# Wheel of Fortune: how did they not know that? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635 "2009-06-13T02:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/41 "2009-06-14T02:00:04Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > I’m guessing the player guessed _H_ and the “correct” response was _J_, although [Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mohave) says both are acceptable. Although _Mojave Desert_ is the more common spelling, I don’t know why everyone would be expected to know that, especially if someone were familiar with the Mohave tribe, Mohave County, and Fort Mohave in Arizona. I don’t know that I’d expect everybody to know it (and certainly one person didn’t), but I’d expect most people to know it, and I’d expect most people who try to get on Wheel of Fortune to definitely know it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/42 "2009-06-14T02:25:13Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Heh, I wouldn’t have said H. > > Because I don’t know what a Mojave is, and because I misread it as “dessert”. Yeah, I’ve had frozen mocave on many occasions. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/43 "2009-06-14T02:49:17Z")
I think I yelled at the screen several months ago when WOF was on, only one consonant remained, the solution was incredibly obvious, and the dumbass chick whose turn it was shouted out: “NICK JAGGER AND KEITH RICHARDS!” I’m still yelling on the inside. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/44 "2009-06-14T03:26:36Z")
I don’t remember what the name of the show was but I once watched a gameshow where the idea was you were given two people defined by the first name and occupation and had to guess their common last name. One person was given this: Singer Aretha and Patriot Benjamin Now can you figure out the last name these two share in common? I’ll give you a hint - we can eliminate Washington because that guess was incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/45 "2009-06-14T05:41:29Z")
One that makes the rounds of the “Blooper” shows, mainly for Pat’s reaction: A GROUP OF \_ _LL-_ \_SH\_RS Contestant guesses “A group of pill-pushers?” A group of well-wishers And another I saw years ago: PENNSYLVANIA \_ \_TCH “Pennsylvania witch?” No… Pennsylvania Dutch ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/46 "2009-06-14T06:10:49Z")
A M\_SS \_S AS GOOD AS A M\_LE “A miss is as good as a…mule?” ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/47 "2009-06-14T12:18:19Z")
I cringed at “alfacore tuna”, but what was bugging me more about that particular contestant was that she would rack up a huge amount of money and then spin, spin, spin for each letter until they were all up on the board. Meanwhile, everybody else is going bankrupt on every turn. I was pulling my hair out. Anyway, if she didn’t know what the last letter was she could have just solved the puzzle and mumbled the answer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/48 "2009-06-14T12:55:09Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Well, I notice that both the people who say they’ve not heard that word are from Australia. Maybe it’s just not as common there as in the US? For what it’s worth, I would have got it. ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/49 "2009-06-14T13:50:56Z")
I also know the word but only because it’s a fish in World of Warcraft. :smack: There’s a whole bunch of [stupid game show answer](http://www.youtube.com/user/stupidgsa?blend=1&ob=4) clips on YouTube. I was bored one evening and went through them all, and ended up laughing so hard I cried. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/50 "2009-06-14T17:04:16Z")
According to [Dave Barry](http://www.davebarry.com/president/dave2k/columns/wheel.htm), the problem isn’t that contestants are stupid. They just find it hard to think under pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/51 "2009-06-15T01:30:49Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Oh God, the worst one I ever saw was also one of those question ones. The question phrase was “9th Planet or Disney Do\_”, the eventual bonus answer being Pluto, of course. This guy had like $12k and he asked to solve the puzzle: “9th Planet or Disney Doc?” The worst one I saw was also a question. In this case though it wasn’t a case of a stupid contestant, but a stupid question. “The country formally known as Siam?” No, Thailand is the country _formerly_ known as Siam, not _formally_. (This was the Australian Wheel of Fortune. For what it’s worth, I had not heard of albacore tuna until this thread either. Either we don’t have it here or it’s called something else.) ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/52 "2009-06-15T04:03:41Z")
These people are idiots! it’s COUNT RUSHMORE!!! Joe(y) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/53 "2009-06-15T05:25:01Z")
> [@Kayeby](#): > > There’s a whole bunch of [stupid game show answer](http://www.youtube.com/user/stupidgsa?blend=1&ob=4) clips on YouTube. I was bored one evening and went through them all, and ended up laughing so hard I cried. “Name something you feel before you buy it.” \ “Excited!” Bwa ha ha ha! ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/54 "2009-06-15T06:13:00Z")
There is the now famous case of David Tua (heavy weight boxer, in Don Kings stable, once a contender for heavyweight title) He was on a celebrity wheel of fortune in New Zealand (yes he is a kiwi _shame_) “Uhhh…I’ll have an O for Awesome please” (Link [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaIZF8uUTtk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaIZF8uUTtk)) Now my favourite saying is “Well that’s just O for Oarsum” ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/55 "2009-06-15T15:07:36Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Also, remember when Jeopardy used to be on after Wheel of Fortune? I took their swapping time slots as an indication of society’s doom, myself. Why? Whichever is thought to be the stronger lead-in for a given area is what is chosen to air first. Anyway, I have you all beat for contestant failure. Back in the Eighties, I guess, there was a board that read… FRESH FROM YOUR GROCER’S SHELF And the player said “Fresh from your grocer’s store, no, shelf, OH!” (nope). So the next player got to take it, and said…“Fresh **off** your grocer’s shelf”. So the third player got to try, and she said “Fresh from your grosher’s shelf”, and we were left in suspense as they headed into commercial, as the judges conferred. When they came back, it was announced that “grosher’s” was a regional variant, and that they were cool with those. Too bad, as that could have been the unlikeliest second chance story of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/56 "2009-06-15T21:26:52Z")
**Shawn1767** said: > [@](#): > > Yeah, Wheel of Fortune has really gone downhill. Back in my day (I’m 42) they used actual sayings and cliche’s and not made up stuff like sayings that connect based on a common word or heck, just plain things like “grilled albacore tuna”. And I remember when Chuck Woolery made contestants use their money to buy crappy gifts from a pool of crappy gifts “I’ll take the porcelain horse statue for $30 and put the rest on a gift certificate, Chuck.” Chuck Woolery was originally host? Wiki says otherwise. > [@](#): > > Pat Sajak and Vanna White have hosted this version of the show since its debut > **[Wheel of Fortune (American game show)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_Fortune_(U.S._game_show))** > > This is an accepted version of this page > > > > Wheel of Fortune (often known simply as Wheel\[g\]) is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show has aired continuously since January 6, 1975. Contestants solve word puzzles, similar to those in hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a giant carnival wheel. The current version of the series, which airs in nightly syndication, premiered on September 19, 1983. Since September 9, 2024, the show has been hosted by Ry... They did have rules that you had to spend most of your money till you were down to less money than any of the prizes, or close to it. At first I was a little sad when they lost that, but then realized that part was kind of a drag - who cares if they get the refrigerator or the sofa? More puzzles was better. > [@](#): > > And when the letters actually had to be hand TURNED! And you didn’t get any letters to help you guess the final one. Ah, yes… it was more challenging back then… Well, to make up for the letters they increase the challenge with the bizarre categories like Same Name or the aformentioned run together one. **Merijeek** said: > [@](#): > > My own personal favorite is when they have something like: > > THERE \_NCE W\_S \_ W\_M\_N FR\_M VENUS > > Basically, one that’s impossible to NOT KNOW. There is no more money to be made. So what do they do? > > “Pat, I’d like to buy an ‘O’” Yeah, do they really not know what the answer is and need another letter, or are they just trying to confirm before they guess? Because either way, if they are wrong they lose a turn. But if they are right, they’ve just spent $200 (IIRC) from their prize pool, and sometimes those are in small digits already (a round of bankrupts late in the game is painful). I have to think they are buying the one letter they know is there (the O in “FROM”) to figure out the words they don’t know, and are stuck in some brain freeze that they can’t parse W\_M\_N. **Musicat** said: > [@](#): > > Hot or not, [Vanna]'s superfluous. That was my response when I first saw the “touch” letters. But they need her to banter with Pat. :dubious: Besides, they couldn’t be so heartless as to fire her just because technology improved. :eek: **mshar253** said: > [@](#): > > I remember a couple years ago, they had all the letters on the board, and all the woman had to do was say it. Instead of saying, “WHITE SANDY BEACH,” she said, “WHITE SANDY BEACHES” and they didn’t give it to her. Which is fine, I guess. However, a few weeks later, during a college week of WoF, another girl had all the letters (“EAT FRESH”) and instead of saying it, she said, “SUBWAY,” and they still gave it to her. I didn’t think that was right. Don’t they have a category for “Slogan” where you answer the company that has that slogan? I just checked the WoF homepage, but it is surprisingly unhelpful. No information whatsoever on the actual game. **AppallingGael** said: > [@](#): > > When they came back, it was announced that “grosher’s” was a regional variant, and that they were cool with those. Too bad, as that could have been the unlikeliest second chance story of all time. Well, the store is typically pronounced around here as a “groshery store”, so I imagine the person running it would be the “grosher”. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/57 "2009-06-15T22:31:24Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Well, the store is typically pronounced around here as a “groshery store”, so I imagine the person running it would be the “grosher”. Where’s that? I’ve only ever heard it pronounced as “gross-ery.” Groshery sounds like a speech impediment. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/58 "2009-06-15T22:46:08Z")
I’m in the southwest United States and I’ve never heard anyone pronounce “grocery” with a soft c. It’s always been the sh sound. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/59 "2009-06-15T22:52:41Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I’m in the southwest United States and I’ve never heard anyone pronounce “grocery” with a soft c. It’s always been the sh sound. From Canada (the Eastern end - so about as far from ‘Southwest US’ as it’s possible to get without leaving the continent), and I’ve never heard ‘grossery’ either. ---
**Author:** ![fizzestothetop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e79b87/32.png) [@fizzestothetop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizzestothetop)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635/60 "2009-06-15T23:41:29Z")
I try to avoid watching this show as much as possible because the contestants make my brain hurt. There was one where I think it was a college kids episode and the puzzle was German Chocolate Ca\_e. What did the girl guess? German Chocolate Cafe! WTF?! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-how-did-they-not-know-that/499635.md?page=4)