I’m sorry. If I ask Terr, “Is silver an element?” and the first word out of his mouth is “No”, then to me, it doesn’t really matter how he qualifies it, his answer is absurd.
Yes, “if.” But that didn’t happen.
A travesty OF AWESOME!
Hmm. Do you really not see what my hypothetical was aimed at? It’s not just Terr, it’s everyone in this thread who has said something like “Well, if Ag is just a symbol, then “silver” is not the element, but just an English word representing it.”
To be honest, I was quite surprised when the thread began going down that particular rabbithole. I’m not up on my knowledge of logical fallacies, but surely one of them covers this situation.
I’m sorry. If I ask jimbuff314, “Is Ag an element?” and the first word out of his mouth is “No”, then to me, it doesn’t really matter how he qualifies it, his answer is absurd.
Touchy! Er, I mean touché.
Hey, his effort was noble. He, um, was trying to teach by example.
Our protagonist lifts his craggy head.
Surveys the blasted, rent landscape surrounding him.
Notices everyone has left.
Slowly the dawning realization suffuses our hero’s weary, unshaven countenance with a sublime joy.
"My first thread.
And I
HAVE
WON!!!"
It’s just like in the end of Brazil… 
Yes!
Oh, wait. You don’t mean the ending where he gets the hot girl and they drive off into the pastoral countryside, do you?
You mean the other ending, where’s he’s literally gone insane to divorce himself from the horror of the reality that his life is.
Damn.
Since this thread has been resurrected after a brief rest, I’ll chime into to agree with the OP. I haven’t read the whole thread, so apologies if this logic has already been offered.
Consider this sentence: “Of the Beatles who were left-handed, this Beatle’s primary musical instrument comes first alphabetically.”
There’s only one right answer: Paul. Not bass guitar. Paul McCartney. Why is the Jeopardy! construction interpreted any differently? Some might answer it’s because “silver” and “Ag” have an equivalency that “Paul” and “Paul’s primary musical instrument” do not. Not in the Jeopardy question, they don’t. There’s a clear distinction between the element and its symbol. The plain English of the sentence makes that clear, that they are two different things for purposes of that sentence (and presumably the answer).
There. Glad I settled that. 
“Paul’s primary musical instrument” is not a way of referring to Paul, in the way that Ag is a way of referring to silver.
Also, the distinction between the element’s name and its symbol is only for the purpose of alphabetizing the symbol name. See post 118.
That is a good analogy of the situation. I was surprised when they accepted Ag (or AG). Either the contestant wasn’t sure of the element name “silver” or he was being pedantic in his answer. If the latter, he should have had second thoughts since it leaved the correctness of the answer up to debate.
Aha! So someone does argue, “it’s because ‘silver’ and ‘Ag’ have an equivalency that ‘Paul’ and ‘Paul’s primary musical instrument’ do not.” Again, I’d point out that they do NOT have that equivalency in the question posed. There’s a clear distinction between the element and its symbol in the plain English of the question; they are two related-but-different things in that sentence. Logically, this should require the same distinction in the answer, for the same reason that “bass guitar” would be the incorrect answer to my question.
I get that it’s not a ridiculous argument to say Ag is acceptable, by the way. But it’s a bit of a stretch to me at best, and in my most pedantic moments, it would be unequivocally wrong. The question as constructed, IMO, is clearly looking for the specific word, “silver.”
I never left! This thread has been better than this week’s College Tournament. (Seriously, Jeopardy! A whole category on Taylor Swift?)
Now if someone else will admit to celebrating knowing the answer when all the contestants have bombed it by doing a Mary Katherine Gallagher while yelling ‘Triple Stumper Queen’…because I may have a friend that does that.
I don’t know if he’s a lefty, but it should be Ringo, because “drum kit” comes earlier in the alphabet than “electric bass guitar.”
Ha! We’ll leave that one to the judges. 
(And Ringo is a lefty, though he sets up his kit like a righty.)
Of course. “Silver” and “Ag” are both names for an element. “Paul” and “Paul’s guitar” are names for two completely different things.
Read post 118.
Actually, read the whole thread. Why should we rehash everything because you can’t be bothered to read?
For those of you who Tivoed it: What was Trebek’s reaction when the contestant’s “question” was displayed? Did he pronounce it “silver” or “A G” when he read it? Did he hesitate? Ask the judges for a ruling? Did his head start to explode, and next thing you knew, there was an animatronic replacement there that almost looked like him?
^ Alex said, “What is AG, and that is the chemical symbol for (slight pause) silver. You are right, you add…”
When Alex paused slightly, it seemed as if he was waiting to see if the contestant would fill in the blank. The contestant did and said “silver” out loud and Alex followed. But the contestant might have only known it was the symbol for silver because the first contestant was already deemed correct for answering with silver.