# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**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, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/41 "2005-11-16T15:01:51Z")
Or that they misspelled the word “misspell”? ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/42 "2005-11-17T00:10:39Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > 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? I believe the point is that Americans emphasize the second syllable, and it is not pronounced this way. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/43 "2005-11-17T07:43:31Z")
From my observation, it seems that the “Fiddy cent” pronuciation evolved after he was popular and appears just to be a nickname. Pronouncing “fiddy” appeared to be a way that kids could show that they were cool and “in the know.” I have never heard him pronounce his own name. I work with teens everyday. When he first came out, the kids called him “Fifty cent” and went on and on how he was shot 10 times or whatever. Eventually, they started calling him Fiddy Cent and also using the term fiddy whenever they could work it into the conversation. Just like the Snoop “For shizzle my nizzle” speak came and went as a fad, the saying of fiddy rather than fifty thing faded too. Where did they get the fiddy from? My best guess is that his the way the local DJ’s pronounced it to seem hip and urban, since it is unlikely that the kids ever saw it in print or heard it on a CD. You might be able to compare it to other entertainers who developed nicknames by DJ’s and fans. Morrisey could serve as an example. I believe that his fans gave him the nickname “Moz” (or at least popularized it) and eventually the hip media of the day (certain mags, not all) responded by referring to him as Moz as well. In this case, either name could be used and appeared to be correct, depending on the intended audience. I would think it silly for a older white newcaster on CNN to say “Fiddy Cent”, but I would think it entirely appropriate for a young hip host of a video show to introduce his video as being done by Fiddy Cent (although by now it is not all that hip, since everyone says it, remember when it was cool to say Bling Bling?). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/44 "2005-11-17T08:03:05Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > I believe the point is that Americans emphasize the second syllable, and it is not pronounced this way. Exactly. Some of them practically shouted the “DAM” part. It was just weird. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/45 "2005-11-17T10:23:57Z")
When he toured the UK he was known as “approximately 27p”. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/46 "2005-11-17T14:53:43Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > If they wanted to do it Buckwheat-style, it should be “Fitty Tent.” > > O-tay? If they wanted to do Eddie Murphy doing revisionist Buckwheat history, they’d say “O-tay”, \*\*but Porky was actually the one whose trademark saying was “O-tay”. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/47 "2005-11-17T16:55:34Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > If they wanted to do Eddie Murphy doing revisionist Buckwheat history, they’d say “O-tay”, \*\*but Porky was actually the one whose trademark saying was “O-tay”. \*\* What…? This is like finding out my real father is the milkman or something :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/48 "2005-11-17T17:38:25Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > I believe the point is that Americans emphasize the second syllable, and it is not pronounced this way. I’m not sure how Americans pronounce it, but the second syllable in “Saddam” in Modern Standard Arabic is much longer, which naturally seems to give it more emphasis. It comes out something like “Suh-daaam”. ---
**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 17, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/49 "2005-11-17T17:45:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Exactly. Some of them practically shouted the “DAM” part. It was just weird. I brought this up (sorry for hijacking), but I recall there was a Middle Eastern musician who made a dance track about SH back in the day. It was played on our news and the singer clearly pronounced the name Sa-DAMM. I can’t ever recall hearing it pronounced otherwise by anyone from that region of the world (on the news anyway). I will gladly be corrected if need be. ---
**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 17, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/50 "2005-11-17T17:48:18Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I brought this up (sorry for hijacking), but I recall there was a Middle Eastern musician who made a dance track about SH back in the day. It was played on our news and the singer clearly pronounced the name Sa-DAMM. I can’t ever recall hearing it pronounced otherwise by anyone from that region of the world (on the news anyway). > > I will gladly be corrected if need be. Atticus’ phonetic spelling is better than mine. It reflects exactly the way I heard it in that song, and the way I hear 99% of people here pronounce it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/51 "2005-11-17T18:53:30Z")
It’s to differentiate from the other act, _50’s Ent._, short for Fiftie’s Entertainment. They cover the hits from the 1950’s and play at prisons. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821/52 "2005-11-18T01:08:10Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#): > > Is it rude to ask how somebody mispells their own name? 😉 Well, you either got whooshed, or i’m less the effervescent wit than i had fancied. fiddy–\> handdome, etc… perhaps i’ll get out of comedy. hh [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-reporters-pronouncing-fifty-cents-name-in-ebonics/330821.md?page=2)