Jeopardy

Dear Jeopardy,

On Oct. 2, 2012, one of the Jeopardy categories was "Be A Lizard Wizard." The clue was: Having special glands in their lower jaws, the Gila monster & the Mexican beaded lizard are both this, so beware. The contestant said: What is poisonous? and it was counted as correct.

I would like to point out that "poisonous" is an incorrect answer. The correct answer should have been "venomous." Venom and poison are very different. Poison is ingested and venom is injected. You can eat rattlesnakes because they are venomous but not poisonous. If a Gila monster bites the venom entering your bloodstream is the potential problem. But they are not poisonous because the danger is only if the venom is in your bloodstream, not in your stomach and digestive system.

I am quite surprised that a show so intellectual and prestigious as Jeopardy would not know the difference between venomous and poisonous. But....thanks to me (I am pretending to pat myself on the back as I write this) you now know the difference between the two terms and can avoid this mistake in the future.