# Famous names you mispronounced for the longest time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973 "2016-03-05T02:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [March 10, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/121 "2016-03-10T18:30:49Z")
Novelist Jim Crace told a story in which he went into a bookstore to find a copy of his own book and when embedded asked for a book by “Jim Krayss” was gravely informed that “It’s pronounced Kra-chay,” and he was so taken aback and kind of intimidated that he didn’t argue. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/122 "2016-03-10T18:38:23Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Until recently I had no idea that Jim Croce was of Italian origin, and so I rhymed his surname with “gross”. \ No, that’s how Larry “Junk Food Junkie” Groce pronounces it. Is this turning into a Gallagher routine? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/123 "2016-03-10T19:42:26Z")
Alicia Silverstone’s first name is ‘uh-LISS-ee-uh’. Maya Angelou pronounced the last syllable of her last name as ‘low’ instead of ‘loo,’ as it would seem. (Her husband’s last name was actually ‘Angelos’). ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/124 "2016-03-10T19:54:15Z")
I feel like every few years I have to be reminded how Foucault is pronounced. My brain always wants to say something like fuh-caw’ or foo-call. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/125 "2016-03-10T20:05:49Z")
I’m amazed that in three pages no one has yet reported any confusion over whether Kim Basinger’s last name is pronounced “Bay-_sing_-er” or “Bay-_singe_-er”. Isn’t this supposed to be, like, the _canonical example_ of a mispronounced celebrity name? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/126 "2016-03-10T20:13:48Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > David Bowie (rhymes with row-ee) [Yes it does.](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/row#Etymology_1)[Oh no, wait, no it doesn’t.](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/row#Etymology_3)[Or maybe it does…?](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/row#Etymology_2) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/127 "2016-03-10T20:28:16Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I’m amazed that in three pages no one has yet reported any confusion over whether Kim Basinger’s last name is pronounced “Bay-_sing_-er” or “Bay-_singe_-er”. Isn’t this supposed to be, like, the _canonical example_ of a mispronounced celebrity name? At first, it was Ba (short “a,” like a goat)-sin-jer, but then I lost interest. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/128 "2016-03-10T20:31:32Z")
Yeah, apparently, it’s “bay + singer” (like “one who sings”), but I remember it being pronounced to pretty much rhyme with “passenger” for awhile, too. Don’t remember the “baa-sin-jer” pronunciation, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/129 "2016-03-10T20:50:00Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > This is from Joan Baez’s autobiography: > > _"I gave Time a long-winded explanation of the pronunciation of my name which came out wrong, was printed wrong in Time magazine, and has been pronounced wrong ever since. It’s not “Buy-ezz”; it’s more like “Bize,” but never mind. **The French pronounce it “Bayz,” which (phonetically speaking) is the present tense of the verb baiser, which in slang means “to fornicate.”**_ > [@pulykamell](#): > > Except that “baise” is pronounced more like “bez,” if not exactly like “bez.” It’s not an “ay” sound in there. In my teens, I was keen for a while on Joan’s stuff. I recall an occasion when my mother – hostile to all forms of subversive hippy-dippy crap – mispronounced (in deliberate contempt – or I was sure at the time, that that was so), speaking to me of “your Joan Bayz record”. We’re English-speakers, by the way – but maybe “she spoke truer than she knew”. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/130 "2016-03-10T21:40:57Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I’m amazed that in three pages no one has yet reported any confusion over whether Kim Basinger’s last name is pronounced “Bay-_sing_-er” or “Bay-_singe_-er”. Isn’t this supposed to be, like, the _canonical example_ of a mispronounced celebrity name? It’s “Bay-_sing_-er,” with a hard “g.” Ashton Kutcher also has one of those names that tend to confuse people. His last name looks like it could sound like “Dutch-er,” but it actually rhymes with the word “butcher.” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/131 "2016-03-10T21:49:29Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I’m amazed that in three pages no one has yet reported any confusion over whether Kim Basinger’s last name is pronounced “Bay-_sing_-er” or “Bay-_singe_-er”. Isn’t this supposed to be, like, the _canonical example_ of a mispronounced celebrity name? What amazes me, on this board, that we’re three pages in and no one has floated Raymond Luxury Yacht yet. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/132 "2016-03-10T22:38:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Except that “baise” is pronounced more like “bez,” if not exactly like “bez.” It’s not an “ay” sound in there. That’s a good point. I’m thinking Joan doesn’t know French very well. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/133 "2016-03-10T23:46:48Z")
The Fast Show had a great sketch about The Unpronounceables. I went looking for it on YouTube, but I can’t find it. > [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Re. Schwarzenegger: _Egge_ means a harrow, and _eggen_ is the verb to harrow, so an _Egger_ would be very similar to a ploughman. Oak would be _Eiche_. I speak about ten words of German, but I know what ‘schwarz’ means. I always vaguely figured, without actually thinking about it (obviously, because it makes no sense), that ‘Schwarzenegger’ had to mean ‘black egg person’. Like, ‘person who likes/makes/breeds black eggs’. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/134 "2016-03-11T00:32:21Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I remember seeing this. It was on Arsenio Hall’s first show back in the 90s. As I recall, Schwarzenegger told Arsenio that his name means “the black ploughman” in English. Hall threw his arms around Arnold and exclaimed, “Brother!” The Letterman interview was just after Ah-nold married Maria Shriver. Dave asked what “Schwarzenegger” meant and was told “Black Plough Man,” to which Letterman shot back **How do you think the Kennedys feel about having a black plough man in the family?** [How the hell do you pronounce WWQLCW?](https://books.google.com/books?id=5oimpCPL1ewC&pg=PT466&lpg=PT466&dq=W-W-Q-L-C-W+bob+and+ray&source=bl&ots=YX81HxqkOm&sig=PXPLkAbGYkyzkZlU0CLRJ5NrRVI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZ3e_HrLfLAhXOxyYKHRXdAtIQ6AEINTAD#v=onepage&q=W-W-Q-L-C-W%20bob%20and%20ray&f=false) (Back up half a page) ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/135 "2016-03-11T00:40:18Z")
For the longest time I mispronounced _Raymond Luxury Yacht_. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/136 "2016-03-11T03:37:53Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > The Letterman interview was just after Ah-nold married Maria Shriver. Dave asked what “Schwarzenegger” meant and was told “Black Plough Man,” to which Letterman shot back **How do you think the Kennedys feel about having a black plough man in the family?** (Snipped for brevity) See post 81 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/137 "2016-03-11T04:19:20Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > The Letterman interview was just after Ah-nold married Maria Shriver. Dave asked what “Schwarzenegger” meant and was told “Black Plough Man,” to which Letterman shot back **How do you think the Kennedys feel about having a black plough man in the family?** > > [How the hell do you pronounce WWQLCW?](https://books.google.com/books?id=5oimpCPL1ewC&pg=PT466&lpg=PT466&dq=W-W-Q-L-C-W+bob+and+ray&source=bl&ots=YX81HxqkOm&sig=PXPLkAbGYkyzkZlU0CLRJ5NrRVI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZ3e_HrLfLAhXOxyYKHRXdAtIQ6AEINTAD#v=onepage&q=W-W-Q-L-C-W%20bob%20and%20ray&f=false) (Back up half a page) I don’t doubt you, but my memory of Schwarzenegger’s appearance on _Arsenio_ is quite clear. He appeared on that show, too. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/138 "2016-03-11T04:29:08Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t doubt you, but my memory of Schwarzenegger’s appearance on _Arsenio_ is quite clear. He appeared on that show, too. Likewise, I don’t doubt you, either. If a celeb’s on one show, safe bet they’re on the other one(s) sooner rather than later. The only thing I’ve seen Arsenio do is fall out of a high-rise window after getting tangled in a phone cord (“There’s no fuckin’ Thelma here!”) [from “Amazon Women on the Moon”]. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/139 "2016-03-11T04:58:34Z")
> [@Subterraneanus](#): > > For the longest time I mispronounced _Raymond Luxury Yacht_. The funny thing about that is that so many Americans are convinced it’s _Throat Warbler Mangrove_ when in fact it’s clearly _Throat_ **Wobbler** _Mangrove_. [CITE 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzK4kEkLzfs) [CITE 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRoSwOXvD98) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/140 "2016-03-11T05:48:46Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I would assume Jee-mon, but Jai-mən is common enough to make me wonder. I’m surprised because he doesn’t look Jai-mən. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973.md?page=8)