The English language has rules which are not subject to revision, no matter how smart or well-intentioned the speaker may be. Rules, such as how to use that vs. which, like vs. such as, and as vs. since.
And of course, who could forget that most sacred of all English language constructions, gangster vs. gangsta?
One contestant on Jeopardy! would have been better served if he had spent a little more time studying Coolio than Shakespeare, before his recent appearance on the long-running game show.
On New Year’s Day, a contestant named Nick was presented with the following clue:
“A song by Coolio from ‘Dangerous Minds’ goes back in time to become a 1667 John Milton classic.”
Nick responded, seemingly correctly, by combining Milton’s book Paradise Lost with Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise,” and answered: “Gangster’s Paradise Lost.”
The judges initially gave Nick credit for the response. However, upon further consideration, the Jeopardy! judges decided that Nick’s pronunciation would not suffice. What happened next was both amazing and crushing, all at the same time.
Let Nick’s mistake be a lesson to us all. In 2018, you gotta keep it gangsta at all times. Never Gangster #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/NMO7QsAfyI
— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) January 2, 2018
Trebek said, “Our judges have re-evaluated one of your responses a few minutes ago, Nick. You said gangster’s instead of gangsta’s on that song by Coolio, so we take $3,200 away from you. You are now in second place.”
The brevity and brutality of Trebek’s verdict was almost “Gangsta” in its own right. Jeopardy! normally keeps their judges out of the public view, so we may never know who decided that Nick’s response lacked sufficient “Gangsta” credentials. However, it seems as though the long-running hit show has a judge who is very concerned about keeping it real.
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