Come Mister Tallyban tally me banana

[ryobserver]

I didn’t really notice the “tallyban” business. I stopped paying attention to Obama’s pronunciations when he made the famous “race” speech and said “divissive” instead of “diveyesive”.

(Yes, I’ve heard the arguments that “divissive” is a regional pronunciation, or an acceptable alternative, or whatever; and I know he’s not the first to say it that way, but then GWB wasn’t the first to say “nucular”.)

It’s like the time I heard the BBC’s Washington correspondent pronounce “Maryland” exactly as spelled (for non-Americans, Maryland should rhyme with Marilyn, as in Monroe). Throw in the times I’ve heard their correspondents call Houston “Whoston”, and I’m unable to completely trust the way any of them say any place name.

[BrotherCadfael]

@Koxinga

Kind of like how local lily white newscasters will go out of their way to adopt an extreme Spanish-y pronunciation when talking about everyday words. “Mr. Smith was reportedly eating an ENN-she-LAAAH-dah and talking to his neighbor from Meh-HEEE-COH when he was hit by a runaway Cadillac ESS-kee-LAAAH-day.” I think SNL had a skit about this once.

This is often a useful proxy for a person’s politics. Generally, the thicker the accent (in lily-white people), the further left.

[Koxinga]

Funny thing is most Tex-Mex Hispanics I’ve known will pronounce words just the way they’re commonly used, except of course when they’re speaking Spanish – which (guess what!) is a different language.
Most notably, if you’re from Austin, you’ll know that everyone, Hispanic & non-Hispanic alike, will refer to local avenues as “Man-Shack” (Mancha) Boulevard and “San Juh-Sin-Tow” (San Jacinto) Blvd.

As for Obama, if wants to use a soft “t” in pronouncing “Taliban” when he’s speaking Urdu, more power to him. But when speaking English, frequent & deliberate use of foreign language pronunciation comes across as a bit of a silly affectation.

[xash]

@Koxinga

As for Obama, if wants to use a soft “t” in pronouncing “Taliban” when he’s speaking Urdu, more power to him.

Traditionally, the Taliban speak Pashto.

Interesting article on the topic:
TALIBAN FORCED RIFT BETWEEN COUNTRY’S TWO MAIN LANGUAGE

Dari is Afghanistan’s most widespread language, spoken by up to half of the population. Second in line is Pashto, which is spoken by up to 40 percent of the population, primarily in the country’s south and east. But it was Pashto that was the language of the Taliban, which during their five-year reign forced the language on much of Afghanistan, changing signs and textbooks throughout the country – even in the capital Kabul, where Dari has traditionally dominated.

…

Today, the situation is somewhat reversed. Officials in Afghanistan’s interim government – even leader Hamid Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun – speak Dari, which is closely related to both Persian and Tajik. The only remaining traces of Pashto are on the local currency: Russian-printed Afghan banknotes still carry the former Pashto translation of “Bank of Afghanistan.”

…

Pashto, which is spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and southern Iran, is a completely distinct language from Dari, and is considered by many Afghans the “inferior” of the two local languages.

[SteveG1]

@Harmonious_Discord

Thank you president Obama for this ear worm. Of all the things you had to consistently mispronounce it was Taliban. After hearing him say Tallyban over and over I have placed Obama in my mind as Harry Belafonte singing the Banana Boat song with Tallyban replacing tally man over and over. Now that the song is stuck in my head I’m seeing a resemblance between the two men I will never be able to get rid of. Argh! Taliban the new nuclear.

I thought I was the only one affected this way.

DAYO!
DAAAYO
Daylight come and me wan go home

[elelle]

Umm, you guys want to think a wee little minnit about what kinda banana boat images you’re advancing here?

Yipes.

[Koxinga]

What’s wrong with banana boats?

[Death_of_Rats]

They’re Socialist banana boats?

[dhkendall]

They’re swift banana boats.