# BBC pronunciation of "Barack Obama" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483 "2008-02-13T19:46:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/41 "2008-02-16T16:00:54Z")
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys] O’Bama is Irish. His name rhymes with potater. [/QUOTE] The queen of Hawaii was Irish too. Lilly O’Killarney. I have a relative in New York from Ireland. Coney Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/42 "2008-02-16T16:25:24Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] Cheney doesn’t count; you have to be human to run for President. (His buddy straddled the line, but the Supreme Court ruled that simians count.) [/QUOTE] [Moderating] Please refrain from political commentary in GQ. We have other forums for that. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/43 "2008-02-16T16:26:26Z")
> [@](#): > > When I was growing up, ‘Nike’ was pronounced like ‘bike’ and ‘Adidas’ was ‘a-DEE-dus’. The majority of people still pronounce them the old way, though, surely? I remember there was a fad a few years ago where everyone started saying Nikee instead of Nike, everyone quickly found the new pronunciations idiotic and switched back. > [@](#): > > It used to be a sore point here in Ireland when a BBC announcer pronounced (former taoiseach/prime minister) Charlie Haughey’s name as “Charlie Hockey”. Gallagher is pronounced “Gallaher” here and “Gallagger” in Britain, Doherty becomes “Dockerty” etc. You get a weird mix of British/Irish pronunciations around Manchester and Liverpool, probably due to all the Irish who moved here. Breheney’s a good example - some pronounce it “Breeny”, others “Bree henny”, same with the Gallagher surname. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/44 "2008-02-16T16:29:41Z")
Speaking of Cheney, I pronounce the VP’s name like ‘chain-ee’. (Lots of German in high school, so I tend to default to that pronunciation of vowels.) The city in Washington is pronounced ‘chee-nee’. (And I’ve discovered that ‘yack-i-muh’ is pronounced ‘yack-i-mah’.) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/45 "2008-02-16T16:35:38Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan] You get a weird mix of British/Irish pronunciations around Manchester and Liverpool, probably due to all the Irish who moved here. Breheney’s a good example - some pronounce it “Breeny”, others “Bree henny”, same with the Gallagher surname. [/QUOTE] In Ireland it’d most likely be pronounced “BRE-h’nee”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/46 "2008-02-16T19:01:16Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Speaking of Cheney, I pronounce the VP’s name like ‘chain-ee’. (Lots of German in high school, so I tend to default to that pronunciation of vowels.) The city in Washington is pronounced ‘chee-nee’. (And I’ve discovered that ‘yack-i-muh’ is pronounced ‘yack-i-mah’.) [/QUOTE] I understand that due to the influence of Asian immigrants, the local pronunciation of “Yakima” is changing from ['j&k@m@] (YAK-uh-muh) to [ja’kima] (ya-KEE-mah). ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/47 "2008-02-16T21:38:11Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan] The majority of people still pronounce them the old way, though, surely? I remember there was a fad a few years ago where everyone started saying Nikee instead of Nike, everyone quickly found the new pronunciations idiotic and switched back. [/QUOTE] Mmm, not from my experience, don’t know whether that’s a regional difference. I can’t imagine anyone going to the Nike store in Oxford Street and saying they’re going to ‘Nike (as in bike) Town’ rather than ‘Nikee Town’. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/48 "2008-02-16T22:01:46Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > ‘Adidas’ was ‘a-DEE-dus’ Actually, that’s [how we pronounce it.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrqJrRvng8w) > [@Colibri](#): > > Please refrain from political commentary in GQ. We have other forums for that. My bad. Won’t happen again. If I remember. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/49 "2008-02-16T22:11:40Z")
[QUOTE=SanVito] This reminds of some other company names which we Brits used to pronounce ‘wrongly’ and have since been corrected through the powers of the media. [/QUOTE] Yes, for decades we said “Marathon” and “Opal Fruits”, but then we were corrected to the correct pronunciation of “Snickers” and “Starburst” respectively. 😉 Anyway, to continue this mild debate, I’m watching _From the Earth to the Moon_ at the moment, and Tom Hanks just pronounced “Werner von Braun” as “wwerner vahn brown” with a particularly noticeable soft W, rather than “verner fon braohn”. I stand by my assertion that one only notices the shoehorning of unfamiliar words into the speaker’s own accent, when one is from a milieu that is outside that accent. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/50 "2008-02-17T10:27:34Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] Actually, that’s [url=[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrqJrRvng8w](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrqJrRvng8w)]how we pronounce it. [/QUOTE] Ha, then you haven’t caught up yet! We’ve been reprogrammed to pronounce Adidas the original German way. Maybe it’s part of some grand EU directive. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/51 "2008-02-17T12:30:44Z")
[QUOTE=SanVito] This reminds of some other company names which we Brits used to pronounce ‘wrongly’ and have since been corrected through the powers of the media. When I was growing up, ‘Nike’ was pronounced like ‘bike’ and ‘Adidas’ was ‘a-DEE-dus’. Now we’ve been reprogrammed to say ‘Nigh-kee’ and ‘ADD-i-das’. [/QUOTE] Despite the location, I’m British (Yorkshire), and I don’t remember ever hearing Nike pronounced anything other than Nigh-kee. Addidas was always ADD-i-das too, but I have converted to a-Dee-das since coming to the US as that is the norm in (this part of) the US. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/52 "2008-02-17T15:16:13Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Speaking of Cheney, I pronounce the VP’s name like ‘chain-ee’. (Lots of German in high school, so I tend to default to that pronunciation of vowels.) The city in Washington is pronounced ‘chee-nee’. (And I’ve discovered that ‘yack-i-muh’ is pronounced ‘yack-i-mah’.) [/QUOTE] I’m confused – the only way I’ve ever heard Dick Cheney’s name pronounced, in real life or on TV, is “chain-ee.” (Rhymes with “rainy.”) Is that not correct? ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/53 "2008-02-17T15:25:42Z")
[QUOTE=amarone] Despite the location, I’m British (Yorkshire), and I don’t remember ever hearing Nike pronounced anything other than Nigh-kee. Addidas was always ADD-i-das too, but I have converted to a-Dee-das since coming to the US as that is the norm in (this part of) the US. [/QUOTE] For my two pence worth, round my part of the UK most people would say Nike like Bike. Saying Nigh-KEE would be seen as trying to sound like an American and most people will laugh at you. And we call it AD-de-das. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/54 "2008-02-17T15:35:01Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] I’m confused – the only way I’ve ever heard Dick Cheney’s name pronounced, in real life or on TV, is “chain-ee.” (Rhymes with “rainy.”) Is that not correct? [/QUOTE] That’s the only way I’ve heard his name pronounced. But I’ve only ever heard the name of the city pronounced ‘chee-nee’. [German brand names](http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa020401b.htm) > [@](#): > > On the other hand, for many German brand names (Adidas, Braun, Bayer, etc.), the English or American pronunciation has become the accepted way to refer to the company or its products. In German, Braun is pronounced like the English word brown (same for Eva Braun, by the way), not BRAWN, but you’ll probably just cause confusion if you insist on the German way of saying Braun, Adidas (AH-dee-dass, emphasis on the first syllable) or Bayer (BYE-er). So it is probably best to keep this knowledge to yourself. (This does NOT apply to brand names with “Deutsche” in them!) The same goes for Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991). Geisel was born in Massachusetts to German immigrants, and he pronounced his German name SOYCE. But now everyone in the English-speaking world pronounces the author’s name to rhyme with goose. Sometimes you just have to be practical when you’re outnumbered. American pronunciations that I hate include Anheuser-Busch and Löwenbräu. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/55 "2008-02-17T15:37:32Z")
[QUOTE=essell] For my two pence worth, round my part of the UK. [/QUOTE] Where’s that? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/56 "2008-02-17T16:56:07Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] I’m confused – the only way I’ve ever heard Dick Cheney’s name pronounced, in real life or on TV, is “chain-ee.” (Rhymes with “rainy.”) Is that not correct? [/QUOTE] He and his family pronounce it CHEE-nee. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/57 "2008-02-17T20:29:47Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] He and his family pronounce it CHEE-nee. [/QUOTE] Huh. I guess I’ve never heard him pronounce his own name. Bizarre! ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/58 "2008-02-17T22:24:13Z")
[QUOTE=essell] For my two pence worth, round my part of the UK most people would say Nike like Bike. Saying Nigh-KEE would be seen as trying to sound like an American and most people will laugh at you. [/QUOTE] Weird. Not like Americans pronounce it quite like the ancient Greek (nee-kay) but pronouncing the e at the end is at least closer. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/59 "2008-02-17T22:42:24Z")
[QUOTE=Helen’s Eidolon] Weird. Not like Americans pronounce it quite like the ancient Greek (nee-kay) but pronouncing the e at the end is at least closer. [/QUOTE] You know, I was _this_ close to making a pretentious comment about how “Nighkee” is how it’s said in _Greek_, then it occurred to me to ask before making an ass of myself, and here you come with an answer! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wendigo1974](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@wendigo1974](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wendigo1974)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483/60 "2008-02-17T22:47:59Z")
I seem to recall Mark Lamarr calling out on a Baywatch actor he was interviewing for constantly pronouncing his character as Map Brody. If you watched the show you knew his character was Matt Brody, and with the American accent you just went with the flow. It was only when Lamarr asked him to repeatedly say the characters name that you realised how alien it was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-pronunciation-of-barack-obama/437483.md?page=2)