On an episode of the popular game show Wheel of Fortune, a puzzle answer sparked outrage on Twitter. Social media users slammed the show and host Pat Sajak about the September 16 episode.
The category was “Rhyme Time,” which centered around solutions that are popular idioms and rhyming sayings. The answer appeared on the board as “EENIE MEENIE MINY MOE CATCH A TIGER BY THE TOE,” and many pointed out the racist history of the phrase.
According to Vox, the original version of the phrase has implications dating back to the slave trade. Rather than being a nursery rhyme created by children like many think, enslavers conceived it. Instead of “Tiger,” the verse originally included the n-word. “It comes from slave selection or a description of what white enslavers would do if they caught a runaway slave.”
It was especially prevalent in the 19th century, but the overtly racist diction in the phrase was used in documentation until 2004.
In some Tweets detailing initial reactions to the puzzle answer being released, fans relayed seeing the answer come out.
Not a good look @WheelofFortune – racist puzzle tonight? Do some research next time.
— Kayla Lynn (@iloveenglishbro) September 16, 2022
The first thing my mother said when she figured out the puzzle was “You can’t say that!” and I agree. Little iffy on the puzzle there… #WheelOfFortune
— Jsach (@Jsach65) September 17, 2022
Another Twitter user Jen Mauro wrote in a since-deleted post, “I wonder if @WheelofFortune realizes the rhyme time has racist roots? #dobetter.”
Host Pat Sajak said after the contestant solved the answer, “Yeah, that’s it! Obviously, something you’ve said many times in your life – you just have to solve them. You don’t have to know them.”
Sajak himself has been the subject of a few suspicious Tweets in the past, most noticeably when he was caught taking photos along with extreme right-wing television network voices Bryan Glenn and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak with Marjorie Taylor Greene and RSBN reporter Bryan Glenn. pic.twitter.com/3dbUygSqDy
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) September 18, 2022
