The latter (this element’s symbol) isn’t grammatically correct If I’m understanding correctly what you’re going for by putting those two words together in bold. It would be correct to phrase the answer “this element symbol.” If that was what they were going for, then they shouldn’t have accepted the response “What is silver?”.
Here is an answer from Double Jeopardy back in 2008:
This element’s symbol, Hg, comes from the Latin word hydrargyrum, meaning “liquid silver”
Clearly the correct way to phrase the question did not involve handing in a bowl of mercury.
Sorry I seem to have abandoned my thread a bit - flu symptoms have increased
somewhat. I feel that the question I posited in the OP has been adequately answered.
An element’s name and its symbol are synonymous representations of an element to many. I happen to disagree for reasons I have elucidated but hey, live and let live, eh?
Now that the white-hot torch of fury for all things elemental has subsided to a warm, somewhat feverish glow, I shall rest, secure in knowing that the good fight was fought. Or, hey - I gave it a shot. My thanks to all who participated! Also, my sincere thanks for having forums such as these available to look at these sorts of questions.
It’s interesting to see how different the reactions are in different places. On a lot of Jeopardy! boards (the Jeopardy! forum at Television Without Pity, for example), the participants are nearly unanimous in agreeing with the OP. Nobody has used the word “travesty,” but several people have mentioned yelling at the TV in anger and frustration. The consensus at several Jeopardy!-specific boards is that the clue was very explicitly asking for the name of the element, as distinct from its symbol, and thus “Ag” is clearly wrong.
I tend to agree. If I were a judge, I would not have accepted “Ag.” But I can see how you could make a good case either way.
This I do know a definitive answer to. It’s actually a misnomer for them to call this week “The 80’s,” and I’m not sure why they’re doing it. The “Decades Tournament” represents the three decades that this version of Jeopardy! has been on the air. The show premiered in 1984. So the three decades are actually 1984-1993, 1994-2003, and 2004-2013. Why they’re calling this week “The 80’s,” when it includes almost half of the 1990’s, I can’t imagine.
The question is for the element, not the element’s English name. If it was for an element’s name, then only “Mercury” would be the answer. But for an element, both Hg and mercury are acceptable.
“What’s one element in salt?”. Chlorine is acceptable. So is Cl.
If it wasn’t, then the only correct way to respond would involve handing in a bowl of mercury?
No, not “only”, but for the other reasons I mentioned. This element’s symbol doesn’t work because it’s not grammatically correct and the response “What is silver?” could not have been deemed correct.
So we’re left with “this element’s symbol” meaning the element that’s represented by a certain symbol, which is separating the English name from the symbol.
We’ve been debating a Jeopardy! answer that was phrased incorrectly by the OP. I should have checked my Tivo earlier. This is the correct phrasing:
“Of the element symbols that don’t match the element’s English name, this element’s symbol is alphabetically 1st”
Definitely showing a difference between “element symbols” and “element’s symbol.” The symbol is alphabetically first and what’s being asked for is the name of the element that is represented by that symbol.
Until this post, I was with the OP. But this reveals that the question was ambiguous, which is probably why the judges decided to accept a different answer than intended. If they’d wanted the element name, they should have said “the symbol for this element comes first.”
I honestly can’t figure out why there are people still insisting that “(this element’s) symbol comes first” is the only possible reading of the clue. As long as there is the possibility of reading it the other way, both answers had to be accepted. Again, blame the clue writers for not noticing and correcting the ambiguity.
In that question, what is being asked for is “element”. Not “name of the element”. How one specifies the element in response is the responder’s choice, as long as it is clear and unambiguous.
You said if the meaning was “this element’s symbol”, then “silver” would be the only answer. Do you not agree with me that this element’s symbol doesn’t work?
I would. But as jimbuff314 already pointed out, “‘this element’s symbol’ differentiates between an element and it’s symbol.”
Let’s look at the example from 2008 that I posted:
"This element’s symbol, Hg, comes from the Latin word hydrargyrum, meaning “liquid silver”
Of course the main objection I will get from not accepting “What is Hg?” is that “Hg” is mentioned in the answer. But there’s a reason they can put Hg in there and not give anything away. The reason is they started off with “This element’s symbol”, which means they want the name of the element that the symbol represents. That would be true if they deleted “Hg” from the answer and phrased it thusly:
"This element’s symbol comes from the Latin word hydrargyrum, meaning “liquid silver”
No, I do not. I also don’t see how that would be ungrammatical. Oh and I didn’t say that if the meaning was “this element’s symbol” the answer could only be “silver”. Read it again.