Thursday, February 28, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

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BigDaddyJ
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
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Location: Indianapolis

Re: Thursday, February 28, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by BigDaddyJ »

Linear Gnome wrote:Let's say John Doe was mugged last week. Would we say John is a mugging victim or was a mugging victim?
That might depend on whether John survived the mugging. :D
bmitchelf
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Re: Thursday, February 28, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by bmitchelf »

Linear Gnome wrote:
bmitchelf wrote:I am probably nitpicking, but I learned in school to refer to action in fictional works as present-tense, which brings be to the TV Villains category. I understand using the past tense in the $800 and $1600 clues because they referred to actors who no longer play those characters. I think the writers dropped the ball at $2000 because it should read: The wife of "The Mentalist" is

Final Jeopardy clue must have assumed that we would forget what happened seven years ago so quickly. Without more context, too hard for Kids Week, but instaget for me and too easy for a regular episode.
Welcome to the board!

I agree that FJ was a bit easy. On the villains questions, without any specific rule to back me up, "was" feels right to me, both because the character is deceased and because the action took place in the past.

Let's say John Doe was mugged last week. Would we say John is a mugging victim or was a mugging victim? I think either construction is defensible, but John probably prefers the past tense.
Thanks!

If John Doe is a human being, was, but referring to a work of fiction, I was taught to use is. Then again, it may just be a rule for novels!
davey
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
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Re: Thursday, February 28, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by davey »

bmitchelf wrote:
Linear Gnome wrote:
bmitchelf wrote:I am probably nitpicking, but I learned in school to refer to action in fictional works as present-tense, which brings be to the TV Villains category. I understand using the past tense in the $800 and $1600 clues because they referred to actors who no longer play those characters. I think the writers dropped the ball at $2000 because it should read: The wife of "The Mentalist" is

Final Jeopardy clue must have assumed that we would forget what happened seven years ago so quickly. Without more context, too hard for Kids Week, but instaget for me and too easy for a regular episode.
Welcome to the board!

I agree that FJ was a bit easy. On the villains questions, without any specific rule to back me up, "was" feels right to me, both because the character is deceased and because the action took place in the past.

Let's say John Doe was mugged last week. Would we say John is a mugging victim or was a mugging victim? I think either construction is defensible, but John probably prefers the past tense.
Thanks!

If John Doe is a human being, was, but referring to a work of fiction, I was taught to use is. Then again, it may just be a rule for novels!
Or academic papers about novels...otherwise I think it's entirely a matter of context. The wife on The Mentalist was dead before the series began...and the series is ongoing...so it's logical to refer to her death in the past.
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