On Jeopardy It's The Chunnel!
 

In a long-running debate on Fodor's many folks upbraid folks for using the word "Chunnel" for the Eurotunnel or Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Many Americans on this forum often use the word Chunnel yet some Americans say they never heard of Chunnel actually being used for the Eurotunnel - so yesterday on Jeopardy I was intrigued when the question came up something to the effect:

To go between London and Paris by train you go thru the ...............?

And the guest ringing in quickly answered "What Is The Chunnel?"

Jeopardy being a stickler for detail I wondered if they would accept such an incorrect answer and the host Alex Trebeck quickly said yes, "What is the Chunnel?".

Did Jeopardy get it wrong? Or is Chunnel the accepted term for the Eurotunnel Stateside? Obviously it is. End of debate. For those Americans on here who continually claim they never heard of the term Chunnel being used.... well that's what we call it in the colonies- get used to it.

And even in Britain the word Chunnel is often used as in this Independent headline:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ca...d-1353384.html

So on Fodor's the term Chunnel is perfectly acceptable for Americans and even Brits I guess!

End of debate!

Cheers!

It's called dumbing it down.

kerouac - what do French folk call the EuroTunnel? EuroTunnel? Curious!

The French call it the <i>tunnel sous la Manche</i>. EuroTunnel is the name of the operating company.

Jeopardy generally has a particular response they're looking for, plus one or two others that would be acceptable depending on the clue.

Lee Ann

LOL, I'm visiting Mom and was watching that episode. When the contestant used the dreaded C word, I immediately thought of Pal and the pedantic Fodorgarchs.

Jeopardy condenses digits, like a Smart phone using Twitter. Alex Trebek (note the condensed, correct spelling) was just doing his job. As a Canadian he grew up favouring British spellings of many words that demand that extra 'u'.

Hi, I think Americans who have traveled and esp to Europe call it the Chunnel. Sue

I think just the opposite. Except for Pal, I think anyone who has actually traveled on Eurostar call it Eurostar. Having watched Jeopardy for years, Elendi is right in how correct responses are determined. I realize that this topic has long lost its importance if it ever had any.

We should discuss the acceptability of using the name Frisco instead.

Who knew? Somebody gives people a "test" and in this case it happens to be on TV and they call it "Jeopardy." The more correct answers you come up with the more you win. The people who "administer" the "test" questions also have the "right" answers to those questions and, as with most "tests" there is usually only one.

To benefit the so-called "star" of the show who also shills for an "insurance" company which preys on "old" people and because this "star" is kind of around the bend age and hair-wise, they allow him some spelling leeway so he can, like Chris Matthews on MSNBC "correct" people while acting rather imperious.

And this, students is your pedant lesson for the day.

And Kerouac, YOU go to the head of the class for your suggestion of subjects to be "discussed." We could also add the possibility of giving Canada that absurd geographical appendage known as the "Upper Peninsula" of Michigan, too.

I think Americans who traveled 20 years ago may have called it the Chunnel. Anyone thse days who calls it the Chunnel is probably an octogenarian whose feet haven't touched Europe in decades. Elendi explains why it worked on Jeopardy - that doesn't make it the acceptable current term.

Jeopardy? Is what?

Is this on after Corrie? Or is the famous Wheel of Fortune.

Last night I was chatting to a couple who came back to UK through Eurostar, never meantioned the Chu word.

Get with the Zeitgeist

Jeopardy is what the US will be in if Trump gets elected. Or maybe if HRC gets elected.

telly I didn't nuderstand the post from Dukey at all - am I the only one ?

Belgians say Eurostar for the train, same as we say 'Thalys' when we go to Paris or Amsterdam, and we say 'tunnel sous la macnhe' indeed when taking the car.

But who cares about Belgians at Jeopardy ?
BTW, it is interesting to note that albeit we have imported nearly all the games from US, Jeopardy is not on French TV, or if it was, it didn't last.

I guess we are too intelligent for that. ehehe.
Oops - we have 'une famille en or' - where you have to give the answer most people interviewed (where ?) give. Like 'what is the biggest continent ?' answer : Australia (don't say Oceania, you'd lose).

>>I think Americans who traveled 20 years ago may have called it the Chunnel. Anyone thse days who calls it the Chunnel is probably an octogenarian whose feet haven't touched Europe in decades.<<

Bingo ;)

'En France, le jeu a été présenté par Philippe Risoli de 1989 à 1992 sur TF1.'

We are so smart, it didn't hold...

Note the UK paper the Independent using Chunnel in its headline- I guess folks who wrote that are 80-yr-olds who have never traveled in Europe.

Chunnel by the way was coined by British press I believe.

Whenever our friend brings this up, I'm reminded of poor Mr Dick in "David Copperfield" who couldn't prevent King Charies' head getting into his memorandum

That newspaper link is from 1996 when the tabloids thought it "cool, snappy and slick" to call it the Chunnel, they soon realised that nobody on this island shared their enthusiasm, I haven't heard anyone use that term since the mid 90's (except on travel forums).

You can call it whatever you want Pal.

But for everyone else, it's the Eurostar when taking the passenger train, or the Eurotunnel when taking the car train. Using these terms, it is immediately obvious which mode of transport you are referring to.

I don't anybody who calls it the Chunnel, and I travel through it often. The word is not mentioned on either the Eurostar or the Eurotunnel websites. Chunnel.com takes you to a very silly looking Rail Europe site. If you tell someone to go and look for chunnel tickets, that is where they end up. It's not helpful.

But for everyone else, it's the Eurostar when taking the passenger train, or the Eurotunnel when taking the car train. Using these terms, it is immediately obvious which mode of transport you are referring to.>

The Jeopardy question was about the tunnel not the train and the American instantly blurted out What is the Chunnel, which is what most Americans not familiar with the 'correct' name call it which is why when Americans use it here it should be perfectly fine - we speak American not British.

And to use the British term may sound like putting on airs - like one British Fodor's expert who continually says to Americans renting cars that 'they can collect them' - instead of 'pick them up'- when talking to Americans use Americanism, if you are American - otherwise it comes across as rather stupid - collect cars - like collect stamps?

The only point here is that most Americans who know about the Channel Tunnel call it the Chunnel- a term again coined by the British press.

USA Today explains how Chunnel is more commonly used than Channel Tunnel in the colonies.

What Is the Chunnel Train? | USA Today
The Channel Tunnel, more commonly known as the Chunnel, is a route beneath the English Channel that connects England and France. Stretching ...

"we speak American not British."
But......The Channel tunnel isn't in America.

I like the line ' the Americans use it so it is ok here'.
That is
1. Presumptuous
2. Arrogant.
3. Stupid.

Because (some) Americans use a wrong term we have to accept it ?
Not indwarfland Belgium.

Americans also call Tower Bridge London Bridge, are you advocating that we rename it because that's what YOU call it.

Do Brits say Big Ben for the tower?

Americans also call Tower Bridge London Bridge, are you advocating that we rename it because that's what YOU call it.>

Interesting question but I think it is not quite the same because you are talking about two different things and Chunnel is referring to the same thing called Channel Tunnel - and you are referring to two different things - and in that case no I would not say perpetrating an inaccuracy is good but correcting the person.

Like many Americans call the U K England and the British "English"- which is wrong and should be corrected.

Because (some) Americans use a wrong term we have to accept it ?>

Nearly all Americans use it- like we use truck instead of lorry or trunk instead of boot or pick up your car instead of collect it- if someone uses Chunnel everyone understands what they mean- does not it seem a little childish to correct someone using the Chunnel - oh you mean the Channel Tunnel? Yes Americans have just truncated it like the British press did originally.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Channel-Tunnel
Encyclopædia Britannica
Jul 29, 2015 - Rail tunnel between England and France that runs beneath the English Channel. ... Alternative Titles: Chunnel, Eurotunnel, Trans-Channel Tunnel

Britannica gives Chunnel as an acceptable alternative - nodoubt does not give London Bridge as an acceptable alternative for Tower Bridge.

Big Ben is the clock, not the tower.

Big Ben is actually the bell.

>>Nearly all Americans use it-<<

You just keep believing that if it makes you happy.

Isn't true though.

I know I've never used the "Chu" word nor have friends or family or for that matter anyone I know, further more, I don't particularly like being included in the " all Americans" category. But enough, no one really cares; it's not really that important.

>>To benefit the so-called "star" of the show who also shills for an "insurance" company which preys on "old" people and because this "star" is kind of around the bend age and hair-wise, they allow him some spelling leeway so he can, like Chris Matthews on MSNBC "correct" people while acting rather imperious.<<

If there is any doubt about the contestant's response, the judges, not Alex, have the final say.

Lee Ann

>>If there is any doubt about the contestant's response, the judges, not Alex, have the final say.<<

And ElendilPickle knows because she is our resident Jeopardy celebrity :)



On the other hand, our resident Fodorite paint addict will continue to beat this old dead horse until it is well and truly dead

All Americans category is a good one.
It is the name of the 82d airborne division. Crack unit. Fought in Sicily Normandy holland Belgium and on the Rhine. Less known than band of brothers but good soldiers who with quite a few other Americans and English and Canadians and poles and ? Are among the reasons I can say what I want on forums and not what some want and in German.

The Tower that Big Ben is in used to be just called The Clock Tower, however to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee in 2012, it was renamed the "Elizabeth" Tower. Here's list of the names associated with the bell;

Big Ben: the universal, popular name for the tower, repeated throughout the world. Pros: everyone knows what you're talking about, and it has a nice ring (pun sort-of intended). Cons: purists don't like it because Big Ben is strictly the name of the bell.

St Stephen's Tower: regularly used in newspapers, guide books and by 'that bloke down the pub who likes correcting people'. Pros: sounds more official than Big Ben. Cons: it's completely incorrect. St Stephen's is another (smaller) tower over the main public entrance.

The Clock Tower: a term used within the Palace and its communications. Pros: it's the official name. Cons: it's too ambiguous a term to gain popular currency — there are many clock towers in London let alone the world, and calling it the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster is too much of a mouthful.

The Elizabeth Tower: the proposed new name to tie in with the queen's Diamond Jubilee. Pros: there's a certain harmony in nominally pairing the edifice with the Victoria Tower at the southern end of the building. Cons: republicans will be irked, and everyone will still call it Big Ben anyway.

The east tower: a description of Big Ben seen all over the press today, presumably pasted in from the same media release. Pros: avoids the whole name problem by using a geographic term. Cons: it's rather confusing considering Big Ben is at the northern end of the complex, not the east, and there are a few smaller towers more easterly than Big Ben.

We try to give advice to people on this forum. The companies that run the Channel Tunnel don't use the word Chunnel. You wouldn't advice people to buy their tickets from chunnel.com.

It's like telling people to call the Ritz to book a High Tea. They would know what you mean, but it's not what they call it.

"Interesting question but I think it is not quite the same because you are talking about two different things"

That's my point, people that think London Bridge is Tower Bridge think it is one bridge, in fact 2 days ago one poster on TA actually said she thought that both were the same thing.

"We try to give advice to people on this forum. The companies that run the Channel Tunnel don't use the word Chunnel. You wouldn't advice people to buy their tickets from chunnel.com."

Exactly, or tell them to ride the "subway" or "metro".