'Jeopardy!' star Sam Buttrey reveals meaning of his signature catchphrase that won fans' hearts
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA: Some 'Jeopardy!' contestants are renowned more for their quirks than for how long they reigned supreme. Both of things apply to Sam Buttrey, a prominent game show icon who is renowned for both his intelligence and his wit.
The former participant recently disclosed the origins of one of his most well-known show statements that is now repeated by other players on the 'Jeopardy!' podcast. Buttrey explained how "Bring it" came to be used so frequently on the show and how it quickly gained popularity.
What is 'Bring it'?
Buttrey was a contestant on the 'Jeopardy! Masters' game that went on in May of this year. Although he was not able to come out as the winner, he still managed to win many fans over with his impressive performance and his funny personality.
During the first rounds of the game, the contestants would be faced with a board full of clues which they can choose from according to who had answered the last clue. But with the leftover clue towards the end, the contestants do not stand a choice in going with a certain clue. To that, Buttrey's response was to say out loud "Bring it!" to direct the host to open up the last clue.
Sam Buttrey reveals origin behind his catchphrase
It was during the podcast called 'Inside Jeopardy' that he revealed to Sarah Whitcomb and former 'Jeopardy!' champ Buzzy Cohen how his catchphrase "Bring it" was first made. He shared his conflict behind choosing the last clue when it came down to him, "There’s never been a policy for that, so I thought I’d get ahead of it." Buttrey went on to reveal that he just casually ended up saying the phrase, "And I don’t know that ‘Bring it’ was the particular phrase that I had planned. But there it was, and I had the call for it, and it became clear that people liked it; my fellow competitors have used it."
Recently, two-day champ Ittai Sopher also used the phrase to open the last clue, which earned him a lot of phrases on social media.