Final Jeopardy: Phrase Origins (12-3-12)
The Final Jeopardy question (12/3/2012) in the category “Phrase Origins” was:
This 2-word adjective for “going against accepted speech or conduct” first appeared in a 1933 translation from Izvestia.
3-day champ Jason Shore returns once again. He has won $67,800 so far and, today, he is up against these two ladies: Basia Pioro, from Georgetown, Grand Cayman and Chris O’Toole, from Pittsburgh, PA.
Jason found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Shakespearean Scene Settings.” He was in the lead with $6,800, $2,600 more than Basia in second place. He bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.
“Another part of the island.”
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Jason finished in the lead with $8,800. Basia was second with $4,400 and Chris was in the hole for $200.
Basia found the first Double Jeopardy Daily Double in “Painted Ladies.” She was in second place with $6,800, $9,600 less than Jason’s lead. She bet $2,000 and took a guess with Picasso but that was WRONG.
His painting of the naked & clothed “majas” caused him to be called before a tribunal.
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Two clues later, Basia found the last Daily Double in “Mountain Do.” She had $4,800 now, $11,600 less than Jason’s lead. She bet $1,500 and she was RIGHT.
Appropriately, the highest mountain peak in this South American country is Pico Cristobal Colon.
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Jason finished in the lead with $1,200, a huge runaway. Chris was next with $7.000 and Basia was in third place with $4,700.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “POLITICALLY INCORRECT”?
The phrase appeared in this report in the Christian Science Monitor in November 1933: “The results of a recent investigation of the knowledge of 65,000 Soviet pupils are candidly summed up in the official newspaper, Izvestia, in the following terms: ‘Bad grammar, abundance of mistakes in spelling,…superficial and often politically incorrect information in civics and social sciences.'” (WordOrigins.org)
Basia was writing “counter culture” down but time ran out and she only got half of the last word in, but it was wrong anyway so she lost $4,699, leaving her with a dollar.
Chris wrote down “going against the grain,” a lot more than two words and it’s been around long before 1933. Her $6,999 bet also left Chris with a dollar.
Jason didn’t write down anything. He bet $3,800, a mere pittance comparatively speaking, so he won the game with $17,400. His 4-day total is a whopping $85,200. We probably don’t have to point out that he’s making over 20 grand a day but we will anyhow because we greatly admire that feat.
