Jeopardy! goes gangsta on a contestant

Player loses $3,200 by saying ‘gangster’

Another day, another Jeopardy! blunder, this time featuring a contestant who apparently is not familiar with the term “gangsta,” a negligence that cost him thousands of dollars.

On the New Year’s Day episode, contestant Nick Spicher was given the following answer: “A song by Coolio f r om Dangerous Minds goes back in time to become a 1667 John Milton classic.”

The question being a reference to Paradise Lost and the song “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Obviously.

Unfortunately, Spicher responded with “Gangster’s Paradise Lost.”

He was initially awarded $ 1,600, but minutes later, host Alex Trebek informed him that the judges had reviewed his answer and decided it was unacceptable, taking back the $ 1,600 and an additional $ 1,600 from his pre- existing score, costing him a hefty $ 3,200 and the lead.

“Our j udges have r eevaluated one of your responses a few minutes ago, Nick,” Trebek said. “You said ‘ gangster’s’ instead of ‘ gangsta’s’ on that song by Coolio, so we take $ 3,200 away from you. You are now in second place.”

Although Spicher ended up winning anyway, many took to Twitter to criticize the show’s strict rules. Jeopardy’s website even posted a note to explain their ruling: “The hard R sound caught the ear of one member of the onstage team, who immediately followed up with a quick check. It turns out that ‘ gangsta’ and ‘ gangster’ are both listed separately in the Oxford English Dictionary, each with its own unique definition. Nick changed not only the song’s title, but also its meaning — making his response unacceptable.”

Because there is no whitewashing in Jeopardy. In fact, Coolio himself agrees!

In an interview with TMZ, the rapper issued a warning: “I probably would have gave it to him but let me explain something to you, this is for white people. The ‘ er’ will always get you in trouble. Never use the ‘er’ if you don’t have to.”

Life advice worth following.