[Tarrccrys]

Say the name as you know it. Otherwise you may offend.

[cheesypeetyz]

I encounter this fairly often actually.

If I know the correct pronunciation I will use it. If not I make the best of it as I can. So long as you make a respectful effort at getting it right no offense is generally taken.

[Ambassador]

If I were Japanese I would think he was mocking me.

And you would be right to think so.

Calling George Bush "Joruju Bushu" is the equivalent of approaching a Japanese man who's waiting to shake your hand and then suddenly bowing down ninety degrees like a jackass because you want to "show respect for Japanese culture". Japanese people know who George Bush is and know how to shake hands, for god's sake.

[Rupeviv]

I am incapable of hiring a Vietnamese hooker without repeating lines from Full Metal Jacket.

[Stainditnew]

I also find it silly when English-speaking people pronounce foreign loan-words using the foreign pronunciation (instead of the English pronunciation) when speaking to somebody who is (presumably) from the foreign country from which the loan-word originates. Kah-rah-tee does not suddenly become kah-rah-tay just because you're speaking to a Japanese person (or a Chinese or Korean person because what's the difference am I right?).

[Slchtjgb]

I'm looking at you FRANCE.

"Frahnce" is bullshit.

[healty-back]

I propose a scale for rating the offensivness of foreign pronunciations, where "Frahnce" is the worst, "Ehraq" is the best and "Pockystan" is just average.

[MwhwF6bp]

"Bor-ess" is clearly on the good end of the scale with "Ehraq".

[Tumarimmicdak]

There are some exceptions, e.g. when I meet somebody named Boris then it is mandatory that I pronounce it "Bor-ees" with a rolled 'r'. I also need to ask him if he is strong like bull.

Russians don't roll the R in Boris, though, it's just flipped.

[VUzgOhgv]

Russians don't roll the R in Boris, though, it's just flipped.

I wasn't sure that "rolled r" was the description I was looking for, but the only other description I could think of was "that 'r' thing that the Russians do."

[CsFLhGNp]

I wasn't sure that "rolled r" was the description I was looking for, but the only other description I could think of was "that 'r' thing that the Russians do."

This brings me back to hours of voice lessons and having it drilled into me the difference between rolling and flipping Rs. Basically, the roll is where it's longer, "r-r-r" (like Eartha Kitt's schtick), and the flip is the a single instance, where the r is almost made to sound like a soft d instead.

Anyway, another common name with different pronunciation is "Ivan," which in Russian of course would be "ee-VAHN" instead of "EYE-van." I went to college with a guy who was an American-born Russian Jew and bristled at the latter pronunciation, which just means he will constantly have to correct people here in the U.S for the rest of his life.

[suilusargaino]

And how do you pronounce Vanya?

[dolaBeetCeage]

I hate it when Americans mispronounce my proper name. The bastards.

[Haibundadam]

It's always creepy listening to foreign newscasts. "[rapid-fire foreign-speak] George Bush [pronounced like a Midwesterner] [rapid-fire foreign-speak] Washington DC [pronounced like a Midwesterner]"

[+++Poguru+++]

This brings me back to hours of voice lessons and having it drilled into me the difference between rolling and flipping Rs. Basically, the roll is where it's longer, "r-r-r" (like Eartha Kitt's schtick), and the flip is the a single instance, where the r is almost made to sound like a soft d instead.

A flap! I just remembered what you're on about.

[nermise]

How do you pronounce that? I'm horrible with Scandinavian names.

[Jasonstawnosaa]

Actually I call him Hay-Soos. And JayCee. Sometimes it's the Imperious Gee Jay Cee.

[KLIMOV25gyi]

"Ki" pronounced like "key," or "ki" pronounced like "kai"?

[Dwencejed]

"Ki" pronounced like "key," or "ki" pronounced like "kai"?

Technically, no one is absolutely sure of the correct pronunciation, since the modern reconstruction of Classical Latin is not guaranteed accurate. I've seen at least three different "official" pronunciations for "Caesar:"

Che-SAR
KAH-AI-zar (dipthong, so the A and E are articulated separately)
KAY-zar

But regardless of that, there's no way a 1st century Jewish rabbi named Yeshua would recognize his name as "GEE-zus," or "Hay-SOOS," or "JEEZ-ee CREEZ-ee."

[diegogo]

If I were Japanese I would think he was mocking me.

And you would be right to think so.

Calling George Bush "Joruju Bushu" is the equivalent of approaching a Japanese man who's waiting to shake your hand and then suddenly bowing down ninety degrees like a jackass because you want to "show respect for Japanese culture". Japanese people know who George Bush is and know how to shake hands, for god's sake. Like Obama?