Fuck’s sake…big televised address, major issues, reputation at stake…and you still haven’t learnt to pronounce Abu Ghraib correctly? You fucking moron!!! Clearly you haven’t been bothering with much at all, have you? Or did they not write it out in syllable on your autocue?
IDIOT!!!
hehe. I wasn’t really listening, but I thought I heard 3 pronuciations from him in 3 minutes. To be fair, they did get better each time (the first one being Abu stumblemumble).
What you mean is “Yet another indication that Bush is a moron.” He doesn’t need a reason. He just is.
At any rate, here is your chance to fight the ignorance of a fellow Doper. How in the hell do you pronounce Abu Ghraib? I’ve only seen it in print, I’ve never heard it. Is it AH-boo grah-EEB?
Granted, it’s pretty much impossible for an anglophone to get it spot on, but it’s a single syllable, something like ‘Grehb’. Definately not ‘garrib’, as Bush was calling it.
GorillaMan, thank you for giving me a free pass on calling any and all blacks idiots when they say aks, instead of ask. You’ve truly opened my eyes to judging people based on the way they pronounce words!
This bothered me too, but not for the same reason. To me it wasn’t that important whether he pronouced it correctly or not, I’d have been happy if he mispronounced it the same way at all times. What really bothered me is it came off sounding as if he’d never discussed the place before the speech, something I think will reflect poorly on him the Middle East. YMMVOC.
Brilliant logic - I say that Bush should be more concious of Arabic sensitivities and more courtious to other cultures, by such basic things as learning to pronounce words, so…errrmm…I’m a racist, am I? Or did your point go waaaay over my head?
Official or not, part of the president’s job (and IMO this has been the case for some time) is to at least look intelligent. Not being able to properly pronounce a place that’s been in the news now for some time doesn’t bode well for his public stature. But then this is the same man who could take a lesson from grade school children regarding the pronunciation of “nuclear”.
I was always fond of Clinton’s and Carter’s “Eye-talian”.
I can’t believe I’m defending Bush, but I actually thought he did a very good job last night. Didn’t agree much with what he said, but he carried himself quite well. The only thing that made me laugh/cringe was when he finished listing off a number of countries and had a huge “Mommy, look what I did!” look of pride/surprise on his face.
Awwwww, give him a break on that one - he’s only been toilet-trained recently
Nope, not impossible. I mean any educated person should get pronounciation right. As you argued a few posts above.
Dipshit, nuclear is a valid word as it is part of a regional dialect. It’s no different than someone saying “cah” instead of “car”. It’s also no different than saying “catsup” instead of “ketchup”. You understand that in a land of 300 million people, there may be a few that aren’t as perfect as your awesome self, right? Those who would buy a pop from a vending machine, might find people that buy soda from the same machine. So please tell us, oh Great One, how should all of us conform to your greatness?
BTW, I will only listen to Bush=idiot arguments if you can show you’ve earned a Master’s from Harvard or a comparable school. I’m sure we have some, and I’ll listen. Otherwise, you’re offering cheap shots that at best are written for SNL.
Maybe I’m slightly dyslexic, but I’ve pronouncing it gah-REEB all along.
I did notice the slip-up in the speech, though. Not so much that he pronounced it incorrectly, but that he stumbled on the word-- it wasn’t really clear exactly how he pronounced it.
Holy shit! A United States president pronounces a word wrong? My God, my little world is crushed like a cockroach in a mousetrap! Why, next you’ll be telling be a president lied about something.
Bullshit. What region is nuclear properly pronounced “nookyooler”?
In fact, Jimmy Carter pronounced it the same way as Bush does. From Merriam Webster:
And Bush I’s “Eye-rack” always made me think of salad dressing.
Hmm, a tough accusation indeed. Let’s check the record:
“… the debate really centers around the fact that people don’t believe Iraq can be free; that if you’re Muslim, or perhaps brown-skinned, you can’t be self-governing or free.” - G.W. Bush, 12 April 2004
Sure sounds like it! … Racist!