JEOPARDY! fans have called out the game show for what they felt was an unfair ruling on a word’s slight mispronunciation.

Fans accused the game show’s judges of becoming inconsistent with their speech-based rulings.

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On Thursday, Meredith Miller, Micah Rahn-Tiemeyer, and Jay Fisher faced off against each other.

During Double Jeopardy!, Jay picked the category “Some Hats, Some Cattle” for $1,600.

The question read, “The name of this cattle breed prized for its marbled beef literally means ‘Japenese Cow.’”

Meredith buzzed in and answered, “What is Way-gu?”

There was a hesitation before host Ken Jennings said, “Mmm, no.”

Jay and Micah did not buzz in.

“So close, Meredith. You didn’t have a ‘Y.’ Wagyu,” Ken, 50, let her know.

This put Meredith in third place with $400.

FANS SPEAK OUT

A Jeopardy! fan posted their thoughts on Reddit, with other fans calling out the judges.

“The issue with the word Wagyu the other day made me think, I know Jeopardy is extremely particular about pronunciation, changing the sound in a word no matter how subtle it may be makes the difference between a correct and incorrect response,” the original poster wrote.

“Some sounds however are similar enough that they would sound functionally identical when spoken at a normal cadence, words that end with M and with N for example.”

“I am furious about that call,” said another.

“I saw a Trebek rerun where the first contestant’s effort was judges correct and game play moved on,” a second added.

“That stuck in my brain because in a more recent episode all three contestants said his name close enough that it was clear they knew what they meant, and not one of them got ruled correctly. So tedious and pedantic when it becomes a precise pronunciation game.”

Jeopardy! Host Timeline

Jeopardy! has had a tumultuous history regarding hosts after the death of the iconic Alex Trebek in 2020. Here are all of the hosts since the game show’s inception in 1964.

Art Fleming – 1964 to 1975, he was the original host of the daytime version of Jeopardy! on NBC.

Alex Trebek – 1984 to 2020, the late, great Alex hosted Jeopardy!’s modern iteration for 36 years until his death from pancreatic cancer.

Guest hosts – 2020 to 2021, Jeopardy! tested out a series of guest hosts for week or two-week stints, including Anderson Cooper, LaVar Burton, and Aaron Rodgers.

Mike Richards – 2021, he was named host for one week before resigning amid controversy. He was the show’s executive producer at the time.

Mayim Bialik – 2021 to 2023, when Mike was announced as the show’s new host, Mayim was chosen to host tournaments and primetime specials.

Mayim and Ken Jennings – 2022 to 2023, 74-time champion Ken (the longest-winning contestant ever) joined Mayim as a guest host and they split hosting duties.

Ken Jennings – 2023 to present. Last December, Mayim announced on Instagram that she would “no longer” host Jeopardy! after a lengthy hiatus, having stood with the writer’s strike, and Ken was named sole host.

Ken now helms all editions of Jeopardy! including Celebrity Jeopardy!, the nightly show, and other primetime specials like Masters.

Fans on X also spoke out about the unfair call.

“I can’t believe Jeopardy docked someone for pronouncing ‘wagyu’ like someone from Iowa; I would have picked up my podium,” one fan wrote.

“@jeopardy wagyu… Are you kidding me… No one knows how to pronounce that word and you know what she meant…” said another.

“Hey Judges!!…Tell Ken Jennings that Meredith was right!!…it’s Wagyu and not pronounced Wygu!!!” said another.

‘MAKE IT MAKE SENSE’

This isn’t the first time fans thought that a player was robbed.

Earlier this month, Jeopardy! and Ken received negative feedback over another harsh ruling.

On July 3, Ken and the game show judges did not accept Returning champ Kelly Proulx’s, a communications director from Billerica, Massachusetts, answer.

During the last clue of Double Jeopardy!, which was in the category “Waterfalls,” Kelly buzzed in first.

“A Yosemite fall with a wispy ribbon of water that flutters in the air like a diaphanous cloth bears the name of this marital wear,” the $2,000 clue read.

Kelly answered, “What is Bridalveil Falls?”

“No, I’m sorry,” Ken said. “It’s actually Bridalveil Fall, so we couldn’t take that. It is, ‘What is a Bridalveil?’”

She was ruled incorrect because she added an “s” to her answer.

This made her enter Final Jeopardy! in last place with $8,000.

That said, just two games earlier, a contestant was allowed to say “lar-nyx” instead of “larynx.”

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