Tomato, tom-ah-to, flamenco, flamingo

I figured that Buy a Vowel would have something to say about the great flamenco-flamingo flap, and I was right.

As a faux tweet noted, a poor Wheel of Fortune contestant named Jonny Knowles thought that "flamenco" was pronounced "flamingo." The show informed him otherwise, so he lost the puzzle even though he had guessed all the letters. The loot for the round went to another lucky contestant, who didn't have to do anything to solve the puzzle.

Buy a Vowel chewed over the episode in detail, especially whether Jonny was a good enough sport about the mess. I thought he was pretty grumpy at first but brightened up as the episode progressed. It helped that he won the front game and went to the bonus round. He even introduced his "devastated" wife, "poor" mom and "embarrassed" sister in the audience, to much laughter.

One poster on Buy a Vowel noted that Jeopardy once had its own flamenco-flamingo rumpus when Nancy Grace made the same mistake on a celeb episode (see screenshot). One of her competitors, Regis Philbin, helpfully pointed out her error to the judges.

Jonny Knowles didn't win the bonus round on Wheel of Fortune but still copped a fair amount of money. The Internet had its chuckles, and life went on.

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