# The woman who mispronounced her own name **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261 "2010-06-15T04:33:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/41 "2010-06-16T09:56:21Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > About 10-15 years ago there was a news anchor here who had trouble pronouncing his own name. He’d say his first name, then pause a little, then over-pronounce the beginning of his last name. > ." he may have been a stutterer, and was trained mostly out of it. ---
**Author:** ![ColdPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/42 "2010-06-16T10:56:57Z")
I think it’s funny the way Colin Powell pronounces his name! ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/43 "2010-06-16T11:27:36Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > LOL, oh lord. Emphasis mine. Wow, you sure seem to be getting bent out of shape about a typo. If you notice, my post was edited. I re-wrote a lot of it, but it seems that I failed to catch that. The sentence originally read something like “It’s not just the name I’m annoyed with, it’s the whole trend of making unique names…” But with the way the post concluded, I ended up repeating myself a little, so I re-wrote a few sentences… and that was a typo that got left behind. If you notice, I go on in that post to talk about how _everyone_ (Black, Latino, White, etc.) are on this kick of ruining perfectly good names and words just for a unique sounding name. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/44 "2010-06-16T13:46:33Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > Wow, you sure seem to be getting bent out of shape about a typo. If you notice, my post was edited. I re-wrote a lot of it, but it seems that I failed to catch that. The sentence originally read something like “It’s not just the name I’m annoyed with, it’s the whole trend of making unique names…” But with the way the post concluded, I ended up repeating myself a little, so I re-wrote a few sentences… and that was a typo that got left behind. If you notice, I go on in that post to talk about how _everyone_ (Black, Latino, White, etc.) are on this kick of ruining perfectly good names and words just for a unique sounding name. Typo? What key did you hit wrong to produce this typo, the “it’s not just the blacks” key? I think you mean it’s an editing error, but I think it’s fair to say that original, unedited text (or text left in by editing accident) can be psychologically revealing. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/45 "2010-06-16T15:06:24Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Typo? What key did you hit wrong to produce this typo, the “it’s not just the blacks” key? I think you mean it’s an editing error, but I think it’s fair to say that original, unedited text (or text left in by editing accident) can be psychologically revealing. And she’s the one getting “bent out of shape”. I mean, it’s pretty obvious how “the blacks” would be read. And I can understand it being an editing mistake, but I’d expect a reply like, “ah, dammit! I had edited my post and the sentence was originally (blah). That looks way worse than what I meant!” ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/46 "2010-06-16T20:20:22Z")
God dammit, what’s wrong with _those people_? Can’t they just hurry up and act white already? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/47 "2010-06-16T20:29:22Z")
I saw a birth notice for someone with the middle name “Perseffany”. I like the way it retains the name while removing the elegance. Nice touch. (Google doesn’t bring up the notice but it does bring up a 2004 post on the boards where I complained about it - obviously that one has been bugging me for years) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/48 "2010-06-16T20:35:47Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > That said, I knew a girl named Brian. Yes, that is how it was spelled. She said “It’s pronounced Bree-Ann.” Nice girl but I felt like saying, “You can pronounce it anyway you want but if your parents named you BRIAN and spelled it B-R-I-A-N, they named you BRY-AN.” My daughter is friends with a girl named something similar. I can never remember if it’s Bree-Ann, Bree-Anna, or Bree-Ahn, so I just say Brian. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/49 "2010-06-16T20:58:29Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > God dammit, what’s wrong with _those people_? Can’t they just hurry up and act white already? Do I act white enough for you, SFG? I don’t even listen to rap. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/50 "2010-06-16T21:17:48Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Do I act white enough for you, SFG? I don’t even listen to rap. 😃 Yes, but you’ve brought up the fact that you’re Black before. That’s just \*so \*gauche. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/51 "2010-06-16T21:20:02Z")
> [@Captain\_Midnight](#): > > Ever watch that episode of “The Golden Girls” where they were talking to this man (maybe a mortician) whose last name was Pfeiffer, and had to tell the women that his name was Pee-feiffer, the P wasn’t silent. The “p” isn’t silent if you’re going by the German pronunciation. It sounds like the “pf” in “stepfather.” Although the usual English pronunciation of this is “Fifer,” I can imagine “puh-fifer” and “pee-fifer” as variations (although the latter is a bit more of a stretch.) This is much like how a German name with an “ö” or “oe” sometimes gets pronounced as a long “o”, sometimes as an “ay”, but not usually as an actual “ö.” Or sometimes how German names with a “z” get pronounced as an English “z” or sometimes as the German “ts.” (See: Mozart, Schweizer, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/52 "2010-06-16T21:25:03Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Yes, but you’ve brought up the fact that you’re Black before. That’s just \*so \*gauche. Really? Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/53 "2010-06-16T21:31:02Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Yes, but you’ve brought up the fact that you’re Black before. That’s just \*so \*gauche. I am not Black. I’m black. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/54 "2010-06-16T21:39:36Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I am not Black. I’m black. Well go wash it off, then! Too far? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/55 "2010-06-16T21:42:18Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Well go wash it off, then! > > Too far? 😉 I won’t release the bees. This time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/56 "2010-06-16T21:49:02Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I won’t release the bees. > > This time. 😉 … _Ominous!_ ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/57 "2010-06-16T21:51:18Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > … _Ominous!_ If I had said I’d NEVER release the bees, you’d have come back with “But you can’t be trusted! It’s in the FAQ!” ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/58 "2010-06-16T21:51:45Z")
_[Mutters something about weekly cross-burnings, moves on]_ ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/59 "2010-06-16T21:53:36Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > If I had said I’d NEVER release the bees, you’d have come back with “But you can’t be trusted! It’s in the FAQ!” You have an FAQ now? And who, exactly, maintains such a thing? If it’s you, that seems _awfully covenient_. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/60 "2010-06-16T21:59:18Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > You have an FAQ now? And who, exactly, maintains such a thing? If it’s you, that seems _awfully covenient_. Of course I have a FAQ. How else I am to spread misinformation about myself? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261.md?page=4)