‘Wheel of Fortune’: Pat Sajak Responds to ‘Teacher’s Week’ Punctuation Controversy
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After Wheel of Fortune fans called out the show over where it placed the apostrophe in its “Teacher’s Week” title, host Pat Sajak has responded with an explanation.
In a clip posted on the official Wheel of Fortune Twitter/X account, titled “Teacher’s v. Teachers’: The Annual Debate,” Sajak and his co-host Vanna White are seen addressing the spelling controversy.
“Let’s address the annual punctuation controversy,” the long-running host says in the video. “Because we hear from people saying, ‘There’s more than one teacher, and it should be a plural possessive,’ he continued in a mocking tone, adding, “But they don’t talk like that.”
Sajak went on to say, “We know that. But we’ve chosen to sort of honor a teacher as a being, as a thing, kind of like Father’s Day. There’s more than one father, but we treat it as a singular possessive.”
“Yes,” White says, while Sajak adds, “That’s all I’ve got.”
Teacher’s v. Teachers’: The Annual Debate 🍎 pic.twitter.com/xgYSrdOA2z
— Wheel of Fortune (@WheelofFortune) October 6, 2023
You might be wondering why White was in the clip despite being absent from last week’s Teachers Week episodes. Well, that’s because the clip is actually from LAST YEAR’s Teachers Week when fans were also complaining about the errant apostrophe.
White missed this year’s Teachers Week episodes due to COVID-19, meaning she couldn’t attend the show’s taping. California Teacher of the Year Bridgette Donald-Blue filled in as the letter-turner for the week. White is due back for this week’s episodes.
As for Sajak’s explanation, not everyone is buying it.
“It should be teachers’. You’re celebrating multiple teachers, not just one. My quick google research says it’s only “Father’s Day” because of marketing,” wrote one fan on Twitter/X.
According to Thesaurus.com, Father’s Day was written as such due to Mother’s Day, which also used a possessive singular. That’s because the founder of Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, wanted the celebration to be a time when each family honored their own specific mother. Sonora Smart Dodd wanted to do the same for Father’s Day, hence the punctuation.
Regardless of what’s right or wrong, it doesn’t seem like Wheel will be changing its Teachers Week spelling any time soon. But we suspect the debate will rear its head again this time next year.
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