# Why are reporters pronouncing Fifty Cent's name in ebonics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821 "2005-11-13T04:16:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/21 "2005-11-14T01:56:21Z")
I remember one SNL Weekend Update where Amy Poehler pronounced his name that way. The audience laughed, and she had to assure them that that’s the way he pronounced it. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/22 "2005-11-15T14:17:55Z")
it would be VERY INSULTING to ask somebody how to pronounce their name!PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS!!! You have been warned. handdomeharry ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/23 "2005-11-15T14:36:26Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > it would be VERY INSULTING to ask somebody how to pronounce their name!PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS!!! > You have been warned. > > handdomeharry Why would it be rude to ask someone how they want their name pronounced? I was at a press conference last night where the first question was “Does the constant mispronunciation of your name annoy you?” (No) and “How _do_ we pronounce your name correctly?” It was very clearly not taken offense to. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/24 "2005-11-15T15:47:24Z")
From what I can tell, his 'last name" is “cent”, singular, not “cents”. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/25 "2005-11-15T16:18:20Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > So, is there a style guide that states that “Fifty Cent” must be pronounced as “Fiddycent”, in an AAVE accent, even when the speaker is whiter than a sheet of polar ice? Probably the same style guide that my English Lit professor used when he insisted on pronouncing the name of the title character in Lord Byron’s epic poem as “Don Joo-an” instead of “Don Hwahn.” When we asked why anyone in the English-speaking world would pronounce Juan as “Joo-an” he said “Because that’s the way Byron would have been pronounced it in 19th century England.” ---
**Author:** ![Godfrey\_Daniels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Godfrey\_Daniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godfrey_Daniels)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/26 "2005-11-15T17:04:18Z")
I’ve heard fifty pronounced ‘fiddy’ (sort of as a humorous pronunciation) since I was a kid growing up in the rural south during the '50s & '60s. My friends and I still say it occasionally during friendly poker games (I’ll see your two bits and raise you fiddy…) and we’ve all lived in the Pacific Northwest for the past 35 or so years. Maybe AAVE in origin, but has been in common use for many, many years. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/27 "2005-11-15T17:42:10Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > Why would it be rude to ask someone how they want their name pronounced? I was at a press conference last night where the first question was “Does the constant mispronunciation of your name annoy you?” (No) and “How _do_ we pronounce your name correctly?” It was very clearly not taken offense to. Whoooooooosh! ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/28 "2005-11-15T17:58:10Z")
Honestly, I think it’s just a mistake. We try to pronounce names _from other languages_ as they would be natively pronounced, but we DO NOT pronounce names with different accents just because they are different dialects _of English_. The name Mark. A friend of mine from Boston pronounces his own name as “Maak”. I don’t speak with a Boston accent, so I pronounce his name using my own accent. Just because a Brit pronounces his English name one way, doesn’t mean that we should or do pronounce it that way. Think about it. It’s the same language. It’s not the same as pronouncing “Saddam” or “Jose” _correctly_. The name “fifty cent” is comprised of English words. In several rap songs I can think of (even those featuring 50 himself), other (black) rappers clearly pronounce his name Fi **f** ty. However, because of his accent (don’t know, just guessing), he still may pronounce his own name Fiddy. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/29 "2005-11-15T18:01:54Z")
Oops, one more thing I meant to say: Reporters calling him Fiddy are essentially, incorrectly, overextending the rule of pronunciation of foreign words to words from different dialects of English. Sorry for the triple post :eek: ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/30 "2005-11-15T20:08:44Z")
> [@Jayrot](#): > > The name “fifty cent” is comprised of English words. In several rap songs I can think of (even those featuring 50 himself), other (black) rappers clearly pronounce his name Fi **f** ty. However, because of his accent (don’t know, just guessing), he still may pronounce his own name Fiddy. It all depends on how how the gentlemen pronounces it himself. Blacks ordinarily have no problem with whites speaking English the honky way. One of the oddities of my speech is I incorporate some AAVE in common discourse. Some blacks And whites) find this odd. It’s just that I am not a liguistic purist. English tends to be accepting of doing such. Particularly in oral or informal use. I even have had to edit out such on proofreading some of my own writings because it seems awkward. Although even on the Internet such tends to be acceptable in rather informal use. Say, on a message board. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/31 "2005-11-15T20:30:50Z")
So, would it be wrong to call that other dead guy Two-pack? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/32 "2005-11-15T20:37:09Z")
Sounds like a good time to share [this sign I spotted at a Walgreens](http://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/56302542/in/set-1219267/) a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/33 "2005-11-15T21:05:38Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > It all depends on how how the gentlemen pronounces it himself. Blacks ordinarily have no problem with whites speaking English the honky way. One of the oddities of my speech is I incorporate some AAVE in common discourse. Some blacks And whites) find this odd. It’s just that I am not a liguistic purist. English tends to be accepting of doing such. Particularly in oral or informal use. I even have had to edit out such on proofreading some of my own writings because it seems awkward. Although even on the Internet such tends to be acceptable in rather informal use. Say, on a message board. I’m not saying that you can’t or shouldn’t incorporate AAVE into your speech. Lord knows that in informal conversation, just about every other word out of my mouth is “yo”. It’s not about being a “linguistic purist”. I, myself, am certainly a descriptive linguist rather than a prescriptive one. However, my point is that it’s not common practice to pronounce names and other proper nouns in their original accent, as long as they’re originally English. The ft -\> d is perhaps a phonological feature of AAVE or whatever dialect Mr. Cent happens to speak. Just like the changing of the vowel + r -\> long vowel is common for non-rhotic accents like in my example (Boston). Again, it’s not common (or necessary) to make those changes in your own accent just because the person whose name it is happens to pronounce it that way. It’s still the Boston Garden in my dialect even though they might call it the Gahden. As for 2pac, I’d say that’s not an English word(s) so pronounce it how he [del]does[/del] did. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/34 "2005-11-15T21:47:44Z")
Wikipedia says he is called both “Fiddy” and “Fifty,” and IMDb - though it has errors all the time - lists “Fitty” as one of his nicknames. The media did not create this pronunciation. > [@elmwood](#): > > Would this apply to non-AAVE accents, too? Would Bob from Long Island be called “Bo-awb?” Would Fran from Rochester be called “Free-hann?” It would likely apply to an entertainer who preferred to have his or her name pronounced that way. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/35 "2005-11-16T00:05:10Z")
> [@Jayrot](#): > > Reporters calling him Fiddy are essentially, incorrectly, overextending the rule of pronunciation of foreign words to words from different dialects of English. That’s debatable at best. To give a counter example, outside North America the last letter in the alphabet is clearly pronounced “Zed”. Yet nobody anywhere in the world would ever consider pronouncing “ZZ Top” as “Zed Zed Top”. That would be both wrong and rude. This is a stage name we are talking about, not an English word. If the name is pronouced “zee zee” or “fiddy” by the artist then that is the name of the act. It’s got nothing to do with whether the word is foreign, it’s got to do with what the act is called. Now if the artist calls himself “fiddy” only because of an accent that’s one thing. But if he calls himself Fiddy because that’s the way he thinks it should be prounced then that’s the way it shouldbe pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/36 "2005-11-16T00:56:31Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > When we asked why anyone in the English-speaking world would pronounce Juan as “Joo-an” he said “Because that’s the way Byron would have been pronounced it in 19th century England.” And you have to pronounce it that way to make the rhyme work in Byron’s poem. The opening stanza: > [@](#): > > I WANT a hero: an uncommon want, > When every year and month sends forth a new one, > Till, after cloying the gazettes with cant, > The age discovers he is not the true one; > Of such as these I should not care to vaunt, > I 'll therefore take our ancient friend Don Juan— > We all have seen him, in the pantomime, > Sent to the devil somewhat ere his time. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/37 "2005-11-16T01:02:56Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > If they wanted to do it Buckwheat-style, it should be “Fitty Tent.” O-tay? But it wasn’t Buckwheat who talked like that, it was Porky (Gordon Lee), the littlest white boy. [He just died recently](http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/21/obit.lee.ap/). ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/38 "2005-11-16T02:46:24Z")
I call him $0.50. But that’s just me. 🙂 He hates it when you call him $1/2. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/39 "2005-11-16T13:00:05Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Hell, that’s nothing. Remember the initial coverage of the Iraq war? > > Blond newsbabe: In other news, we’ve had a report today that Sa-DDAM _Hussein_ has been sighted near Kirkuk. Secretary Rumsfeld refused to corroborate this report, saying that he cannot comments on efforts to capture Sa-DDAM _Hussein_. > > If they broadcast the news in HDTV, you probably would’ve been able to see the spittle flying out of their mouths. What am I missing here? The jerk’s name is pronounced Sa-DAHM. Not SA-dumb. Only yokels say it that way. This kind of stuff bugs me to no end. If there’s a foreign name new to the general populace and it is pronounceable using the phonemes of American English, why the hell would one want to change the pronunciation? ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/40 "2005-11-16T13:08:09Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > it would be VERY INSULTING to ask somebody how to pronounce their name!PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS!!! > You have been warned. > > handdomeharry Is it rude to ask how somebody mispells their own name? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821.md?page=3)