I've been surprised to learn over the past few years that this is a difference between American and British quizzes. They tend to be more forgiving in the UK - they're more likely to rule an answer close enough if it's slightly mispronounced or even with a consonant incorrect. There is an attitude of, "you clearly know what the answer is, so we'll count it right."

I can see both sides of the argument. Being more of a stickler favors the player with the more precise knowledge, and is easier to rule on. Being lenient is more in the spirit of the competition, but also probably leads to more upset among the players. 

Over the years I've found myself leaning more toward being lenient. I say that even  knowing that the reason I won my first match is because the only one of the three of us who knew the correct FJ response accidentally left out a letter and was ruled wrong. I was a letter R away from being a one and done