'Jeopardy!' angers fans with 'neopronouns' question: 'Alex Trebeck spinning in his grave' (2024)

Some Jeopardy! fans are fuming after the game show presented a clue about pronouns “xem/xyrs/xemself” on an episode this week.

Article content

In the category “Speech! Parts of Speech!,” one of the clues was “xem, xyrs, xemself.” Contestant Cris Pannullo buzzed in to answer “What are pronouns?,” with host Ken Jennings awarding him $600, declaring, “Those are pronouns, neopronouns.”

Neopronouns are nonbinary pronouns used in place of expressing gender identifiers she, he and they.

According to Cosmopolitan, “neopronouns have gained some popularity within mostly online queer spaces, where they’ve become an exercise in self-expression within that community.”

Some examples of neopronouns include “xe/xem, e/em, ze/zir, fae/faer, ey/em, ae/aer, ve/ver and ne/nem.”

Article content

Article content

But the question drew outrage from longtime Jeopardy! fans with several taking to social media to vent their anger.

“So, in order to win at Jeopardy, you need to be able to keep up with whatever bull the wokes are coming up with?” one person wondered aloud on X.

Many others took aim at a question they claimed former host the late Alex Trebek would never have allowed to be asked on the beloved quiz show.

“They didn’t waste time making Alex start spinning in his grave; did they?” one viewer wrote. Another critic asserted that “Jeopardy died (when) Alex left us. He wouldn’t put up with that nonsense.”

“I still watch Jeopardy every day but their questions and answers keep getting weirder and weirder,” yet another angry fan wrote. “When Alex Trebek was still alive we never had any of this.”

Article content

Article content

“I will NEVER watch Jeopardy after this. After Alex, it all went downhill,” one former fan swiped.

“Dear God, we’ve lost #Jeopardy to the woke insanity,” radio broadcaster Mike Opelka tweeted.

But not everyone was upset. One person took to X to applaud the question, writing, “Jeopardy just had a question about neo pronouns & it’s probably silly of me, but that was so exciting to see. And it wasn’t treated like a joke, either.”

“I don’t really get the outrage on this one,” another remarked. “It’s a good Jeopardy! question because those are a confusing example of pronouns that would take most people time to realize what part of speech they are.”

With the release of the 2021 census, Canada became the first country to provide data on transgender and non-binary people. Prior to that year, only “male” and “female” responses featured on the questionnaire.

According to the results, of the nearly 30.5 million people in Canada aged 15 and older living in a private household in May 2021, 59,460 were transgender and 41,355 were non-binary, accounting for 0.33% of the population in this age group.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

X: @markhdaniell

Article content