# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/61 "2010-06-16T22:46:34Z")
> [@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.” The classical music critic for the St. Louis Post Dispatch is Sarah Bryan Miller. She goes by Bryan, pronounced exactly as it looks. ---
**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, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/62 "2010-06-16T23:34:18Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > The classical music critic for the St. Louis Post Dispatch is Sarah Bryan Miller. She goes by Bryan, pronounced exactly as it looks. It is impossible to pronounce that name “exactly as it looks.” One may pronounce it _exactly as is tradition_, but both the _y_ and the _a_ and inherently ambiguous in modern English usage. There’s no reason other than custom to pronounce that _y_ like the word _eye_ rather than to the vowel of _scene_ or _with_. For that matter, why should the _a_ be pronounced like a short _i_? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/63 "2010-06-17T01:32:52Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I won’t release the bees. > > This time. 😉 > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > … _Ominous!_ Bees are half black. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/64 "2010-06-17T02:22:34Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > I misspelled my name for the first 45 years of my life, according to my birth certificate. Close, here. I dropped the ‘e’ on the end, due to the exam forms we used every year in school only having 6 letter spaces for your first name. After about 5 years of that \ I decided I liked it better. It’s only the last couple of years I’ve said ‘fark it’ and use the ‘e’ now. Easier to deal with, except I can NOT sign it with the ‘e’. I have to go back and add it. The lady at the Social Security office once told me I could sign my card however the hell I wanted to, which was a good thing, if confusing. Why bother signing it, if you can put whatever you want? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/65 "2010-06-17T02:23:36Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It is impossible to pronounce that name “exactly as it looks.” One may pronounce it _exactly as is tradition_, but both the _y_ and the _a_ and inherently ambiguous in modern English usage. There’s no reason other than custom to pronounce that _y_ like the word _eye_ rather than to the vowel of _scene_ or _with_. For that matter, why should the _a_ be pronounced like a short _i_? Thanks a lot. I’m going to mentally pronounce the name Bryan like Brienne forever and ever, now… ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/66 "2010-06-17T04:18:20Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Close, here. I dropped the ‘e’ on the end, due to the exam forms we used every year in school only having 6 letter spaces for your first name. After about 5 years of that \ I decided I liked it better. It’s only the last couple of years I’ve said ‘fark it’ and use the ‘e’ now. Easier to deal with, except I can NOT sign it with the ‘e’. I have to go back and add it. The lady at the Social Security office once told me I could sign my card however the hell I wanted to, which was a good thing, if confusing. Why bother signing it, if you can put whatever you want? 😛 I go by my middle name, but sometimes official documents use my first name. I still sign them with my middle name. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/67 "2010-06-17T04:43:48Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > You have an FAQ now? And who, exactly, maintains such a thing? If it’s you, that seems _awfully covenient_. The blacks have an administrative assistant. You can contact her and she’ll make you a colored copy of it. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/68 "2010-06-17T05:41:17Z")
Why is baseball player Johnny Gomes “Gohmz” instead of “Goh-mez”? Is it just a Spanish family from so far back they just don’t care any more? Is that what happened with former Dodger Davey Lopes (Lope-s, not Lope-ez)? For that matter, what is UP with British people _refusing_ to say Bah-ROCK instead of BEAR-ack for Obama? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/69 "2010-06-17T05:56:36Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Close, here. I dropped the ‘e’ on the end, due to the exam forms we used every year in school only having 6 letter spaces for your first name… That’s just weird! 😕 I mean the forms, not your lost “e”. Lots of names have more than six letters - what about all Carolines and Richards and Williams and Elizabeths? I bet having this annoyance on the form before you even \*begin \* the exam was a nuisance to the schoolchildren. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/70 "2010-06-17T06:20:27Z")
I imagine that the school district was just trying to get enough info to distinguish the test forms, not really learn the child’s name. They wanted enough letters to separate all the Taylors and Smiths and such from each other. This attitude shows a lack of experience with Spanish names, as even one high school might have three Jose Lopezes. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/71 "2010-06-17T06:55:11Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It is impossible to pronounce that name “exactly as it looks.” One may pronounce it _exactly as is tradition_, but both the _y_ and the _a_ and inherently ambiguous in modern English usage. There’s no reason other than custom to pronounce that _y_ like the word _eye_ rather than to the vowel of _scene_ or _with_. For that matter, why should the _a_ be pronounced like a short _i_? :rolleyes: You know what I meant. Pronounced exactly as the vast majority of the English speaking world would pronounce the name “Bryan”. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/72 "2010-06-17T08:01:07Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > Why is baseball player Johnny Gomes “Gohmz” instead of “Goh-mez”? Is it just a Spanish family from so far back they just don’t care any more? Is that what happened with former Dodger Davey Lopes (Lope-s, not Lope-ez)? > > For that matter, what is UP with British people _refusing_ to say Bah-ROCK instead of BEAR-ack for Obama? Well they insist upon Ma’ambo and Sa’amba instead of Mahmbo and Sahmba too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Harley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Race\_Harley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Harley)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/73 "2010-06-17T08:54:50Z")
If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that someone from the Tea Party inspired the theme of this thread. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/74 "2010-06-17T13:39:53Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > Why is baseball player Johnny Gomes “Gohmz” instead of “Goh-mez”? Is it just a Spanish family from so far back they just don’t care any more? Is that what happened with former Dodger Davey Lopes (Lope-s, not Lope-ez)? Gomes is a Portuguese name, not a Spanish one. Actually, as a rule of thumb, if you see a name that looks Spanish but has an S on the end instead of a Z, it’s probably Portuguese (ie., Rodrigues). It would be pronounced more like _ghomesh_ in Brazil. I don’t know about Portugal. ---
**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 17, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/75 "2010-06-17T14:42:18Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Of course I have a FAQ. How else I am to spread misinformation about myself? Propaganda. An FAQ requires someone to come to you first. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Bees are half black. … Okay, I’m pretty sure I’m now required to start calling my half-Black, half-Japanese friend a bumblebee. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/76 "2010-06-17T16:22:06Z")
I have never mispronounced my own name. It’s a name that’s not _that_ unusual (though my mother pronounces it with the emphasis on the first syllable, I on the second, and the FBI just underlines the whole thing). However, it is _quite_ usual in the context of introducing myself, that people will IMMEDIATELY mispronounce it straight back at me. And not in a wrong emphasis kinda way, in a black/white kinda way. Does this have anything to do with bees? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/77 "2010-06-17T16:36:09Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Of course I have a FAQ. How else I am to spread misinformation about myself? > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Propaganda. An FAQ requires someone to come to you first. His stands for Frequently Answered Questions. ---
**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 17, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/78 "2010-06-17T16:46:39Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > However, it is _quite_ usual in the context of introducing myself, that people will IMMEDIATELY mispronounce it straight back at me. And not in a wrong emphasis kinda way, in a black/white kinda way. I have this problem with my last name–I can say it and spell it and they’ll still come back with the wrong version. Now, granted, I have an unusual variation on a much-more-common last name, but still. I just said it and spelled it (and it’s very phonetic for an English speaker), and you’re \*\*still \*\*fucking it up? Mine’s obviously not a racial thing, though, just a “people don’t fucking think” thing. > [@](#): > > Does this have anything to do with bees? Yes, but not for the reasons you think. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > His stands for Frequently Answered Questions. Ah, but the questions must still be asked. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/79 "2010-06-17T16:53:19Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I have this problem with my last name–I can say it and spell it and they’ll still come back with the wrong version. Now, granted, I have an unusual variation on a much-more-common last name, but still. I just said it and spelled it (and it’s very phonetic for an English speaker), and you’re \*\*still \*\*fucking it up? Mine’s obviously not a racial thing, though, just a “people don’t fucking think” thing. I know. My standard answer for in those cases is “If you call me (that) I’ll have to kill you.” Goes down a treat in the corporate world. My new standard answer will be, “Now you have just involved the fucking bees. And not for the reasons you think.” Can’t wait. ---
**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 17, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/80 "2010-06-17T17:24:27Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > :rolleyes: > You know what I meant. Pronounced exactly as the vast majority of the English speaking world would pronounce the name “Bryan”. Mind that eye-rolling, sir (or madam). It would be a shame if you accidentally injured your eyeballs. What you meant is not what said then. The phrase _pronounced [Bryan] exactly as the vast majority of the English speaking world would pronounce the name "Bryan_ is not semantically equivalent to the phrase “pronounced [Bryan] exactly as it looks.” The latter is all but meaningless in English. Say I’m referring to the early Indo-Euroopean people who inhabited Ireland and Scotland before the Angles and Saxons, whose name, in its adjective form, as been adopted as the name of the pro basketball team from Boston. Should I pronounce their word as \keltik\ or \seltik? Which is “saying it exactly as it looks,” and why? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261.md?page=5)