Alex Trebek ‘Jeopardy’ Contestant Answers "Age of Consent" to Puberty Question [WATCH]

Well, this was very, very (very, very) awkward. Unless, of course, you're like this Jeopardy contestant, Tom, and didn't realize that the legal age of consent in the United States is NOT 12 in girls and 14 in boys. In this below clip of a recent Jeopardy episode, host Alex Trebek is pretty (understandably) stunned when he's given the worst answer possible in the history of his game show. Trebek gave the clue, "In common law, the age of this, signaling adulthood, is presumed to be 14 in boys & 12 in girls." And while the correct answer was puberty, this guy Tom happened to think it was, well, the age of consent.

You know, when you can have sex with another person legally...

Take a look at the (hilarious but pretty cringeworthy) video here:

Oh boy – that was weird.

Immediately following his answer, Trebek came back with a short but stern, "No." Our guess is what he wanted to say was, "No! What are you talking about? You realize that's crazy, right? You know you're on TV? Now the whole world thinks you're a creep..."

Luckily, he stuck with a mere, "No."

Tom didn't quite seem to react in any strange or noticeable way, but perhaps his head was racking with a big "Oh crap" inside.

Don't worry – our guess is we'll be seeing him pretty soon on TMZ. 

Readers, what do you think about Tom's unfortunate situation? Twitter seemed to be pretty shocked:

Oh, and for the record, the legal age of consent actually varies by state, but it's normally between 16 and 18 years of age.