Fans Call Out 'Jeopardy!' for Using Gen Z Slang in Clues

Marisa Losciale
·2 min read
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Ken Jennings as 'Jeopardy!' host

Jeopardy! is in hot water...again. This time, though, viewers are upset over the game show's decision to use what they believe is a rather unpopular piece of Gen Z slang in a clue.

After a recent episode of the Champions Wildcard tournament aired on Friday, Jan. 19, fans took to social media to express their disappointment and confusion with one of the clues featured in the series.

It read: “Similar to LOL, IJBOL is short for ‘I Just Did This.’”

The contestants—Rachel Clark, a director of client strategy from Washington, D.C., Erin Portman, a high school English teacher from Naperville, Illinois, and Bryan White, a senior regulatory compliance analyst originally from Santa Maria, California—appeared stumped, except for Portman, who could probably cite her work with high school-age students as reason for nailing the puzzle.

Related: Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager Try Their Hand at Gen Z Slang

“What is burst out laughing?” Portman correctly guessed, adding $1,200 to her total. She continued to trail behind the competition up until Final Jeopardy, when she once again correctly answered the last clue and left with not only a secured spot in the semi-finals but an episode-winning total of $20,200.

Viewers, however, were not impressed with Portman's showmanship or the Jeopardy! writers–some even insisted the acronym was "made up."

“They 100% made up 'IJBOL,'” one visitor of the Jeopardy! Reddit forum suggested. "No one on the planet has actually used that.”

"I guess you should let the NY Times, USA Today, and Reader's Digest know that because they (and other publications) have written articles about it replacing lol," another Redditor replied. "Seems to largely be a Gen Z thing."

"...I've never heard of 'ijbol,'" a third admitted.

Others were simply astonished—but not so much mad—at the producers' decision to include the phrase.

"NOT IJBOL ON JEOPARDY," one X (formerly Twitter) user exclaimed.

"Jeopardy! having 'ijbol' and 'throuple' as answers tonight… this is not the escapism I’m looking for," a second wrote.

"ken jennings just said ijbol on jeopardy," someone else shared in disbelief.

Still, there was at least one defending use of the word, replying to the Reddit thread with the link to an "IJBOL" explainer and also noting "the word began cropping up again in 2021 and gained traction in the K-Pop fan community last year."

Next: 'Jeopardy!' Fans Blast 'Misheard Lyrics' Category That Stumped All Contestants