Perhaps the thread title is a clever reference to this famous pro-war protester.
Or maybe not…
That’s what I assumed. The use of the word “morans” is now common on many sites.
That’s what I assumed, too. And I don’t see the problem with the Belfast question, either.
I was at a tavern watching one of the teen episodes and they had a clue that went something like:
JOEL MCHALE
HOSTS E!PISODES
OF CLIP ART
The answer of course being ’What is The Soup?' Not only did *none *of the teens even venture a single guess but Trebeck responded, a tad bit condescendingly I think, “That’s ok, I’ve never heard of it either”! I thought, ‘Oh man, I hope they saw that!’ Sure enough, it was the very first clip they showed the following episode!
Trebek answering condescendingly?
I can’t believe it
I know that this is a personal problem, but I also get unreasonably mad when someone loses because they fucked up the betting. I understand that there’s a lot of pressure, and there is a time limit for determining one’s wager. But when some drool-factory doesn’t bet enough, and loses because of it, I lose a week off my life.
Same goes for Wheel of Fortune.
You should watch the Russian edition of Jeopardy! sometime. (Yes, they have one; it’s called Svoya igra, “Your Move” or “Your Game.”)
The dude who hosts it constantly puts down anyone who gives a less than brilliant answer, which actually makes it quite entertaining to watch!
Incidentally, all of the contestants are required to wear academic gowns and mortar boards, making it even more tacky. A “Daily Double” is called a Kot v meshke, or “Cat in a Bag,” the Russian equivalent, I suppose, to our “pig in a poke” (which always makes me think of the “Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son” edition of Bullwinkle’s Corner).
This is absolutely true - nowhere did they say “country.” But why do you think they all not only got it wrong, but all specifically went with Dublin? I have to believe it’s because they all went through the exact same line of reasoning…
- Catholic/Protestant troubles = Northern Ireland
- But Northern Ireland isn’t a country, it’s part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- I guess it must be Dublin
I’m not saying Jeopardy got it wrong, I’m just saying that if you could ask any of the three kids, they’d all tell you that they feel like they got tricked into the wrong answer. None of this, of course, excuses the absolutely idiotic betting that the OP was so upset about.
Or, possibly, they just have no idea of the distinction between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Seems a lot more probable to me (remember, they are Americans). :rolleyes:
They’re also, interestingly, not required to give their answers in the form of questions. Whether this is due to the complexities of the Russian language or just to a desire to squeeze in more commercial time, I don’t know. 
Plus, in the last forty-odd years I’ve not heard one story about conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Dublin; ~99.999% of them, I’m pretty sure, originated in Belfast.
It may also be because answering in the form of a question is really dumb.
I laugh every time I scroll past this thread title.
Morans!
Them’s the rules of the game; have been ever since that first day with Art Fleming, lo those many years ago!
That is exactly what I said to the TV.
They are kids. They didn’t grow up with the Troubles in the Zeitgeist like we did. I get that.
Doesn’t really excuse the betting behavior.
Yes, thank you. These kids were born in the mid 90’s. The Troubles were practically over by that point. They’re in high school now. If a US teenager ever learns about The Troubles, it will most likely only be in an AP history class.
They knew enough that it was Ireland, but being a little off of their Irish geography is at least a bit excusable.
But the shitty betting? Especially for the one in first place? No excuse.
Agreed. I’m about 10 years older than those kids, and I didn’t know it. History-wise, schools tend not to cover anything after WW2 beyond a cursory mention of the Cold War and Vietnam (and now, probably the War on Terror). Heck, I was slightly surprised when none of the kids got the question about the Patriot Act earlier in the week - but these kids would’ve been between 3-5 years old when it first passed, so its somewhat understandable.
And I can’t blame the two kids who were in second and third for betting it all. The kid in first though? Moron.