# Speaking of Brett Favre. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628 "2006-12-11T00:59:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/1 "2006-12-11T00:59:04Z")
It _still_ escapes me why, or how, his name is pronounced “f-a-r-v-e”. A lot about professional sports escapes me, but that one I just don’t get. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/2 "2006-12-11T15:50:13Z")
It’s French, like “hors d’oeuvres.” ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/3 "2006-12-11T16:52:44Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] It’s French, like “hors d’oeuvres.” [/QUOTE] It has nothing to do with the fact it is French. In French, you would pronounce it Favr, with just the hint of the idea of an unstressed vowel at the end. It’s pronounced Farv because English speakers cannot easily save Favr. We prefer words that have full vowels in our syllables. And, I believe, you will find that the Louisiana area, where Cajun (Acadian) French is mixed in with southern American English, they have come to pronounce this consonant combination in this fashion. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/4 "2006-12-11T20:44:16Z")
I tried pronouncing it that way, and it is a little awkward. But not really difficult. Funny thing is, if a sports announcer were to pronounce the name “Favre” he’d likely catch hell. Strange world, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/5 "2006-12-11T21:47:08Z")
Strangely enough, we don’t seem to have much difficulty in Canada pronouncing it “Favre.” ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/6 "2006-12-11T23:03:02Z")
Yes, but you’re Canadian. There are a lot of regional dialects of English in North America with many different pronunciations of similar words. It happens. The correct way for Brett Favre to pronounce his surname is how he pronounces it. Recent retired baseball player Bill Mueller pronounced his last name “Miller.” He was from the St. Louis area. Another St. Louis area player from the 1950s, Don Mueller, pronounced his surname as “myooler” (think of the animal “mule” and add “er”). Who was “right”? ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/7 "2006-12-11T23:14:57Z")
Baseball player Dale Sveum – if I remember correctly – was once asked what his name means. He replied, “It means a lot of people are going to mispronounce my name.” ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/8 "2006-12-11T23:19:47Z")
There was a hockey player form the Czech Republic who’s name was Stanislav Neckar. His last name was pronounced NETS-kash ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/9 "2006-12-12T02:16:07Z")
Kjell Samuellson, where the first name comes out as “Shelf” somehow… ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/10 "2006-12-12T03:19:43Z")
There is the classic “Sade”, the most excellent jazz singer. I think even she pronounces two or three different ways. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/11 "2006-12-12T03:28:10Z")
Mike Krzyzewski owns this thread. (Shuh-shef-skee) Great old English names like Featherstone (fan-shaw) and St. John (sin-jin) also qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/12 "2006-12-12T05:17:20Z")
[QUOTE=BobT] Recent retired baseball player Bill Mueller pronounced his last name “Miller.” He was from the St. Louis area. Another St. Louis area player from the 1950s, Don Mueller, pronounced his surname as “myooler” (think of the animal “mule” and add “er”). Who was “right”? [/QUOTE] And my high school English teacher Mr. Mueller pronounced his name MOY-ler. My own mother and her twin brother pronounce their family name differently! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/13 "2006-12-12T05:22:37Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] Mike Krzyzewski owns this thread. (Shuh-shef-skee) [/QUOTE] A guy I went to high school with wound up working at the Duke student newspaper. He said that the keyboards had been set up with special function keys – probably CTRL-K or something – so that the coach’s name was rendered properly. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/14 "2006-12-12T05:51:21Z")
Had a prof named “Meagher”, pronounced “Marr” (I guess so that he doesn’t sound like the stingy type…). ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/15 "2006-12-12T05:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Had a prof named “Meagher”, pronounced “Marr” (I guess so that he doesn’t sound like the stingy type…). [/QUOTE] Gaelic names are notoriously difficult. Johnny Marr was born John Martin Maher… but changed it to the phonetic. Bill Maher, however, successfully has Americans pronouncing his name correctly. And I have no idea how you get “Shuv-von” out of Siobhan! ---
**Author:** ![bob\_loblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@bob\_loblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_loblaw)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/16 "2006-12-12T07:55:34Z")
tony hrkac; pronounced “her-cuss” - a former nhl journeyman. miroslav satan, pronounced “sh-tan” - current & decent left winger, (un?)fortunately has yet to play for the devils. and then there was zarley zalapski – his name is pronounced exactly how it is spelled, but fuck, that’s a name. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2006, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/17 "2006-12-12T08:22:02Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] Mike Krzyzewski owns this thread. (Shuh-shef-skee) [/QUOTE] In Polish, it would be pronounced “Kshih-SHEF-skee.” The initial “k” would not be silent. There are a few Krzyzewskis we know (unrelated to Coach K, so far as I know.) Re: Mueller. In the German, the pronunciation would be “MÜ-ler.” The vowel is an umlaut-u. To make the sound, round you lips as if you were saying “oooo,” but make an “eeee” sound. Neither “myooler” nor “miller” is “correct” in the sense that that would be the way the original Germanic name was pronounced. However, families are free to Americanize/Anglicize a pronunciation as they see fit. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_loblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@bob\_loblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_loblaw)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/18 "2006-12-12T08:26:39Z")
[QUOTE=john difool] kjell samuellson, where the first name comes out as “shelf” somehow… [/QUOTE] it’s pronounced “schell” and the surname is samuelsson (1 l, 2 s’s for those who wanna google it.) also, ulf (pronounced “oolleff”) samuelsson; aka ‘knees mcgee’ is not (contrary to widespread belief) kjell’s brother… though how closely they may be actually related is, afaik, still up in the air. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2006, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/19 "2006-12-12T08:30:31Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] And I have no idea how you get “Shuv-von” out of Siobhan! [/QUOTE] “Bh” = “v” (or “w,” depending on the the vowels). Kinda like “ph” = “f” in English. And “Sio” shouldn’t be too much a stretch, we have combinations like “sion” in English. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2006, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628/20 "2006-12-12T08:35:03Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_loblaw] it’s pronounced “schell” and the surname is samuelsson (1 l, 2 s’s for those who wanna google it.) [/QUOTE] [Actually, the “kj” letter combination is pretty interesting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjell), as the “proper” pronunciation in Norweigian is like the “ch” in German “ich,” but is being replaced by the English “sh” among many speakers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-brett-favre/383628.md?page=2)