A creature that lives off the coast makes me think it’s an aquatic animal. Should have said it’s from an Australian island. But the cartoon reference made it pretty gettable.
Just checked the exact phrasing - “Nicknamed ‘Taz’. This voracious Warner Bros. character is named for a real creature off Australia’s coast”
Even if you make it “off mainland Australia’s coast” it’s still a badly written question. Be like asking about Diamond Head located off the coast of the United States.
I would probably not say that just because Palermo is on the far side of Sicily, but I don’t think it’s strictly wrong. I’d say a city on an island off the coast of Italy.
I’m not sure what your objection is. Off the coast means separated by water but still close.
My objection is that those places are still part of the country they’re being named in relation to!
Palermo isn’t off the coast of Italy, it is in Italy!
Tasmanian devils aren’t found off the coast of Australia - they’re in Australia!
I agree! Something that is Australia cannot by definition be off the coast of Australia. Kinda hard to believe none of the question writers caught that. I think off the coast of mainland Australia would’ve been such a simple fix.
I've never been to Australia, but was a geography undergrad major, and I thought it was an oddly worded answer. Not quite sure what the need is to downvote you in some great defense of the writers. Maybe not an "error" so much as a clue that could have been better worded.
I was a contestant on this show and have watched that episode numerous times and never picked up on this. I’ll say it didn’t throw me in the moment and knew what the correct response was regardless.
I’m from the LA area and I wouldn’t bat an eye if someone said “Catalina, off the coast of California.” It totally is! This objection seems crazy to me. Plus, as others have mentioned, “Australia” names both a country (contains Tasmania) and a continental landmass (absolutely does not).
[Australia the continent](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(continent)) actually does include Tasmania. In fact, the Wikipedia article advocates for calling the mainland “continental Australia” as to avoid confusion. For the level of pedantry the judges display on contestants’ responses, this is hardly an insane quibble. If anything I’d expect them to try to be as accurate in their wording as possible.
The wording is accurate. The definitional question of whether or not islands belong to nearby continents isn't an especially interesting one, but it obviously depends on whether we mean in a physical, social, or cultural context, and can't be settled by resorting to one Wikipedia link. If you want to appeal to a real language source, [here's](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Australia) Webster's defining the Commonwealth of Australia as a dominion that contains both "the continent of Australia and the island of Tasmania," lol.
Thank goodness the arbiter of what is and isn’t interesting has made their ruling.
You started this by saying that there are two definitions of Australia one referring to the country and one referring to a continent (which according to you absolutely does not include Tasmania). There is ample evidence suggesting otherwise. A single Webster’s dictionary page does not prove that the word “Australia” is only referring to the mainland and not the surrounding islands, especially when “continent” itself is such a nebulous and ill defined term.
Well, given that even Catalina's [official tourism website](https://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/articles/post/travel-50-beyond/) uses it casually and straightforwardly, I think they would be fine with it.
Honestly. I wouldn't bat an eye at someone saying or writing "Sicily is off the Italian coast" or "Great Britain, northwest of Europe..." Seems totally normal to me, and based on the understanding that words mean multiple things. "Italy" can mean "the Italian peninsula" or "the modern Italian Republic," and those shades of meaning may often but not always overlap.
1. I don’t see anything that makes that the official tourism website? Looks like a tourism company to me.
2. That’s the opposite target audience to the residents. For the same reason most of the people here were helped not hindered by the description in the jeopardy question. When your goal is communicating where something is to people not from the area, moreso than being technically accurate, your motives are different.
3. There isn’t a definition for “Australia” that excludes Tasmania unless you add something like “mainland”.
>> The continent of Australia, sometimes known in technical contexts by the names Sahul (/səˈhuːl/), Australia-New Guinea, Australinea, or Meganesia[1][2][3] to distinguish it from the country of Australia, is located within the Southern and Eastern hemispheres.[4] The continent includes mainland Australia, **Tasmania**, the island of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea), the Aru Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, most of the Coral Sea Islands, and some other nearby islands. Situated in the geographical region of Oceania, Australia is the smallest of the seven traditional continents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(continent)
A creature that lives off the coast makes me think it’s an aquatic animal. Should have said it’s from an Australian island. But the cartoon reference made it pretty gettable.
I agree it’s gettable, but it was jarring as an Australian.
I think they meant the island is off the coast of mainland Australia.
Just checked the exact phrasing - “Nicknamed ‘Taz’. This voracious Warner Bros. character is named for a real creature off Australia’s coast” Even if you make it “off mainland Australia’s coast” it’s still a badly written question. Be like asking about Diamond Head located off the coast of the United States.
Hawaii’s a lot farther away.
I don’t think it changes it much. How about “Palermo is off the coast of Italy”?
I would probably not say that just because Palermo is on the far side of Sicily, but I don’t think it’s strictly wrong. I’d say a city on an island off the coast of Italy. I’m not sure what your objection is. Off the coast means separated by water but still close.
My objection is that those places are still part of the country they’re being named in relation to! Palermo isn’t off the coast of Italy, it is in Italy! Tasmanian devils aren’t found off the coast of Australia - they’re in Australia!
I agree! Something that is Australia cannot by definition be off the coast of Australia. Kinda hard to believe none of the question writers caught that. I think off the coast of mainland Australia would’ve been such a simple fix.
I’d there no word for “the main landmass of Australia”? I think people colloquially refer to mainlands of countries by the country’s name.
I've never been to Australia, but was a geography undergrad major, and I thought it was an oddly worded answer. Not quite sure what the need is to downvote you in some great defense of the writers. Maybe not an "error" so much as a clue that could have been better worded.
Thanks! Yeah, I don’t know either 🤷♂️
I was a contestant on this show and have watched that episode numerous times and never picked up on this. I’ll say it didn’t throw me in the moment and knew what the correct response was regardless.
It's a context meant to help American contestants. It would have been different if it was Australian Jeopardy!...
I can see how it helped. But it’s not a good question for technical accuracy.
I’m from the LA area and I wouldn’t bat an eye if someone said “Catalina, off the coast of California.” It totally is! This objection seems crazy to me. Plus, as others have mentioned, “Australia” names both a country (contains Tasmania) and a continental landmass (absolutely does not).
[Australia the continent](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(continent)) actually does include Tasmania. In fact, the Wikipedia article advocates for calling the mainland “continental Australia” as to avoid confusion. For the level of pedantry the judges display on contestants’ responses, this is hardly an insane quibble. If anything I’d expect them to try to be as accurate in their wording as possible.
The wording is accurate. The definitional question of whether or not islands belong to nearby continents isn't an especially interesting one, but it obviously depends on whether we mean in a physical, social, or cultural context, and can't be settled by resorting to one Wikipedia link. If you want to appeal to a real language source, [here's](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Australia) Webster's defining the Commonwealth of Australia as a dominion that contains both "the continent of Australia and the island of Tasmania," lol.
Thank goodness the arbiter of what is and isn’t interesting has made their ruling. You started this by saying that there are two definitions of Australia one referring to the country and one referring to a continent (which according to you absolutely does not include Tasmania). There is ample evidence suggesting otherwise. A single Webster’s dictionary page does not prove that the word “Australia” is only referring to the mainland and not the surrounding islands, especially when “continent” itself is such a nebulous and ill defined term.
What do you think someone from Catalina would say to being considered off the coast of California?
We would nod our heads in agreement.
I see you there Jeopardy writer masquerading as a Catalina resident 😝
Well, given that even Catalina's [official tourism website](https://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/articles/post/travel-50-beyond/) uses it casually and straightforwardly, I think they would be fine with it. Honestly. I wouldn't bat an eye at someone saying or writing "Sicily is off the Italian coast" or "Great Britain, northwest of Europe..." Seems totally normal to me, and based on the understanding that words mean multiple things. "Italy" can mean "the Italian peninsula" or "the modern Italian Republic," and those shades of meaning may often but not always overlap.
1. I don’t see anything that makes that the official tourism website? Looks like a tourism company to me. 2. That’s the opposite target audience to the residents. For the same reason most of the people here were helped not hindered by the description in the jeopardy question. When your goal is communicating where something is to people not from the area, moreso than being technically accurate, your motives are different. 3. There isn’t a definition for “Australia” that excludes Tasmania unless you add something like “mainland”.
Perhaps they meant Australia the continent rather than Australia the country.
>> The continent of Australia, sometimes known in technical contexts by the names Sahul (/səˈhuːl/), Australia-New Guinea, Australinea, or Meganesia[1][2][3] to distinguish it from the country of Australia, is located within the Southern and Eastern hemispheres.[4] The continent includes mainland Australia, **Tasmania**, the island of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea), the Aru Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, most of the Coral Sea Islands, and some other nearby islands. Situated in the geographical region of Oceania, Australia is the smallest of the seven traditional continents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(continent)