Up here in the great North East, anything French is associated with French Canadian decent, which, as unjust as this may be, is considered to be of a lower social class. And the French language is not associated with intellectualism, as any logger in the Northeast Kingdom can speak fluent French-Canadian. Though the languages are quite different, “French” is French Canadian up here, and that generally isn’t considered quite cultured.
Does this apply to foreign words or names generally? Is this why the BBC pronounces ‘Nicaragua’ as “Nick-a-rah-gyew-ah”?
What he said. 
Ahh… There’s nothing in the world that comes close to the joy of being told that one’s writing sounds like one has a stick lodged thoroughly up one’s ass. 
P.S. punha- I’ll email you the revision, I swear.
I am currently completing my Masters Degree of Computer Science, and I have had my fair share of people correcting me (in their mind), but all I do is just smile and say thank you.
Usually when they ask me what I do for a living and where I go to school they shut up.
I find that, more often than not, I am going through a “intellectual” phase, and the correcting party is going through the “snot” phase.
Just a though
-S
I attend an intellectual snot breeding ground. The litmus test here is if they are bitter about their rejection from Harvard.
I think academia lends itself to snobbery, to an extent, but I try to keep down to earth…
Quietgirl has been doing lighting design for almost 4 years now- she’s worked for our high school, local theaters, and the local equity. She just adores it when non-techies try to correct her work. I remember this conversation:
Idiot Assistant Director: Quietgirl, I don’t like the rinse.
Quietgirl: Do you mean the wash?
Me: <snicker>
Same guy asked her to move the “freznels” and tried to have her point an ellipsoidal directly down on stage. (That kind of light is too bright for that.) Putz.
My intellectual snot phase ended when I realized it would be too much effort to maintain. I then adopted a mien of world-weary ennui, which has proven to require next to no effort at all. A pallette consisting solely of a stifled yawn, disdainful glance, and the ability to italicize any word even vaguely French was all it took. Now people respect and fear me for looking bored, when all I really need is a nap.
Unfortunately, when a topic comes up in which I am interested, like lighting design, my boyish enthusiasm destroys my carefully-crafted image and I just end up looking like the dork I really am.
Oooh, what Java said! I remember watching a British announcer call a World Cup match involving a South American team and just wincing every time he said “MAR-tinez”. I’m guessing it’s not so common for British kids to take Spanish? (Note: I have heard Americans mangle Spanish names hideously as well, but the British seem to do it more consistantly.)
Re: the OP. My sister is 16 and is an intellectual snot. You should have read her paper on The Scarlet Letter. She got an A+, probably because her teacher was so impressed with her thesaurus skills. My sister is firmly convinced that she is easily the smartest person in the family, and the rest of us are complete idiots who lack knowledge of the most basic things. Please note that my sister is a high school junior and everyone else in the family is a college graduate (and my dad has an advanced degree as well). No matter, we remain morons.
It must have beem painful for you to have to observe the T.V. person wincing so often, if, as you say, he winced every time he said “MAR-tinez” but I’m sure you feel happier in your knowledge that he said it more “consistantly.”
I don’t know what is meant by “calling” a “World Cup match”, but please do not attempt to explain.
Ain’t that the way?
It is my understanding that the British do not mispronounce foreign words out of ignorance. They import the foreign words into English, and pronounce them as if the words had been there all along. I’ve always sort of admired that “I really couldn’t give a damn how you think your word should be pronounced, you cheeky little savage” attitude about the Brits. It’s no wonder the French are so irritable, with the British right there across the channel blithely infusing a measure of English thud into every previously musical word of French that they come across. 
… Or better yet, “correcting” foreign words into English. I witnessed the following scene in a grocery store in Santander.
Elderly British couple (slowly lurching their way from the liquor aisle to the counter): (Bump) Excuse me! (Bump) Excuse me! … etc.
Spanish clerk (looking dubiously at the array of pink wine-in-a-box, watery Spanish lager, and cheap cigarettes they are purchasing): Puedo ver su pasaporte, por favor?
Man: EH? WHAT’S THAT?
Woman: I don’t know, Nigel! They won’t speak English here! (Not “don’t,” mind you, but “won’t.” I immediately abandon any impulse I might have had to translate for them.)
Clerk (more slowly): El pasaporte.
Woman: Oh! He wants to see our passports! (To the clerk.) Passport. Pass-port.
It was the fourth of July. Never have I been so glad we fought that war.
(Disclaimer: Later that day, I met a couple of guys named Jim and Paul from Manchester, who entirely redeemed any bad impression I might have had of their compatriots. The British are fine people for the most part. Just a little silly sometimes.)
The proper way to prounce french words is the american way obviously. Damn forieners:)
I went through this phase in elementary school. I liked to let everyone know how smart I was, how fast I could read, how well I could draw, etc. I was probably really annoying.
It faded in high school, and now as a senior I usually give the impression that I have no idea what I’m doing (I usually don’t) even though my grades are still really good. But now when teachers announce my test scores and such in front of everyone, I’m much more modest about it. Now I just sorta smile and look at the floor.
I’ll admit; I’m one of those people who is extremely picky about words. When I edit people’s papers in any writing classes, I tear them apart. People get angry when I bust out that red pen, but I don’t see why they do, when they beg me to edit their papers anyway…weird people. And I correct spelling or pronunciations, but only online or when editing. As for pronunciation when talking, I almost never correct people, because I’m terrible with pronunciation myself (I said “Po-LIT-i-can” instead of POL-i-ti-cian for the longest time). I always correct my boyfriend’s spelling when I talk to him on IM, but I do that more on purpose than anything, to annoy him, but in a goofy way. I usually don’t correct spelling of someone I’m not particularly close to.
My senior class did the play “The Pink Panther Strikes Back.” The lead, Jesse as Clouseau, pronounced “mon ami” as “mon AM-i”…we couldn’t stop laughing. Sounded like he was saying “balogna” or something.
Speaking of the play, my one friend managed to annoy the crap out of everyone at play practice. When the people were onstage and talking, she’d yell out any mispronunciations. If someone walked upstage instead of downstage, she’d yell out their mistake. Since she wasn’t even the director and just a minor part, that added to the annoyance.
Or naming a scouring powder.
Guilty. I went through an intellectual snot phase that lasted about from second grade through fourth.
Now I think I’m sort of the opposite. Probably only people who work with me or know me really well think I have any real brains at all. My ex-girlfriend, who always lacked respect for my grey matter based on the fact that I don’t have a high level of education, about fell out of her chair when she stumbled into a pile of my personal stuff that included transcripts, SAT and ACT scores, etc. And that was after we had been going out for over two years. Apparently I come across as being even more stupid than I realized. Oh well. Give me my friends, my family, my rusty truck, boat, fishing rod, and a beer and I’m a happy guy. If I impress anyone, it’s most likely by accident.