, 2012)

Drucifer said:


> So if you have a speech defect, don't even try out for the show.
> 
> I hate Wheel of Fortune.
> 
> Get Hollywood Squares back.


+1. I miss Hollywood Squares


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## say-what (Dec 14, 2006)

I've seen this several times where people drop an "s" at the end


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

As a series link my wife enjoys....early last night we happened to go through 3-4 episodes from Wheel of Fortune.

Despite *not* reading about this "incident" in advance - both of us immediately noticed that the contestant "screwed up" by not pronouncing the "G" at the end of the word swimming.

Since there was a missing letter (G) at the end of the puzzle, and all punctuation such as an apostrophe are shown up front...there was no excuse for getting the word wrong. All participants are told the rules prior to the show - pronounce words clearly.

After later seeing this thread, we went back and watched that portion of the show 3 more time and agreed - yeah - she simply blew it.

Ironically, there were other contestants on the show this past week who made similar errors in stating puzzle solutions that were incorrect by 1-2 letters. While "nerves" could be a factor - the contestants were clearly wrong in all cases that we observed.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

I don't think I've watch this show in something like 15 years, but I'm pretty sure I remember some similar incidents back then.


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## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

AntAltMike said:


> Trivia question, to be answered without Googling or IMDBing. Who hosted the pilot episode of Wheel of Forutne?


I don't know if he was the first, but didn't Chuck Woolery host it at one time?


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Herdfan said:


> I don't know if he was the first, but didn't Chuck Woolery host it at one time?


Yes...he did.


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## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

But he didn't do the pilot. The host of the pilot was Ed Byrnes, AKA "Kookie", from 77 Sunset Strip.










Upon further investigation, Woolery hosted an earlier pilot of essentially the same show but titled *Shopper's Bazaar*, then Byrnes hosted two pilot episodes which were titled Wheel of Fortune, and he claims in his autobiography that he was drunk during that audition of sorts, and then they went with Chuck Woolery for the first aired episode of the series.



> Edd Byrnes admitted in his autobiography "Kookie No More" that he was drunk during the taping of this pilot


-IMDB


*Wheel of Fortune*
*Unaired Pilot 2*


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

chick3112215 said:


> we have a guy with a fair trailer that says "sausage Sangwich" on the side of it, my boss at work offers to take us out to lunch for a sammich, as soon as I figure out what that is I might stop at the trailer or go out to lunch... They just don't teach english anymore, and 4 years ago we had a V.P. candidate who dropped every "G" in every word that should have had one. ohwell, rant over. My son has a key cell phone and if he ever texted me C U L8R I would shove that phone where the sun does not shine.
> Oh and Stewart +10000000


"Sangwich" is usually heard in NYC. I've heard it in NJ too, but nowhere else. "Sammich" sounds like something a kid would say, like "psghetti".

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

AntAltMike said:


> People from Dracut, Massachusetts say, "Youse guys". I wonder if that would be a wrong answer if the letters spelled out Y-O-U G-U-Y-S.
> 
> I was watching Concentration once when the correct answer to a puzzle was "Archimedes Principle" and when a contestant with really poor enunciation said. "A committee's principle", the host declared that she had correctly solved the puzzle, but by the time they came back from the commercial break, they were concerned that a mistake had been made and had her repeat her answer three or four times before finally ruling that she had not answered correctly and continued the game from there. I would have thought that, with a taped show, they could have just edited that round out and replaced it with another round.
> 
> ...


You gotta be kidding, I bet most folks Googled that right away... :lol:

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> As a series link my wife enjoys....early last night we happened to go through 3-4 episodes from Wheel of Fortune.
> 
> Despite *not* reading about this "incident" in advance - both of us immediately noticed that the contestant "screwed up" by not pronouncing the "G" at the end of the word swimming.
> 
> ...


It's getting to the point where just making yourself understood is acceptable. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing, but sometimes it really annoys me.

Rich


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

As Jethro Bodine once said, "Th' is spelled T...H...E, Th'"
I've heard several voice-over people who seem to overly emphasize every letter, even the supposedly silent ones. Makes me crazy.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Drucifer said:


> So if you have a speech defect, don't even try out for the show.


I wouldn't go that far necessarily... but not all can play all things, no matter how politically correct we would like to be for kindness sake.



hilmar2k said:


> And a paraplegic shouldn't try out for Wipeout.


You beat me to it, so I didn't have to give an example!



say-what said:


> I've seen this several times where people drop an "s" at the end


I think I was in 5th grade when I lost a spelling bee because I heard a plural word but the teacher swore she didn't say it. I spelled the word correctly, but added the "s" at the end to make it plural.

I still say I was correct and that she did say the plural... she may very well have said the word wrong given what I know today about people and incorrect pronunciation... but I still have to take the fall for not 100% verifying (as you see them do in national spelling bees) that the word I thought I heard was the word she actually said.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Stewart Vernon said:


> I think I was in 5th grade when I lost a spelling bee because I heard a plural word but the teacher swore she didn't say it. I spelled the word correctly, but added the "s" at the end to make it plural.
> 
> I still say I was correct and that she did say the plural... she may very well have said the word wrong given what I know today about people and incorrect pronunciation... but I still have to take the fall for not 100% verifying (as you see them do in national spelling bees) that the word I thought I heard was the word she actually said.


What word was it?


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## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

Drucifer said:


> Get Hollywood Squares back.


It _is_ back -- on MTV2 under the title "Hip Hop Squares."


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

hilmar2k said:


> Wheel of Fortune has always required exact pronunciations. This isn't new, and has happened before.
> 
> So I guess my answer is "no".


+1 ... I agree ... No.

When we watch, we always listen very carefully to what a contestant says when solving the puzzle. We've seen Pat nix an answer when the pronunctiation wasn't just right.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

AntAltMike said:


> But he didn't do the pilot. The host of the pilot was Ed Byrnes, AKA "Kookie", from 77 Sunset Strip.
> 
> Upon further investigation, Woolery hosted an earlier pilot of essentially the same show but titled *Shopper's Bazaar*, then Byrnes hosted two pilot episodes which were titled Wheel of Fortune, and he claims in his autobiography that he was drunk during that audition of sorts, and then they went with Chuck Woolery for the first aired episode of the series.


The Byrnes pilots were essentially the same game as the original pilot with Woolery ... I would not hold a name change against him. 



Rich said:


> You gotta be kidding, I bet most folks Googled that right away... :lol:


And they probably found the right answer (Woolery) instead of the trick answer (Byrnes). 
At least they didn't Google it and then pretend that they knew all along.


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## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

Rich said:


> "Sangwich" is usually heard in NYC. I've heard it in NJ too, but nowhere else. "Sammich" sounds like something a kid would say, like "psghetti".


Or something Godwin on Duck Dynasty would say. :lol:


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

Her answer didn't change the meaning. 

It's a silly game show and they got all exact.

If a Bostonian added an "h" to the word "park" would they say wrong?


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## riker7 (Dec 23, 2012)

Pat Sajak is never wrong. Never.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

tonyd79 said:


> Her answer didn't change the meaning.
> 
> It's a silly game show and they got all exact.
> 
> If a Bostonian added an "h" to the word "park" would they say wrong?


It's not about meaning. It's about correct spelling and enunciation.

A Boston accent doesn't change how the word is spelled they way leaving a letter off does.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

TheRatPatrol said:


> What word was it?


I can't remember. It was a word, though, that the only difference in the singular and plural was that final "s" at the end... In my case, the teacher swore she had not said the "s" for the plural word. I was in no position to argue, and as I noted... it was really on me for not verifying by asking her to repeat the word a couple of times.



tonyd79 said:


> Her answer didn't change the meaning.
> 
> It's a silly game show and they got all exact.
> 
> If a Bostonian added an "h" to the word "park" would they say wrong?


They probably should... and it is a silly game show. Sometimes the puzzle is a slang or vernacular version and in those cases people have gotten the puzzle wrong by pronouncing letters that weren't there in the slang variant too. It cuts both ways.



SayWhat? said:


> It's not about meaning. It's about correct spelling and enunciation.
> 
> A Boston accent doesn't change how the word is spelled they way leaving a letter off does.


Exactly.

I remember back in the early-to-mid 1980s Chuck Woolery had a "Scrabble" game show. I watched it during breaks from school or days off. It was on NBC I believe.

Originally the show was played with two people... picking 2-at-a-time letter tiles and Chuck giving a pun-laden clue. So you had to figure out the double-meaning in the pun because sometimes one of your two letters wasn't in the word and you would lose a turn.

BUT... the kicker... to solve the puzzle you not only had to say the word BUT also spell the remaining missing letters...

So... if the visible puzzle was "D_N_E_" and the clue pointed you to guess "DANGER"... you also had to spell the missing letters "AGR" in order to win the round.

The funniest episodes were when neither person could spell... and they would have to keep playing and picking tiles even though they both knew the word but neither could spell it... and Chuck would know they had pulled up "stoppers" and were going to lose their turns... and the frustration would be right there in his voice and on his face.

That show got retooled pretty quickly to drop the spelling requirement because it literally killed the pace of the game given the caliber of contestants they were inviting.


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## elaclair (Jun 18, 2004)

Stewart Vernon said:


> I remember back in the early-to-mid 1980s Chuck Woolery had a "Scrabble" game show. I watched it during breaks from school or days off. It was on NBC I believe.


Wasn't that "SLINGO"? I've seen a few of the old episodes on GSN, and most of the "new" ones hosted by Bill Ingvall. Inane, but entertaining.....


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

riker7 said:


> Pat Sajak is never wrong. Never.


!rolling


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## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

elaclair said:


> Wasn't that "SLINGO"? I've seen a few of the old episodes on GSN, and most of the "new" ones hosted by Bill Ingvall. Inane, but entertaining.....


You're thinking of "Lingo" (no "S"). But that's a different game show than what Stewart Vernon was talking about, which was indeed called "Scrabble," and aired on NBC's daytime lineup right after "Wheel of Fortune" for a good chunk of the '80s.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Quite randomly... while looking for clips from Woolery's Scrabble on YouTube... I came to the realization that IF they should ever make a movie about Chuck Woolery (why would they do that? I don't know)... George Clooney should play Woolery.


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## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

> If you'd like to go out with him again, we'll pay for it.


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## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

Stewart Vernon said:


> Quite randomly... while looking for clips from Woolery's Scrabble on YouTube... I came to the realization that IF they should ever make a movie about Chuck Woolery (why would they do that? I don't know)... George Clooney should play Woolery.


I can think of a game show host he'd be even better at portraying: his father Nick Clooney (who hosted a show called "The Money Maze," which had a brief run in the mid-1970s).

Of course, they'd probably be even less likely to make a Nick Clooney movie than a Chuck Woolery movie.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I didn't know his father hosted a gameshow. In fact, I didn't know anyone other than his aunt was ever involved in show business at all.


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

"SayWhat?" said:


> It's not about meaning. It's about correct spelling and enunciation.
> 
> A Boston accent doesn't change how the word is spelled they way leaving a letter off does.


Crap. Dropping a g is no different tan adding letters.

If it is about enunciation, ten a Bostonian adding an "h" or saying a clicker is a clicka sure is bad enunciation and stupid.

Or you think every quote in history was pronounced how it is currently spelled.

Wheel of Fortune is a game show for boobs and proved it is run by them as well.


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## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

Stewart Vernon said:


> I didn't know his father hosted a gameshow. In fact, I didn't know anyone other than his aunt was ever involved in show business at all.


Since his one national game show only had a fairly brief run, Nick Clooney was more well-known as a local TV personality in Cincinnati: he was a news anchor and a local talk-show host there for many years.

Here's a shot from the "Money Maze" set, with Nick Clooney at the far right:


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Looks more like a younger Chuck Barris.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"trainman" said:


> Since his one national game show only had a fairly brief run, Nick Clooney was more well-known as a local TV personality in Cincinnati: he was a news anchor and a local talk-show host there for many years.
> 
> Here's a shot from the "Money Maze" set, with Nick Clooney at the far right:


Very true, he is still extremely popular here. I'd take Nick Clooney over Nick or Drew Lachey as a celebrity any day.


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## renbutler (Oct 17, 2008)

Sorry, guys, but this is not a matter of "correct" or "incorrect."

The English language has multiple dialects. Saying "swimmin" is not "incorrect." Wheel of Fortune can use whatever rules they want, but we cannot say it's "incorrect."

I say this as a professional writer with an English degree. I use STANDARD English. It's not correct, it's just standard! But it would behoove to write in the most neutral way possible to convey what I'm trying to say.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Drucifer said:


> Get Hollywood Squares back.





trainman said:


> It _is_ back -- on MTV2 under the title "Hip Hop Squares."


I'm just trying to imagine Paul Lynde saying, "Yo, hommies, watz up?" followed by that smirky laugh of his.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

renbutler said:


> Sorry, guys, but this is not a matter of "correct" or "incorrect."
> 
> The English language has multiple dialects. Saying "swimmin" is not "incorrect." Wheel of Fortune can use whatever rules they want, but we cannot say it's "incorrect."


In the context of the topic at hand - this game show - you are incorrect.

The game has rules, and the contestants are specifically briefed on them prior to each game that they must enunciate all their words clearly and loud enough to be heard. In this case...the contestant simply blew it. It's not the first time, nor will it be the last.


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> In the context of the topic at hand - this game show - you are incorrect.
> 
> The game has rules, and the contestants are specifically briefed on them prior to each game that they must enunciate all their words clearly and loud enough to be heard. In this case...the contestant simply blew it. It's not the first time, nor will it be the last.


+1


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> In the context of the topic at hand - this game show - you are incorrect.
> 
> The game has rules, and the contestants are specifically briefed on them prior to each game that they must enunciate all their words clearly and loud enough to be heard. In this case...the contestant simply blew it. It's not the first time, nor will it be the last.


Exactly... they have specific enunciation requirements on the show because of the kind of puzzles and the nature of the game. Sometimes they are using slang and wouldn't have a "G" at the end and someone would be buzzed wrong if they pronounced a G that wasn't there.

The rules are meant to try and guide people to pronounce only what is in the puzzle to be sure the contestant really solves the puzzle and they don't just think he did. Clarity and enunciation are key in the game.

IF you ask for an "M" be sure they know you mean "M" and not "N"... same for "B" and "D"... be clear so they give you the letter you ask for... same goes for solving the puzzle. The contestants are briefed I'm sure on those rules.


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## renbutler (Oct 17, 2008)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> In the context of the topic at hand - this game show - you are incorrect.
> 
> The game has rules, and the contestants are specifically briefed on them prior to each game that they must enunciate all their words clearly and loud enough to be heard. In this case...the contestant simply blew it. It's not the first time, nor will it be the last.


Ha, what? I said Wheel of Fortune can use whatever rules they want. It's as if you read only a couple sentences of my post and then ignored everything else.

I wasn't incorrect. The discussion became about what's "correct" and "incorrect" in modern English. That's what I was addressing.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

renbutler said:


> I wasn't incorrect. The discussion became about what's "correct" and "incorrect" in modern English. That's what I was addressing.


OK...then again...English is English...dialect is dialect...and slang is slang.

In terms of this topic and this specific game show situation - *the contestant's attempt at responding in English according to the rules of the game was incorrect*.

I hope this is perhaps a better clarification.


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