5th Grader 6/12 Spoilers

[MarkBarrett]

I'll get the standard first question out of the way: I still watch because the show is entertaining and harmless fun. Plus it's easy to watch in 20 minutes on tape.

Spoiler

Jeff made a decent save on an idiotic comment by the second contestant. In the Q asking whether there are glaciers on Africa or not, the contestant talked about it being so hot in Africa that the people don't wear shoes or many clothes.

Jeff came back with something along the lines of, "You're thinking of Mardi Gras."

I'm not sure I've ever seen a full hour with Nathan not selected to play at all.

[MarleysGh0st]

Further spoilers:

Spoiler

The first contestant was the cowboy ("Hook'em Horns!") who also happened to have a Masters in Public Policy. He missed a $100K question (I forget what it was) and left with $25K.

The second contestant, a corrugated box salesman, has the curious habit of making his pectorals "dance" whenever he got nervous.

He also left with $25K when he copied Mackenzie's answer and she didn't quite come through for him.

(Paraphrasing)

What patriotic song written by Julia Ward Howe includes the line "His truth is marching on"?

Spoiler

Mackenzie's answer of "Hymn of the Republic" was ruled incomplete.

Nathan never got called on at all last night.

[NellyLunatic1980]

Further spoilers:

Spoiler

The first contestant was the cowboy ("Hook'em Horns!") who also happened to have a Masters in Public Policy. He missed a $100K question (I forget what it was) and left with $25K.

The second contestant, a corrugated box salesman, has the curious habit of making his pectorals "dance" whenever he got nervous.

He also left with $25K when he copied Mackenzie's answer and she didn't quite come through for him.

(Paraphrasing)

What patriotic song written by Julia Ward Howe includes the line "His truth is marching on"?

Spoiler

Mackenzie's answer of "Hymn of the Republic" was ruled incomplete.

Nathan never got called on at all last night.

I can't believe you still watch that show!

[earendel]

I strongly disagreed with one question last night. The category was grammar and the question was:

How many adjectives are there in the following sentence: "Sierra ran down the hill."?

Spoiler

The contestant said "1" but was saved because the kid (Mackenzie?) said "0".

Here's my disagreement. When I was in school I was taught that "a", "an" and "the" were articles but they were also adjectives because they described a noun; in this case "the" describes "hill" (it's one specific hill as opposed to any other). I'd have done what the contestant did and been saved by the kid, but the loss of the "cheat" would have caused me to protest vociferously. FWIW Wikipedia indicates that

Linguists today distinguish determiners from adjectives, considering them to be two separate parts of speech (or lexical categories), but traditionally, determiners were considered adjectives in some of their uses. (In English dictionaries, which typically still do not treat determiners as their own part of speech, determiners are often recognizable by being listed both as adjectives and as pronouns.) Determiners are words that express the reference of a noun in the context, generally indicating definiteness (as in a vs. the), quantity (as in one vs. some vs. many), or another such property.

[MarleysGh0st]

I strongly disagreed with one question last night. The category was grammar and the question was:

How many adjectives are there in the following sentence: "Sierra ran down the hill."?

Spoiler

The contestant said "1" but was saved because the kid (Mackenzie?) said "0".

Here's my disagreement. When I was in school I was taught that "a", "an" and "the" were articles but they were also adjectives because they described a noun; in this case "the" describes "hill" (it's one specific hill as opposed to any other). I'd have done what the contestant did and been saved by the kid, but the loss of the "cheat" would have caused me to protest vociferously. FWIW Wikipedia indicates that

Linguists today distinguish determiners from adjectives, considering them to be two separate parts of speech (or lexical categories), but traditionally, determiners were considered adjectives in some of their uses. (In English dictionaries, which typically still do not treat determiners as their own part of speech, determiners are often recognizable by being listed both as adjectives and as pronouns.) Determiners are words that express the reference of a noun in the context, generally indicating definiteness (as in a vs. the), quantity (as in one vs. some vs. many), or another such property.

I can't recall hearing that an article was also an adjective, but there's a huge number of people on the 5th Grader message board who agree with you, ear!

Did the first contestant flunk out on the "number of vertebrae in the lumbar section" question? I think that was it.

[earendel]

I strongly disagreed with one question last night. The category was grammar and the question was:

How many adjectives are there in the following sentence: "Sierra ran down the hill."?

Spoiler

The contestant said "1" but was saved because the kid (Mackenzie?) said "0".

Here's my disagreement. When I was in school I was taught that "a", "an" and "the" were articles but they were also adjectives because they described a noun; in this case "the" describes "hill" (it's one specific hill as opposed to any other). I'd have done what the contestant did and been saved by the kid, but the loss of the "cheat" would have caused me to protest vociferously. FWIW Wikipedia indicates that

Linguists today distinguish determiners from adjectives, considering them to be two separate parts of speech (or lexical categories), but traditionally, determiners were considered adjectives in some of their uses. (In English dictionaries, which typically still do not treat determiners as their own part of speech, determiners are often recognizable by being listed both as adjectives and as pronouns.) Determiners are words that express the reference of a noun in the context, generally indicating definiteness (as in a vs. the), quantity (as in one vs. some vs. many), or another such property.

I can't recall hearing that an article was also an adjective, but there's a huge number of people on the 5th Grader message board who agree with you, ear!

Did the first contestant flunk out on the "number of vertebrae in the lumbar section" question? I think that was it.

Yes, that was it. He said "15" and the answer was "5".

[KillerTomato]

FWIW, you guys have it backwards. The cowboy went out on the song, and the bodybuilder missed the vertabae question.

Yes, I still watch it, mainly to look at why these contestants were picked, to try to improve my own auditioning. Unfortunately, I can't make my pecs dance.

[MarleysGh0st]

FWIW, you guys have it backwards. The cowboy went out on the song, and the bodybuilder missed the vertabae question.

And thus our "mistake" flushes out yet another secret fan of the show!

And this on a night that was competing with Regis and Password!

[ulysses5019]

FWIW, you guys have it backwards. The cowboy went out on the song, and the bodybuilder missed the vertabae question.

Yes, I still watch it, mainly to look at why these contestants were picked, to try to improve my own auditioning. Unfortunately, I can't make my pecs dance.

Maybe you should be different........make your butt cheeks dance!

[gsabc]

I strongly disagreed with one question last night. The category was grammar and the question was:

How many adjectives are there in the following sentence: "Sierra ran down the hill."?

Spoiler

The contestant said "1" but was saved because the kid (Mackenzie?) said "0".

Here's my disagreement. When I was in school I was taught that "a", "an" and "the" were articles but they were also adjectives because they described a noun; in this case "the" describes "hill" (it's one specific hill as opposed to any other). I'd have done what the contestant did and been saved by the kid, but the loss of the "cheat" would have caused me to protest vociferously. FWIW Wikipedia indicates that

Linguists today distinguish determiners from adjectives, considering them to be two separate parts of speech (or lexical categories), but traditionally, determiners were considered adjectives in some of their uses. (In English dictionaries, which typically still do not treat determiners as their own part of speech, determiners are often recognizable by being listed both as adjectives and as pronouns.) Determiners are words that express the reference of a noun in the context, generally indicating definiteness (as in a vs. the), quantity (as in one vs. some vs. many), or another such property.

Spoiler

I learned that those were indefinite pronouns. Nothing about adjectives. Of course, those lessons were around 1965, so they may have changed since then.

[BackInTex]

I strongly disagreed with one question last night. The category was grammar and the question was:

How many adjectives are there in the following sentence: "Sierra ran down the hill."?

Spoiler

The contestant said "1" but was saved because the kid (Mackenzie?) said "0".

Here's my disagreement. When I was in school I was taught that "a", "an" and "the" were articles but they were also adjectives because they described a noun; in this case "the" describes "hill" (it's one specific hill as opposed to any other). I'd have done what the contestant did and been saved by the kid, but the loss of the "cheat" would have caused me to protest vociferously. FWIW Wikipedia indicates that

Linguists today distinguish determiners from adjectives, considering them to be two separate parts of speech (or lexical categories), but traditionally, determiners were considered adjectives in some of their uses. (In English dictionaries, which typically still do not treat determiners as their own part of speech, determiners are often recognizable by being listed both as adjectives and as pronouns.) Determiners are words that express the reference of a noun in the context, generally indicating definiteness (as in a vs. the), quantity (as in one vs. some vs. many), or another such property.

Well, breaking it down 'the' does not describe the subject but clarifies what the word identifying the subject is referring to. I don't know the technical terms but in the following is 'four' an adjective?

"There are four hills on my property."

I don't know, but I'd guess not. 'Four' is not describing anything, IMO.

But I was never no good at English.

[KillerTomato]

FWIW, you guys have it backwards. The cowboy went out on the song, and the bodybuilder missed the vertabae question.

And thus our "mistake" flushes out yet another secret fan of the show!

And this on a night that was competing with Regis and Password!

No secret. I don't think it's a great show, but I know I (and about 99% of the people on this board) would kick this show's ass.

As for its competition, that's what TiVo is for.

[slam]

I strongly disagreed with one question last night. The category was grammar and the question was:

How many adjectives are there in the following sentence: "Sierra ran down the hill."?

Spoiler

The contestant said "1" but was saved because the kid (Mackenzie?) said "0".

Here's my disagreement. When I was in school I was taught that "a", "an" and "the" were articles but they were also adjectives because they described a noun; in this case "the" describes "hill" (it's one specific hill as opposed to any other). I'd have done what the contestant did and been saved by the kid, but the loss of the "cheat" would have caused me to protest vociferously. FWIW Wikipedia indicates that

Linguists today distinguish determiners from adjectives, considering them to be two separate parts of speech (or lexical categories), but traditionally, determiners were considered adjectives in some of their uses. (In English dictionaries, which typically still do not treat determiners as their own part of speech, determiners are often recognizable by being listed both as adjectives and as pronouns.) Determiners are words that express the reference of a noun in the context, generally indicating definiteness (as in a vs. the), quantity (as in one vs. some vs. many), or another such property.

Well, breaking it down 'the' does not describe the subject but clarifies what the word identifying the subject is referring to. I don't know the technical terms but in the following is 'four' an adjective?

"There are four hills on my property."

I don't know, but I'd guess not. 'Four' is not describing anything, IMO.

But I was never no good at English.

Sure "four" describes something. "Four" describes how many hills there are.

[kayrharris]

So when did they "Password" to Thursday night? I thought it was on Sundays. I really need to pay more attention.

I didn't watch any TV last night. I had 12 for dinner and was up until almost midnight hand washing my crystal and the wine glasses.

[NellyLunatic1980]

So when did they "Password" to Thursday night? I thought it was on Sundays. I really need to pay more attention.

They had "Password" on just for a "special night" last night cuz of Betty White.

[kayrharris]

Well, that's confusing. So, it will be on again Sunday night? Are they trying to ruin the show from the beginning by no one really knowing when it's on?