Mispronunciation Matters
Discussion
Whilst out and about and in between appointments, I tuned in to the Daniel Dubois versus Oleksandr Usyk fight build up on Talksport. It's in Wrocław and everyone (other than Gareth A. Davies) mispronounced the city. You only have to ask someone what the 'ł' is doing, and with a bit more interest, you can also register that 'w' is pronounced as a 'v'. It's the minimum effort for these situations, no? All those numpties flew there; are they saying they didn't hear one person pronounce the city name?
Similarly, when Arsenal signed Sead Kolašinac, one of the first things he did after arriving at the club was send out a video message on how to pronounce his name (Ko-la-see-nack) and yet all the commentators and match summarisers referred to him as 'kolasinatch'.
Another piss boiler: Indian dishes. Tikka is not 'teeker' it is Tick-ah; samosa is 'sam-ossa' and not 'samoh-sar'. Makhani is muck-han-ee, and now even the telly advert voice-over peeps rattle it off as 'McCarney'.
I try not to let this disdain take over as overzealous pedantry because in my opinion, it's ignorant and lazy although the Dubois-Usyk build-up has wound me up today. It's been labeled as the 'Ruckus in Wrocław' for the alliteration. When you consider that the first and last letters in Wrocław are doing the job of the letter v, and the fifth letter is a w, the alliteration is embarrassingly b
ksed. V-rot-swarv!
Yes, some words are almost impossible to pronounce 'properly' if you don't speak that language, but a conscious effort is not much to ask, especially when conversing with a native of that country, surely! Just ask if not sure. That's how I learned.
Similarly, when Arsenal signed Sead Kolašinac, one of the first things he did after arriving at the club was send out a video message on how to pronounce his name (Ko-la-see-nack) and yet all the commentators and match summarisers referred to him as 'kolasinatch'.
Another piss boiler: Indian dishes. Tikka is not 'teeker' it is Tick-ah; samosa is 'sam-ossa' and not 'samoh-sar'. Makhani is muck-han-ee, and now even the telly advert voice-over peeps rattle it off as 'McCarney'.
I try not to let this disdain take over as overzealous pedantry because in my opinion, it's ignorant and lazy although the Dubois-Usyk build-up has wound me up today. It's been labeled as the 'Ruckus in Wrocław' for the alliteration. When you consider that the first and last letters in Wrocław are doing the job of the letter v, and the fifth letter is a w, the alliteration is embarrassingly b
ksed. V-rot-swarv!Yes, some words are almost impossible to pronounce 'properly' if you don't speak that language, but a conscious effort is not much to ask, especially when conversing with a native of that country, surely! Just ask if not sure. That's how I learned.
Yes, I've taken my chill pills before you say it.
I share the OP's pain. I think a lot of the problem comes down to someone's level of education - anyone who has studied modern languages to O-level should be able to have a stab. (I still like to pronounce Paris in a Glaswegian accent like the Monty Python Montgolfier brothers).
The BBC presenters of the World Athletic Championships are pretty good, especially Andrew Cotter, who can roll off a 5-syllable Polish surname as if he said it every day. A decent presenter will check in advance with the athlete and/or their team manager. Unlike the football pundits, who are quite happy to show us their lack of class - " free munfs out of the game". Oh for the days when radio announcers wore a dinner jacket.
PS Cholmondeley.......
The BBC presenters of the World Athletic Championships are pretty good, especially Andrew Cotter, who can roll off a 5-syllable Polish surname as if he said it every day. A decent presenter will check in advance with the athlete and/or their team manager. Unlike the football pundits, who are quite happy to show us their lack of class - " free munfs out of the game". Oh for the days when radio announcers wore a dinner jacket.
PS Cholmondeley.......
Mastodon2 said:
This is why Rob Hatch does the best cycling commentary, he makes the effort to get the names of people and places right. On the other hand, Sean Kelly sounds like he can barely read the names on the page.
You'd think with all the years Kelly spent on the continent he'd have picked up correct pronunciation, but maybe he just doesn't care. "Classmon" but he says "Classerment".Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff