KGO newsperson's bad pronunciation!

[johnnyu]

You say potayto, I say potato.

 

[MC]

Gene Burns out at KGO is a big language nit picker. Every February, he makes a point about "Fe bru ary", and he always says "he is well" not fine, etc.

So what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

 

[TheBigA]

I know people who refer to the capital of the US as Warshington.

 

[DavidKaye]

I'm glad this thread was started. Has anyone else noticed a trend toward adding an h to the pronunciation of str, i.e., reshtaurant, or shtranger or shtrictly.

I haven't heard it, but excessive use of "sh" is usually a sign of severe cocaine use.

 

[LKellerIII]

I know people who refer to the capital of the US as Warshington.

That's from a particular American accent (mid-western, perhaps?). You also "warsh" your car and your clothes.

I hate to admit I ever listened to Michael Reagan, but his pronunciation of the capital is "Wash-tun."

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Some of the sloppy pronunciations are actually what's accepted in other English-speaking realms. Growing up on the Canadian border, as a child I was confused by DRAH-ma versus DRAA-ma, and the words "realator" and "jewellery" are the way they're said in Britain - tho' I cringe to hear them said that way in the USA as well, even tho' that's how my mother says them.

I think trying to pronounce a place name with the correct accent of the originating language usually sounds pretentious and stops a conversatonal tone dead in its tracks. Note how anyone on KPFA will say Nicaragua, versus the rest of us. Then again, hear a Brit on the BBC do it, when they add an extra syllable at the "u." The second one sounds slightly amusing to my ear, the first way sounds haughty. You pronounce names in the language you're speaking in, so Anglicizing Spanish city names is not only acceptable, but, I think, "normal" and correct. Then again, some will go too far in that department, like the 1930s announcers you may have heard in old recordings coming to you from a high atop a ballroom in Los An-gull-eeze. I doubt anyone still says it that way.

There has been a running debate at NPR to pronounce the name of the Chilean dictator "Pinochet," without dropping the T as if it was French. I think they're the only ones I've ever heard say it that way, tho' it does appear they are correct. (I haven't asked a Chilean to confirm it for myself, and who knows if there are regional accents or political nuances at work in that one, too?)

I guess as long as an announcer sounds "authentic" and not like they're trying to be something they're not, I'm usually willing to let a verbal faux pas pass.

 

[TomJF]

I know people who refer to the capital of the US as Warshington.

That's from a particular American accent (mid-western, perhaps?). You also "warsh" your car and your clothes.

Worsh/Worshington, etc., is from the Pittsburgh area: http://www.pittsburghese.com/

I haven't noticed the encroaching "sh" sound, but Mark Matthews on ABC7 has this whistling effect that sounds like someone who needs his dentures adjusted.

 

[LKellerIII]

I know people who refer to the capital of the US as Warshington.

That's from a particular American accent (mid-western, perhaps?). You also "warsh" your car and your clothes.

Worsh/Worshington, etc., is from the Pittsburgh area: http://www.pittsburghese.com/

I haven't noticed the encroaching "sh" sound, but Mark Matthews on ABC7 has this whistling effect that sounds like someone who needs his dentures adjusted.

OK - since we're deep into this subject, now - I'm going to dis North-easterners. What is that thing where the "R" sound is never pronounced unless the letter "R" is not present? So, for example, people from Massachusetts "pahk the cah" (park the car), but Castro is the leader of "Cuber?" (Cuba).

A friend of mine is a New Zealander - same thing.

 

[recto101]

I noticed that San Gabriel Valley tended to have two pronouciations like Los Angeles does.
San Gay-Brie-El and San Ga-Brie-El. I tended to lean on the Spanish pronouciations over the English ones. I heard that Larry Kane was removed from WABC7 in the 1970's because of pronoucing Houston Street as Houston the way Texas say it instead of House-Ton Street the way NYC says it.

 

[DavidKaye]

I think trying to pronounce a place name with the correct accent of the originating language usually sounds pretentious and stops a conversatonal tone dead in its tracks. Note how anyone on KPFA will say Nicaragua, versus the rest of us.

Comic Marga Gomez whose family is from Nicaraguq has a funny bit about the pronunciation of "nee-ha-RAHHHHHHH-quahhhhhh".

But, what to do? How *local* should a local pronunciation be? "Versailles Street" in the city of Alameda is pronounced by locals as "ver-SAILS", not "ver-SIGH". Likewise, Haight Street in SF is pronounced "HATE", not the proper "HEIGHT" as they Haight family pronounces it. Likewise, Kezar Pavilion in SF is correctly pronounced "KEY-zur", not "key-ZAR", according to the family after whom it is named.

In San Francisco, "Bernal" of Bernal Heights is prounced "BURR-null", but in Pleasanton the street named after the exact same family is pronounced "burr-NAL". The correct pronunciation is the Pleasanton way. I'm sure that it was changed to "BURR-null" to fit with "Heights" because it flows better.

Of course, my preference is that Bernal be pronounced differently depending on which Bernal is being talked about. But I think if a traffic reporter referred to "ver-SAILS" Street in Alameda I'd cringe, even if it is locally correct.

 

[Bongwater]

Being from Washington State, my biggest pronunciation pet peeve is that "Warsh-ington".

Or "warshing the car", etc.

I often let most pronunciation slip-ups slide in mid-conversation, but THAT one makes me stop EVERYTHING to correct them......

When Luke Bryan had that big country hit last year "Rain Is A Good Thing", the chorus went:

"Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey
Whiskey makes my baby feel a little frisky
Back roads are boggin' up, my buddies pile up in my truck
We hunt our honeys down, we take 'em into town
Start WARSHIN' all our worries down the drain
Rain is a good thing....."

I actually smashed a cheap Walmart radio to bits after hearing that......

But the one name that got me time and time again in recent years is Nicki Minaj.....It's only recently I've begun to pronounce it correctly.........

 

[LKellerIII]

I think trying to pronounce a place name with the correct accent of the originating language usually sounds pretentious and stops a conversatonal tone dead in its tracks. Note how anyone on KPFA will say Nicaragua, versus the rest of us.

Comic Marga Gomez whose family is from Nicaraguq has a funny bit about the pronunciation of "nee-ha-RAHHHHHHH-quahhhhhh".

But, what to do? How *local* should a local pronunciation be? "Versailles Street" in the city of Alameda is pronounced by locals as "ver-SAILS", not "ver-SIGH". Likewise, Haight Street in SF is pronounced "HATE", not the proper "HEIGHT" as they Haight family pronounces it. Likewise, Kezar Pavilion in SF is correctly pronounced "KEY-zur", not "key-ZAR", according to the family after whom it is named.

In San Francisco, "Bernal" of Bernal Heights is prounced "BURR-null", but in Pleasanton the street named after the exact same family is pronounced "burr-NAL". The correct pronunciation is the Pleasanton way. I'm sure that it was changed to "BURR-null" to fit with "Heights" because it flows better.

Of course, my preference is that Bernal be pronounced differently depending on which Bernal is being talked about. But I think if a traffic reporter referred to "ver-SAILS" Street in Alameda I'd cringe, even if it is locally correct.

I live in Bernal Heights - used to pronounce it bur-NAL,' but everybody kept giving me funny looks, so I stopped. I've heard that Marga Gomez bit - I think it originated during the period that news reporters were torturing the Spanish language by trying too hard to use proper pronunciation. One local comic (can't recall his name at the moment -he's also done some radio and voice over work) used to do a bit about Rrrrrrrrigo Chacon.

 

[sandwix]

About a month ago, I was listening to 97.3 during a.m. drive. The traffic person, "Jamie," said 'Go' for Gough St. At the end of her report, she was in the process of handing it back to Sarah and Vinnie when Vinnie stopped Jamie midway and asked, "Did you just say 'go' for Gough?"

Silence.

He asked her again and she finally copped to it, justifying her mispronunciation by saying she didn't know how to say 'Gough.'

I found it amazing that she would be so coy as to try and justify her gross error on such a common thoroughfare in SF by being flippant.

The whole incident made her appear to be an inexperienced, dimwitted outsider, especially because Vinnie had to coax an admission of ignorance out of her.

 

[JEREMIAH]

Let's"go" for "gough"

Years ago I was riding my motorcycle to work at. Ch. 7 when a car pulled up beside me and asked where where "go" st. was.
It didn't dawn on me until after I shrugged and he pulled away that he meant "gough".

As far as that traffic reporter is concerned, sometimes good help is hard to find.


Jerry Gordon

 

[oldies76]

On news channels or on radio, "Depot" is always pronounced both ways, long e or short e.

I've always thought it was pronounced as "deepo".

 

[SFStatic]

Both Home & Office want the word pronounced "Dee-poh." The customer is always right.

 

[LKellerIII]

Let's"go" for "gough"

Years ago I was riding my motorcycle to work at. Ch. 7 when a car pulled up beside me and asked where where "go" st. was.
It didn't dawn on me until after I shrugged and he pulled away that he meant "gough".

As far as that traffic reporter is concerned, sometimes good help is hard to find.


Jerry Gordon

When MUNI put in automatic voice announcement systems on their buses a couple of years ago, they used an out of town voice talent, and forgot to give her a pronunciation guide. For a few months, riders heard about "No" Street (Noe) and "CLEM-ent" Street (Cle-MENT).

When I firt moved to SF in the 70s, I noticed that elderly life-long San Franciscans had some interesting pronunications, including "Gary" Street (Geary) and "Carney" (Kearny). Those pronunications seem to have died with that generation.

 

[Dick Skinner]

About a month ago, I was listening to 97.3 during a.m. drive. The traffic person, "Jamie," said 'Go' for Gough St. At the end of her report, she was in the process of handing it back to Sarah and Vinnie when Vinnie stopped Jamie midway and asked, "Did you just say 'go' for Gough?"

Silence.

He asked her again and she finally copped to it, justifying her mispronunciation by saying she didn't know how to say 'Gough.'

I found it amazing that she would be so coy as to try and justify her gross error on such a common thoroughfare in SF by being flippant.

The whole incident made her appear to be an inexperienced, dimwitted outsider, especially because Vinnie had to coax an admission of ignorance out of her.

Yes, what a pathetic moron! Surely she should be drummed out of the business for such an unforgivable gaffe. How "coy" of her to try to justify her very existence.

Now what's the justification for sandwad's insufferable arrogance?

 

[LKellerIII]

About a month ago, I was listening to 97.3 during a.m. drive. The traffic person, "Jamie," said 'Go' for Gough St. At the end of her report, she was in the process of handing it back to Sarah and Vinnie when Vinnie stopped Jamie midway and asked, "Did you just say 'go' for Gough?"

Silence.

He asked her again and she finally copped to it, justifying her mispronunciation by saying she didn't know how to say 'Gough.'

I found it amazing that she would be so coy as to try and justify her gross error on such a common thoroughfare in SF by being flippant.

The whole incident made her appear to be an inexperienced, dimwitted outsider, especially because Vinnie had to coax an admission of ignorance out of her.

Yes, what a pathetic moron! Surely she should be drummed out of the business for such an unforgivable gaffe. How "coy" of her to try to justify her very existence.

Now what's the justification for sandwad's insufferable arrogance?

Point taken. Everybody deserves a break in period. I remember Richard Brown, a Canadian anchor on KGO-TV in the 90s absolutely murdering every Spanish word he pronounced for the first few weeks.

But really - while English spelling rules are inconsistent at best "-g-h" is generally pronounced like "F." Smokers have a "coff" (cough), not a "coh." When you find something funny, you "laff" (laugh),you don't "lah." The bully on the playground when you were a kid was a "tuff" (tough), not a "toe."

I got a million of 'em...

 

[1069_KIFR]

After the show, I hope Vinnie had her written up and docked a days pay!!!