RE: Pro's & Kin's

[Aaron Read <aread@speakeasy.net>]

At 05:22 PM 10/14/2003, Bill O'Neill wrote:
> > If it's an English-language broadcast, shouldn't they give it the
> > correct English pronunciation?  Do we have to Hispanicize everything
> > just to please some politically-correct pressure groups?
> >
> > -GAWollman
>
>In a world where even a state's Governor-Elect can mispronounce the state
>name.... Cal-ee'-for-nee'-ya....and steel get elected. (very 
>sic)...  Seriously,
>not to make fun of immigrants who actually SPEAK that way all of the time, 
>like
>Arnold.  It's more of those who are incredibly fluent in all manners of speech
>until they come across certain native words.  And, another thing, it's
>Provoloneeeee cheese.  Thank you.
>
>I know that Quincy, Mass., is pronounced, "Quinzy" by many.  That gets
>overlooked.  Marblehead, "Marble-HEAD," otherwise, you're in Athol. ;-)
>
>Bill O'Neill (oft misspelled with but one "L")


Amen, Bill.  It's a rare day when someone actually spells both my first and 
last name correctly on the first try.  Usually it's "Reed", since my name 
is pronounced that way (i.e. NOT like saying the color "red" or the town of 
"Reading").   At Boston University, every time I went to a school office 
and they had to fill out a form for me, they were convinced (despite my 
facial hair) that I was a woman since very frequently they spelled it 
"Erin".  Go figure.

Which is another personal pet peeve is the subtle difference in pronouncing 
"Aaron" vs. "Erin".   Since I once dated a girl named Erin, it was a giant 
pain in our butts.   My name is "aah", her name is "err".   Okay, rant 
over.  :-)   I guess it just highlights how much we, as a country, mangle 
both our language and everyone else's, too.

FWIW, I met a girl named "Aarin" once, pronounced the same as 
"Aaron".  That was very confusing for the duration of the dinner party we 
were at!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aaron "Bishop" Read             aread@speakeasy.net
FriedBagels Consulting          AOL-IM: readaaron
http://www.friedbagels.com      Boston, MA