In what is now being dubbed “loch gate”, some fans slammed hosts Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman for “butchering” the Celtic language after using the words “loch” and “lock” as a homophone example.
“Scottish Gaelic word for lake/mechanism for keeping a door, window, lid, or container fastened,” read an answer on the Pointless board, with a contestant being met with much controversy after answering “loch” and “lock”.
Despite Alexander and Richard accepting the answer, viewers quickly shot down the response, with some also blasting his pronunciation of Gaelic.
“@XanderArmstrong pronounced Gah-lick not gay-lick, loch is pronounced L-ough, should be 100. Please stop butchering my language,” one viewer raged.
“@richardosman It’s not Gaylick and it’s not lock! It’s Gaelic pronounced Gah-lick. Also it’s LOCH!!! #bbc #pointless #pronunciation,” a further seethed.
A third mocked: “@richardosman Lock isn’t pronounced the same way as loch! Go listen to The proclaimers on repeat as punishment #pointless.”
“YAS! #Pointless asked a question and managed to outrage Scotland #LochGate,” a fourth wrote.
The blunder came just a day after one contestant left the presenters in stitches with her awkward answer.
Asked to name celebrities with the first name Adam or Eve, one answer on the famous board read: “First began portraying the character Ian Beale in ‘EastEnders’ in 1985”.
Second to take a stab at the round was Kitty, from west London, who was playing with her son, Justin.
“I don’t know any of them,” she confessed. “But the Ian Beale one, I know the actor’s name begins Adam.”
Her Pointless partner Justin collapsed beside her as the audience began to laugh.
Co-host Richard quipped back: “I’ll tell you what, we’ll accept that.”
Pointless airs weekdays at 5.15pm on BBC One.