# Obama sounds like Osama!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [December 20, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853 "2006-12-20T00:12:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/61 "2006-12-20T17:23:37Z")
[QUOTE=BlackKnight]
I’ve never heard “Omaha” pronounced anything like either Obama or Osama. Do people actually pronounce it that way?
[/QUOTE]
Oh-ma-hah.
Oh-sa-mah.
Oh-ba-mah.
Exactly like it, IME.
-Joe
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### Author:  [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/62 "2006-12-20T17:30:50Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin]
I miss the early 1980s when I could say I was pro-bush all the way, and it didn’t have a political meaning.
[/QUOTE]
So does Mary Cheney.
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### Author:  [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/63 "2006-12-20T17:31:17Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek]
Oh-ma-hah.
Oh-sa-mah.
Oh-ba-mah.
Exactly like it, IME.
-Joe
[/QUOTE]
See, what I get is:
OH-ma-hah
oh-BA-mah
oh-SA-mah
Have Nebraskans been putting me on?
---
### Author:  [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/64 "2006-12-20T17:34:02Z")
[QUOTE=Agnostic Pagan]
The man’s got some work to do. I dont know if he could be elected president in '08, but I would love to see him as VP and run in '16. For me, he represents the future that America should embrace, but that I am not sure it will.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, I’d like to see him work at the position he holds now for a couple of terms. Distinguishing himself in the Senate would g a long way to make this kind of ignorance go away. And he’s still young - he’s got plenty of time.
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### Author:  [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/65 "2006-12-20T18:08:01Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge]
Now I get it. Obama. Osama. Omaha.
Sheesh. I gotta quit smoking that stuff. :eek:
[/QUOTE]
Actually, most people pronounce the capital of Nebraska _LINK uhn_.
Where they get \*OHM mu haw \* is beyond me. 🙂
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### Author:  [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/66 "2006-12-20T18:12:03Z")
I can’t hear the name “Obama” wtihout takng it as a cue to start belting out Dylan’s “Oh, Sister”:
“Oh, Bomber, am I not a brother tuh you-ou…”
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### Author:  [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/67 "2006-12-20T18:24:30Z")
[QUOTE=Eurograff]
That’s because “Osama bin Laden” isn’t really correct Arabic. While there isn’t a single method of transliterating Arabic script that everyone could agree with, we can still say that some methods are better than others. Arabic language has only three vowels, a, u and i, each of which has a short and a long form. Thus, if we want to state a person’s name in Arabic using Latin script, we probably shouldn’t use either o or e as these don’t exist in Arabic, so for example “Mohammed” becomes more correct “Muhammad”.
[/QUOTE]
_nod_ FWIW, in French, it’s transliterated “Oussama.”
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/68 "2006-12-20T18:30:30Z")
You guts never heard of poetic license?
Besides, nobody knows the capital of Nebraska. Or Kentucky, for that matter. 😛
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### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/69 "2006-12-20T18:59:13Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge]
You guts never heard of poetic license?
Besides, nobody knows the capital of Nebraska. Or Kentucky, for that matter. 😛
[/QUOTE]
Hey, I went along with it. State capitals are not one of my strong points.
**I** was actually agreeing. Osama/Obama/Omaha are pronounced pretty much the same way from what I’ve heard.
-Joe
---
### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/70 "2006-12-20T19:13:16Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek]
Hey, I went along with it. State capitals are not one of my strong points.
**I** was actually agreeing. Osama/Obama/Omaha are pronounced pretty much the same way from what I’ve heard.
-Joe
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, my C&P was off by one post. I meant to chastise **BlackKnight**. 😉
Also (hence the double) thanks for not ridiculing me for “guts” instead of “guys”.
So, where _are_ you going with that gun in your hand?
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/71 "2006-12-20T22:18:10Z")
[QUOTE=Sean Factotum]
Actually, I’d like to see him work at the position he holds now for a couple of terms. Distinguishing himself in the Senate would go a long way to make this kind of ignorance go away. And he’s still young - he’s got plenty of time.
[/QUOTE]
I sort of agree: as I’ve said before, I don’t think Obama is quite qualified to be President yet, but I do think he’d make an excellent VP.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/72 "2006-12-20T22:30:44Z")
[QUOTE=Quasimodem]
**Lightnin’** , and wasn’t it Fox News that started calling Bin Laden **U** sama for a while? What was up with _that_?
[/QUOTE]
['Cuz that’s what the FBI calls him.](http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm) And they are never wrong.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/73 "2006-12-20T22:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge]
Or Kentucky, for that matter.
[/QUOTE]
Frankfort!
I’m going to quit while I’m ahead. I didn’t even know Nebraska _had_ a capital.
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/74 "2006-12-21T00:31:11Z")
Fox News and their herd of ilk have already started happily doing the Usama/Obama dance, and they’ve begun to dine on his middle name. One even conjured up the idea that Muslims think he’s a Muslim (so he must be one, right?) :rolleyes:
[http://mediamatters.org](http://mediamatters.org)
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### Author:  [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/75 "2006-12-21T00:57:10Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott]
Fox News and their herd of ilk have already started happily doing the Usama/Obama dance, and they’ve begun to dine on his middle name. One even conjured up the idea that Muslims think he’s a Muslim (so he must be one, right?) :rolleyes:
> **[Homepage | Media Matters for America](https://www.mediamatters.org/)**
[/QUOTE]
Some of those “ilk” (too kind a word, IMHO) are so good at what they do, they can make you think that yes, “Black really _is_ white, isn’t it? I never saw it before, but I do now. Thank you ever so much!” (quotes used to denote saracsm only).
So now “apparently” is a synonym for “definitely” since it appears in print and looks officious.
Give me a break! :rolleyes:
Q
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### Author:  [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/76 "2006-12-21T02:27:25Z")
[QUOTE=Quasimodem]
Some of **those** “ilk”
[/QUOTE]
Should be “that” ilk.
(I think :smack: )
Q
---
### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/77 "2006-12-21T03:11:30Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott]
Fox News and their herd of ilk have already started happily doing the Usama/Obama dance, and they’ve begun to dine on his middle name. One even conjured up the idea that Muslims think he’s a Muslim (so he must be one, right?) :rolleyes:
> **[Homepage | Media Matters for America](https://www.mediamatters.org/)**
[/QUOTE]
It’s worse that I thought.
The shit at **AskNott** ’s link is exactly what my pal was saying. I should re-subscribe to cable and get myself some valium.
I gotta talk to the boy (he’s 40+). It’s on my liberal agenda. I need to save him from himself. I should go cut _his_ cable.
Thanks for the validation, AskNott. I was beginning to think I had hallucinated the whole conversation. :dubious:
We really need a “shake head” smiley. I’d even give up the “roll eyes”.
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/78 "2006-12-21T03:28:15Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek]
Hey, I went along with it. State capitals are not one of my strong points.
**I** was actually agreeing. Osama/Obama/Omaha are pronounced pretty much the same way from what I’ve heard.
-Joe
[/QUOTE]
Where do you put the stress in those words? I’m truly curious because anytime I have ever heard those words either in real life or on TV/in a movie, it’s been o- **SA** -ma, o- **BA** -ma, **OH** -ma-ha. 😕
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### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2006, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/79 "2006-12-21T08:08:31Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again- Obama’s chances for any national office would improve dramatically if his name were John Smith. It’s hard enough to get some whites to vote for a black for anything- getting them to vote for a black guy with an uber-black name may be too much.
[/QUOTE]
Barack Obama is an uber-black name?
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### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2006, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-sounds-like-osama/384853/80 "2006-12-21T13:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla]
Barack Obama is an uber-black name?
[/QUOTE]
Apparently it is - to someone who’s never met a Kedarius or Sha’quan. Or, my favorite, a girl who was in the paper (won a spelling contest) named Sha’Kespeare.
-Joe
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