# Auguste Pinochet **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 1999, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839 "1999-10-09T03:40:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839/1 "1999-10-09T03:40:00Z")
Is it pronounced “PEEN-OH-SHAY” or “PIN-OH-CHET”? I heard an NPR anchor introduce a BBC package using the first pronounciation and the BBC reporter used the second pronounciation throughout the package. * * * Tim “My hovercraft is full of eels.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839/2 "1999-10-09T16:28:00Z")
[Slate](http://www.slate.com/code/Explainer/Explainer.asp?Show=10/28/98&idMessage=1989) has the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839/3 "1999-10-09T16:53:00Z")
So how should ‘ricochet’ be pronounced? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839/4 "1999-10-09T19:19:00Z")
_bing-bing- **bing!** _ ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839/5 "1999-10-09T19:39:00Z")
_Slate_ has it wrong. The correct pronunciation is: ## BRU-tal MUR-der-ing DIC-Ta-tor. Livin’ on Tums, Vitamin E and Rogaine ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839/6 "1999-10-09T20:36:00Z")
good one, Quix. That was a blast from the past! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 1999, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839/7 "1999-10-09T21:36:00Z")
Now the correct pronunciation is “brutal murdering **extradited and lost his appeal** dictator.” ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 1999, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839/8 "1999-10-10T12:37:00Z")
I visited Santiago on business during the Pinochet years, I was there for a few days. The business acquaintence I was seeing told me that if I wanted to go explore the city, it was perfectly safe – there was no crime on the streets. “Muggers are shot,” he said, and he thought that would make me feel comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auguste-pinochet/3839/9 "1999-10-11T22:36:00Z")
Actually, shooting muggers might not be such a bad idea in certain places. I’m told that one of the chief reasons there’s so much Mexican emmigration/immigration is that in most major Mexican cities, crime is reaching “critical levels.” (This from a website listing travel advisories for various countries). Can anyone confirm or deny this? And yes, I know that Auguste Pinochet was the ruler of Chile, not Mexico. * * * “I had a feeling that in Hell there would be mushrooms.” -The Secret of Monkey Island