Dictionary corner....

[sean d]

Is it just me or have standards dropped in Dictionary Corner recently? For a period before Giles Brandreth was on I was beating dictionary corner 2 or 3 or 4 times a show, which is unheard of for me. (Or maybe Apterousness is paying off!) Did anyone else think there was a noticeable lull?

[David Barnard]

Dictionary corner don't use solvers so are always going to have good and bad days just like us, although for some reason DC were right on form for the 30th birthday championship

[Innis Carson]

I'm pretty sure it's been confirmed that Dictionary Corner will sometimes keep quiet about their longest words at the producers' discretion, possibly either to avoid making the contestants feel like they're doing badly or to let Penelope believe she's 'winning'.

[sean d]

Interesting point Innis. I guess you could alienate contestants and audiences if you keep churning out obscure words. I hope Penelope is happy with the dumbing down!

[Nina Boyd]

Oh, Innis! Please let this not be true! Whatever is the point in the producers being coy about long words?

[Mark Deeks]

It's about what Penelope wants. Obscure words you'll never need to know can alienate viewers who aren't too intense about the word knowledge.

[Andy Platt]

I agree, sometimes philicating the malectionisms that Dictionary Corner offer does help to inconsensate the audience somewhat, which can only be a good thing

[Ian Volante]

They are anaspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused such pericombobulation.

[Zarte Siempre]

and the fat cat sat on the mat

[Gavin Chipper]

I can't see that a few obscure words from Dictionary Corner would alienate anyone.

[Graeme Cole]

In this game last week, DC found RAMEKINS, SERAGLIO and EXORDIA. The day before, they found LITHARGE and RINGDOVES. So they're announcing their fair share of obscure words and contestant beaters. It's easy to suggest that they deliberately try to avoid showing us obscure words, but I think it's more likely that either sometimes they don't spot them, or they do spot them but it gets cut out to fit in the time.

[Zarte Siempre]

Wouldn't call RAMEKINS obscure, but apart from that I wholly agree, Graeme.

[Dave Preece]

Who's Penelope please?

[Zarte Siempre]

Penelope Please is the sister of Tricia Thankyew

[Mark Deeks]

I can't see that a few obscure words from Dictionary Corner would alienate anyone.

They're not going to impress anyone. Some might, the "nice" words - while it's always subjective as to what makes a nice word, stuff the general public might actually encounter at some point probably counts, as might words that just sound nice. But all the word (often chemical) terms that sneak in for darrenic 8's or whatever - what, really, is the point of saying them? "Here's a word the contestants didn't get, that most users at home probably didn't get, and which is completely useless to 99.99% of people outside of this, the sole field in which it is measured." Who gains here? Only people trying to learn to win at Countdown, really. And they have other means now.

[Adam Gillard]

Who's Penelope please?

Penelope is the synecdochic embodiment of the general Countdown viewership who don't like to be beaten by smart-alecky 'geeks' on the show. The use of the name 'Penelope' (and the subsequent term 'Penelope-friendly') to refer to this all started here.

[Gavin Chipper]

I can't see that a few obscure words from Dictionary Corner would alienate anyone.

They're not going to impress anyone. Some might, the "nice" words - while it's always subjective as to what makes a nice word, stuff the general public might actually encounter at some point probably counts, as might words that just sound nice. But all the word (often chemical) terms that sneak in for darrenic 8's or whatever - what, really, is the point of saying them? "Here's a word the contestants didn't get, that most users at home probably didn't get, and which is completely useless to 99.99% of people outside of this, the sole field in which it is measured." Who gains here? Only people trying to learn to win at Countdown, really. And they have other means now.

I think some people might just like to see what's out there. It's also slightly dishonest to say that you've just found this when you've also found that, which is longer. You might not know they're being dishonest, but this is the same as dishonesty in life in general.

I think "Penelopes" are more put off by contestants that continually thrash them (not that I really think that too many people are), rather than the simple objective fact that there are longer words available, which is more Dictionary Corner's role.