A Countdown contestant prompted guffaws among Countdown’s mostly elderly crowd when he used the word “w***er” to win a round. IT consultant Mark Murphy left new host Nick Hewer red-faced when he submitted the slang word for someone who masturbates after being presented with the letters R,A,E,P,K,W,A, E, N.
Nick quickly asked competitor Nick Evans for his word – Weakener – which was then rejected because he had mistakenly used an extra E. So Hewer turned to dictionary corner and quipped: “Where does Mark stand on this?”, prompting words expert Susie Dent to reply: “He stands absolutely fine, it’s in the dictionary.”
A Channel 4 spokesperson said they tried not to cause any offense in the afternoon slot by bleeping out the profanity and not having Rachel Riley present it after the round as is normally done.
They said: A Channel 4 spokesman said: “The word was bleeped out and not shown on the board to ensure the programme is suitable for its daytime audience.”
The Oxford English Dictionary gives the definition of the word as: “British vulgar slang. A contemptible person (used as a generalised term of abuse).”
It is not the first time the word has been submitted as an answer on the show. Two contestants both submitted “w***ers” as their answer in a 1981 episode, while it featured again in 2008.
In 2003, dictionary corner guest also offered it as an alternative to the answers given by contestants.
She joked: “I wouldn’t have thought it was in the dictionary but it is in there and we all know what it means so I think we better move on.”
In November 2010, Channel 4 ordered a round to be filmed again after a contestant tried to submit the word “s**tface”. And in December 2010 a contestant submitted ‘Large Baps’ – see here.
With lashings of ginger beer no doubt, The Comic Strip is set to return to our screens.
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