Pundits who pronounce names wrongly...

[Nerine]

I would expect football pundits to be able to correctly pronounce the names of the players they are passing comment on. But no. That's too much to ask sometimes.

So I've created a list of (current Spurs) names I've heard recently pronounced completely wrongly. I've done my best to spell them phonetically so pronounce them as you read them...

Pokkerteeno
Pockchatino
Pottercheeno
Lorris
Loreeez
Dembaylay
Trippeeyay
Wanyamma
A-Gnome-uh


And I'll add that John Motson in particular always seems to add a weird szzjjjzs if a foreign player's name ends with an S.

So take Leonardo Ulloa. The two L's apparently create the "zjy" or "szzjjjzs" sound. Motty always used to say Heurelho Gomeszzjjjzs. Etc. Pissed me off. Lol.

It always amuses me when I hear pundits get names completely wrong, so I thought I'd see what the rest of SC has heard in terms of terrible pronunciation..

 

[Shadydan]

This thread was made for David Pleat.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

I strongly sympathise in principle

But a Brazilian named Gomes would probably pronounce it GOH-mesh, Lloris is indeed pronounced Lor-EES and Dembélé is indeed pronounced Dem-bay-lay, although whether the accent is on the 2nd or 3rd syllable depends on how Frenchified he has chosen to make his own name. I suspect it is the 2nd.

I don't know whether Trippier pronounces his (French) surname the French way or the English way, 'cause I've never heard him say it.

And Ulloa is pronounced Oo-ZHO-ah because Argentinians pronounce the double L "zh", unlike the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, which says "yuh".

Somewhere in between my annoying work colleague, who used to say MOD-rick and DAY-vids and KOR-luka, and show-offy announcers who make a big thing of imitating foreign accents (badly), I'm sure there's a way to pronounce non-English names in a way that is respectful without being twee.

The thing that always drives me nuts is the universal English habit of pronouncing every French word or name with the accent on the first syllable.

 

[Monkey boy]

This is why people shouldn't start threads at 1 o'clock on a Saturday morning.

 

[Dougal]

I think commentators deserve a break. For every John Terry there's a Tee-air-ee On-ree. You can't just call them Johan Thierry and Terry Henry without a bit of grief. Personally I just call them two ****s.

 

[Amo]

What pisses me off is when they make the effort to seem like they're pronunciating them correctly by sounding foreigny, and still failing.

Emre Can is the worst. Everyone would call him Chan for a few seasons. Wtf? Where the fuck did the CH come from?

The Ch sound from Charlie in Turkish is Ç
The Ca sound from can't in Turkish is K
The J sound from Jackson in Turkish is C

It's Emre Can with the J from Jackson. Jan, like the month, if you like.

Why go through the trouble of making an assumption of how a foreign name sounds then base that assumption on diddly squat and get it wrong anyway?

 

[Mr.D]

First world problems.

 

[hughy]

Sam Matterface's pronunciation of Azpilicueta is infuriating.

 

[mill]

Eric bailly, always seems to be pronounced with the ll as a y, like the Spanish do, do they speak that way in the Ivory Coast or is it just English commentators copying how the Spanish would say it cos he played in Spain?

 

[WorcesterTHFC]

The commentators/presenters/pundits could always speak to the individuals concerned and find out how to pronounce their names correctly. Straight from the horse's mouth, and it shows a bit of respect.

 

[VegasII]

Pleat's the mastro of incorrectly pronouncing names. Everyone else can just

Shimbomba!

 

[Nine while nine]

At one level, I have some sympathy for those who don't pronounce Pochettino properly because the Pochettino clan in Argentina don't pronounce it 'properly' either.

It's an Italian surname and should be pronounced 'POK' but, because it's been entrenched in Argentina for a long time, it's become Spanish and so gets pronounced 'POTCH'. You'll find Italian families over here who don't pronounce their surname 'properly' either. And, to be fair, if it helps you assimilate in a foreign country, then it makes sense. A little bit of feigned ignorance and laissez-faire on linguistic rules to make it easier for you and everybody else probably isn't a bad thing.

And, on the basis that mildly incorrect pronunciation on the basis of feigned ignorance can be a good thing, I'm going to ignore Amo's informative guidance on how to pronounce Turkish and still snigger in a puerile fashion whenever I see reference to Turkey's top industrial conglomerate, Koç Holding.




(snigger)

 

[tony0379]

This thread was made for David Pleat.

"Shiwomba"

 

[Rob]

Motty always used to say Heurelho Gomeszzjjjzs. Etc. Pissed me off. Lol.

Is that not the Brazilian vs Portugese pronunciation and he thought he was being clever?

 

[VegasII]

And, on the basis that mildly incorrect pronunciation on the basis of feigned ignorance can be a good thing, I'm going to ignore Amo's informative guidance on how to pronounce Turkish and still snigger in a puerile fashion whenever I see reference to Turkey's top industrial conglomerate, Koç Holding.



New West Ham kit sponsor?

 

[davidmatzdorf]

Eric bailly, always seems to be pronounced with the ll as a y, like the Spanish do, do they speak that way in the Ivory Coast or is it just English commentators copying how the Spanish would say it cos he played in Spain?

It is pronounced broadly the same way in French: Bye-YEE.

Ivory Coast is a French-speaking country.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

Ander Hhhhh-errera. Argh. "H" is silent in Spanish.

 

[ljinko888]

For years there was a commentator who pronounced Fellaini...."Fell-eye-ini"

 

[widmerpool]

What pisses me off is when they make the effort to seem like they're pronunciating them correctly by sounding foreigny, and still failing.

Emre Can is the worst. Everyone would call him Chan for a few seasons. Wtf? Where the fuck did the CH come from?

The Ch sound from Charlie in Turkish is Ç
The Ca sound from can't in Turkish is K
The J sound from Jackson in Turkish is C

It's Emre Can with the J from Jackson. Jan, like the month, if you like.

Why go through the trouble of making an assumption of how a foreign name sounds then base that assumption on diddly squat and get it wrong anyway?

Choritso. Lartay. This oddity is by no means restricted to football.

 

[ljinko888]

On and Martin Tyler's one man brigade of "Aidan Azar"