# Say that again? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 19, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-again/349047 "2006-03-19T21:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-again/349047/1 "2006-03-19T21:46:08Z")
I was watching “Face the Nation” this morning as Bob Schieffer was interviewing Dick Cheney. Cheney had occasion to say his own last name, twice. Both times he pronounced it CHEE-knee. Has anybody else heard this pronunciation. Has everyone been pronouncing it incorrectly? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-again/349047/2 "2006-03-19T21:48:36Z")
If I ever meet him, I’ll be sure to pronounce it “she-NAY.” ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-again/349047/3 "2006-03-19T22:03:40Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > If I ever meet him, I’ll be sure to pronounce it “she-NAY.” Can you do that in a red state? (where I was born and grew up) ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-again/349047/4 "2006-03-19T22:59:23Z")
I remember some TV news person saying, I think as far back as the first campaign, that the name is actually pronounced Chee-nee, but since it’s an unusual pronunciation for the spelling nobody pays any attention to that. I think he’s doomed to have people mispronounce his name as long as he’s in the public office. I also think it’s a lapse on the part of professional spoken media people. Seems to me they should pay attention to details better than that. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-again/349047/5 "2006-03-20T00:26:51Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > I remember some TV news person saying, I think as far back as the first campaign, that the name is actually pronounced Chee-nee, but since it’s an unusual pronunciation for the spelling nobody pays any attention to that. I think he’s doomed to have people mispronounce his name as long as he’s in the public office. I also think it’s a lapse on the part of professional spoken media people. Seems to me they should pay attention to details better than that. Thanks, I hadn’t heard that. It does remind me of something I heard about Colin Powell. It’s said that a reporter asked his mother about the correct pronunciation of his first name, she supposedly replied, to the effect, that she would not give a child a name that was a body part, implying the his name is COAL-in, not CALL-in. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-again/349047/6 "2006-03-20T00:38:35Z")
Thank goodness for that. ‘Colon’ is a terrible name. I assume it’s Coll-lin, then. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-again/349047/7 "2006-03-20T00:42:14Z")
I also remember hearing this on the news in 2000. As I recall it, Cheney said he pronounced it “Cheeney,” but didn’t care much either way. > [@A.R. Cane](#): > > implying the his name is COAL-in, not CALL-in. Did you mean to say this the other way 'round? ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-that-again/349047/8 "2006-03-20T14:32:25Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I also remember hearing this on the news in 2000. As I recall it, Cheney said he pronounced it “Cheeney,” but didn’t care much either way. > > Did you mean to say this the other way 'round? Sure did. So much for proofreading.