Final Jeopardy: Word Origins (12-30-13)

The Final Jeopardy question (12/30/2013), in the category “Word Origins” was:

When evidence was lacking, juries of yore would reply with this Latin word meaning “We do not know”; now it means a dunce.

2-day champ Jerry Slowik won $49,998 last week in 2 runaway games. Today he takes on these two players: Alexis Browsh, from Bryn Mawr, PA; and Armen Terjimanian, originally from Troy, MI.

Jerry found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “California Food Festivals” under the $800 clue, with only one clue to go after that. He was in the lead with $5,600, $2,200 ahead of Armen in second place. He bet $1,400 and he was RIGHT.

An Oxnard festival for this condiment advertises that it celebrates “the food, the music, and the dance.” show

WHAT IS SALSA?

Jerry finished in the lead with $8,000. Armen was second with $3,400 and Alexis was last with $1,800.

Alexis found the first Daily Double in “Biography Subjects” under the $800 clue. She was in third place with $2,200, $9,800 less than Jerry’s lead. She made it a true Daily Double and thought it was Christopher Columbus. That was WRONG.

An explorer: “The Man Who Presumed”. show

WHO IS SIR HENRY MORTON STANLEY?

Jerry got the last Daily Double in “Genealogy” under the $2,000 clue, the last on the board. He had the lead with $19,600, $9,000 more than Armen in second place, and it was his last chance to make it a runaway. He bet $2,000, and he was RIGHT.

With over 10 billion genealogical records, this website says its the “largest online family history resource.” show

WHAT IS ANCESTRY.COM?

Jerry finished in the lead with $21,600. Armen was next with $10,600 and Alexis was in third place with $2,400.

Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS IGNORAMUS?

(The Free Dictionary defines an ignoramus as an “ignorant person” and notes that it derives from legal Latin. If you scroll down a bit, their thesaurus entry shows “dunce” as a synonym. The entry also provides the info that modern usage evolved from a character (an unlettered lawyer) in a play by 17th-century English dramatist, George Ruggle. Wikipedia has an entry on the play entitled “Ignoramus.”

Alexis wrote down “no comprende.” She lost her $2,000 bet and finished with $400.

Armen thought it was nolo contendere. That cost him $5,000 and he finished with $5,600.

Jerry got it right. He added $302 to win today with $21,902. His amazing 3-day total is $71,900. That will get Jerry a spot on our “if they went by money” TOC list, but he’s got to win at least over $3,504 tomorrow to get on the list that goes by games won, then money.