Quiz contestant on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' reaches the final question and - misses

(Patria) - A contestant on the British version of the quiz "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" missed the question for one million pounds despite using two lifelines.

Nicholas Bennett, a data analyst from West Hampstead in London, quickly passed the £125,000 mark and reached the final question.

The British version of the quiz, hosted by former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, offers four lifelines: phone a friend, ask the audience, ask Jeremy, and 50:50.

Clarkson read out the question for one million pounds: "Which of these words, coined by a famous writer, originates from a fairy tale about three princes?"

The offered answers were: Pandemonium, Serendipity, Utopia, and Yahoo.

Not being sure, he used a lifeline and asked Jeremy, who didn't know the answer. He then called his friend and flatmate, using his last lifeline, but she wasn't sure either.

Sticking with his first thought, Bennett locked in the answer "Yahoo".

Clarkson then revealed it was incorrect, as the audience audibly gasped at his miss. Had he walked away, he would have won half a million pounds.

The correct answer was "Serendipity".

The word "serendipity", meaning a fortunate accidental discovery, was first used by the English writer, historian, and politician Horace Walpole in 1754.

In a letter to a friend, he described how he found inspiration for the word in an old Persian fairy tale in which three princes travel the world and, thanks to their insight and luck, constantly discover useful things they weren't actually looking for.

The other words from the quiz question also have literary origins.

"Pandemonium" was coined by John Milton in Paradise Lost as the name for the capital of hell, "Utopia" comes from Thomas More and his 1516 book, while "Yahoo" was invented by Jonathan Swift in Gulliver's Travels as the name for wild and primitive creatures.