WOF pronunclation question

[bradhig]

The navy lady said "Seven swams a swimmin" and was robbed.  Has this happened before?   This has me scratching my head.

[J.R.]

"Robbed" is a bit dramatic.

Unfortunate? Sure. But she should've known better than to solve that casually.

[chad1m]

This has me scratching my head.

I really don't get why people are so up in arms over this. You have to read what's up there, letter for letter. If I ever get lucky enough on the show, I might look foolish but I'm going to be solving every puzzle slowly with enunciation so every syllable is heard. In my opinion, the only reason this woman should have been ruled correct is if she had some sort of speech impediment where pronouncing the "G" at the end of the word is difficult.

Of course, I say all of this but the next night solve was ruled correct, so I don't know what the heck was happening that tape day. (I analyzed and opined on both at Buzzer, if anyone cares to read.)

[Joe Mello]

Well if it was seven swams, I'd definitely say no.

[PYLdude]

I'm operating under the assumption that bradhig made a typo, but if she actually did say "swams" instead of "swans" then forget about "swimmin'", it's wrong no matter what (re: Armadillo and Laredo Texas).

EDIT: Damn you Mello!

[SuperMatch93]

If I were a writer, I would have made the puzzle "SEVEN SWANS A-SWIMMIN'" anyway, just to eliminate pronunciation issues.

[MikeK]

If I were a writer, I would have made the puzzle "SEVEN SWANS A-SWIMMIN'" anyway, just to eliminate pronunciation issues.

But the real line is "Seven swans a-swimming".  You can't change the wording because you want to avoid someone dropping off a letter.

[NickintheATL]

I think this is way overblown now.  I was at work this morning, and it came up as a story on ABC's GMA Weekend.  They had reaction from the contestant herself.

I personally agree with Klauss, you have to read it as it's up there.

[Vgmastr]

If I were a writer, I would have made the puzzle "SEVEN SWANS A-SWIMMIN'" anyway, just to eliminate pronunciation issues.

But the real line is "Seven swans a-swimming".  You can't change the wording because you want to avoid someone dropping off a letter.

Not only that, but that wouldn't eliminate pronounciation issues.  I remember once a puzzle was "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" and a contestant was ruled incorrect when they added the G.

[clemon79]

Not only that, but that wouldn't eliminate pronounciation issues.  I remember once a puzzle was "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" and a contestant was ruled incorrect when they added the G.

The real solution is pretty easy: Don't use any puzzle on your show that offers a reasonable chance of setting up a situation like this, because if it goes sour you're gonna get bad pub out of screwing over a contestant who falls into the trap.

There are lots of words in the English language, and lots of ways to combine them. Surely vetoing a few extra puzzles at the writer's meeting isn't going to slow down the writing process that much.

[That Don Guy]

I heard "swans" and "swimmin".  I don't know exactly when they suddenly decided to get tight on pronounciation, but it's more strict under Sajak than under Woolery.

I remember one bonus round where the puzzle was MILAN ITALY, and the contestant pronounced Milan "MY-lun" and was ruled incorrect.  On the other hand, back in the Woolery days, "Green-witch Village" was accepted for GREENWICH VILLAGE.  (In fact, the host reminding the players to solve the puzzle "exactly as it appears" started the day after somebody said "Tweedledee and Tweedledum" for TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE and got credit for it.)

Another one from the Sajak days (although it's a legitimate call): being called wrong for saying "The Atlanta Falcons" for ATLANTA FALCONS.

[mparrish11]

So what you're saying is that someone who says "PEE-can" in "Pecan Pie" (Like, say, someone with a southern accent)--would get ruled incorrect?

I'm on the opposite end--I think she should have been ruled correct.  There's a huge variance in dialects in North America--some leeway needs to be given.

[BrandonFG]

I'm on the opposite end--I think she should have been ruled correct.  There's a huge variance in dialects in North America--some leeway needs to be given.

I won't argue the dialect part, but in this case, it wasn't like she went for a different vernacular or alternate pronunciation (FWIW, the first page of a Google search reveals "A-Swimming"). She clearly left the "g" off the word, which is wrong.

I agree with Chris, that the puzzle shouldn't have been used. There are other "gifts" in the song that could've been used without causing that kind of confusion (A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE or TWO TURTLE DOVES, come to mind).

[bradhig]

I Spelled swans wrong.

[PYLdude]

So what you're saying is that someone who says "PEE-can" in "Pecan Pie" (Like, say, someone with a southern accent)--would get ruled incorrect?

I'm on the opposite end--I think she should have been ruled correct.  There's a huge variance in dialects in North America--some leeway needs to be given.

I'm not Southern and I pronounce it "pee-can". As do a lot of people.

It's not "swimmin", it's "swimming".