'Jeopardy' faces backlash from loyal fans after the show used a Gen-Z slang in clues: 'This is not...'

"Jeopardy!" tests the knowledge of players in diverse fields from history to current affairs and pop culture, but sometimes fans are not prepared for updates. After one episode, a section of viewers slammed a question about neopronouns, and now a clue about Gen Z slang has shocked fans. During the Champions Wildcard tournament segment, players were puzzled by a 'Newer Words & Phrases' clue that read, “Similar to LOL, IJBOL is short for ‘I Just Did This’.” 

Meanwhile, one of the players took advantage of her experience working in a high school and guessed the Gen-Z terms correctly. “What is burst out laughing?” she said, and instantly earned $1,200 in prize money. The teacher gained a spot in the semi-finals with her quick thinking, along with a total of $20,200, as per TVInsider. However, veteran fans remained miffed with the lingo clue. Viewers argued that the game show was turning into a teenage "K-Pop community."  "They 100% made up 'IJBOL', no one on the planet has actually used that," Reddit user @Dewot789 joked. "I would have called the Galaxy Note a 'phonezilla' myself. And that's the first time I've ever heard "IJBOL," @mfc248 mentioned on X. 

"The word began cropping up again in 2021 and gained traction in the K-Pop fan community last year," one more Redditor wrote, pointing to a Mashable article that explained the trendy slang. "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. Seems to largely be a Gen Z thing," @rojac1961 chimed in. "Jeopardy! having 'ijbol' and 'throuple' as answers tonight… this is not the escapism I’m looking for," @LouisPeitzman joked. 

"This was a jeopardy question last week, and I literally said… “that's not real” bc even as a chronically online person, I’d never heard of it, and I assumed it was fabricated by a boomer writing the question. Ijbol is objectively awful," @xtraordinaryemy argued on X. "Ijbol means I just burst out laughing yk, all this time I thought it was sum word Nigerians use," @AwinoE5 mocked. 

The acronym initially slid into conversations in 2011 but was made popular among K-Pop fans last year. It was later widely circulated by X users who thought the acronym was a cool Korean word.  "[Ijbol] is sort of funny just to say? It’s a rather unusual abbreviation, which makes it more intriguing/funny. It’s also being used in conjunction with "idgaf," which a lot of Twitter users find funny at the minute," Brooklyn, a 21-year-old student from Ireland, explained. 

While appearing on Good Morning America in 2023, host Ken Jennings revealed that his children found it cringe when he used Gen-Z lingo during his 'Jeopardy!' hosting. In response to the question, “Doing this makes your kids cringe when they watch you on Jeopardy,” he said, “What is any Gen-Z slang?”

“My kids are terrified. You know, I can say, ‘Tonight on Jeopardy, I’m gonna go to a contestant and say, ‘You’re so real for that, bestie’, and they’re like, ‘Dad, do not. I swear, DO NOT do that. Like, I will die if you do that,” he added.