Mangled Mispronunciations

[Jorge_Henriquez]

@Jonathan Loesberg

And, of course, the proper name St. John is pronounced Sinjin. One could go on.

I learned this from “A View to a Kill”!!!

[Greg_K]

@John Morris

@PeterH

Vay-e-ho.

Ah! Of course.

@PeterH

San is almost universally mispronounced by Anglos.

If you’re going to get prissy about vowels, no foreigner ever pronounces a place name truly correctly.

I’m starting to think Sebastopol in Sonoma isn’t usually said with the correct Russian pronunciation.

[PeterH]

Pronunciation of foreign names you have not heard is not easy. How many of us got Jayer, Jermann, and Jumilla right the first time?

[Nick_Ryan]

Leeeeeeeeeeeeroy Voznee Romanee!

hooKVstzbz0

[Kevin_Porter]

I mangle mispronunciations frequently - every time I pronounce something correctly in fact. (it’s pronounced “Pee-dant”)

[Mattstolz]

@Nick Ryan

Leeeeeeeeeeeeroy Voznee Romanee!

[youtube ]hooKVstzbz0[/youtube]

hahaha this video never gets old.

[Nola_Palomar]

Veleta —- Velveeta

[Nate_Simon]

I know a guy who says “Cotee Rotee” without apparent irony. I haven’t the energy to correct him.

[Matthew_King]

@Jorge Henriquez

Why do people (especially SoCalers) insist on pronouncing “Paso Robles” as “Pahsoh Roebuls”? The L is before the E, not after!!!

Probably because so many of them live in LOSS ANJ-UH-LESS.

[Anton_D]

@Mattstolz

@Nick Ryan

Leeeeeeeeeeeeroy Voznee Romanee!

[youtube ]hooKVstzbz0[/youtube]

hahaha this video never gets old.

This part utterly slays me: “I’m coming up with thirty-two point three three uh, repeating of course, percentage, of survival.”

Repeating, of course.

Wouldn’t want to confuse them with a a straight 32.3 percentage value.

[Drew_Goin]

@J a y H a c k

I have a relative who mangles everything wine related although he fashions himself as a wine expert. I can’t even repeat what he did to Ducru Beaucaillou, but my favorite was when I poured a Carlisle Carignane Papera Ranch and he told someone else to try the "Ca [as in cat]-rig-NAY-Knee." I guess that’s the Hawaiian pronunciation where you pronounce every letter.

You have any other good ones? Mer-Lott does not count.

What about the customer who asked one of my old co-workers for “the finest MAY-lot wine y’all have”?


At the ol’ wine shop, I had compiled a mini-library of books and magazine issues for the employees to browse and reference when the inclinination arose.

In Sharon & Ron Herbst’s Wine Lover’s Dictionary of Wine Terms, one guy found an almost unpronounceable German term (I am not going to recall its proper spelling):

"Eingengergenmeinschäft"

It was pronounced: “Īn-gen-gur-gin-mine-shoft”, and it meant something to the effect of “a wine made by a co-operative”.

The young, bored, stupid guys we were, we practiced saying this word over and over again until it effortlessly rolled off of the tongue of every store employee.

Each time a customer sought out a German wine, we would create a situation where use of the term between workers was necessary. Idiotic now, but HI-larious then.

[Dan_Kravitz]

DooCroo Boogaloo?

Dan Kravitz

[J_a_y_H_a_c_k]

I have a friend from Memphis who pronounces it Cham-Boh-Lee Moo-Sig-Knee, and orders it that way in a restaurant, but he does it as a joke because it sounds especially funny in a southern accent. I want some uh dat Cham Bo Lee Moo Sig Knee.

[Rauno_E_NZ]

Many many years ago, I referred to Alsace as AL-SAH-CHE. Clearly, I thought it much closer to Italy than it actually appears to be

[Randy_Bowman]

My favorite Carrie attempt: Gweegal Coaty Wrotey.

[Ken_V]

@John Morris

There is a long tradition of mispronouncing proper names that come from other languages. My grandmother was born in Marseilles, Ohio, pronounced mahr-SAILS. It’s not far from Bellefontaine, pronounced bell-FOUN-tain.

Some English friends were in stitches when I pronounced Beaux Champs street in the French manner. I was informed that it’s pronounced Beechum by Londoners.

When I moved to Urbana for grad school, I laughed at the locals for pronouncing their town Cairo as KAY-rho instead of ca-i-rho. Then an Egyptian told me they were closer to the correct pronunciation of the city in Egypt.

I have a friend who pronounces Gaja “Gah-hah”. Turns out the name is originally Spanish, so maybe it was pronounced that way at one time.

[David_Glasser]

@Ken V

@John Morris

There is a long tradition of mispronouncing proper names that come from other languages. My grandmother was born in Marseilles, Ohio, pronounced mahr-SAILS. It’s not far from Bellefontaine, pronounced bell-FOUN-tain.

Some English friends were in stitches when I pronounced Beaux Champs street in the French manner. I was informed that it’s pronounced Beechum by Londoners.

When I moved to Urbana for grad school, I laughed at the locals for pronouncing their town Cairo as KAY-rho instead of ca-i-rho. Then an Egyptian told me they were closer to the correct pronunciation of the city in Egypt.

I have a friend who pronounces Gaja “Gah-hah”. Turns out the name is originally Spanish, so maybe it was pronounced that way at one time.

I grew up in Detroit. No one pronounces it like the French. Some of the street names are doozies too: Gratiot, Beaubien.

Dan K. beat me too it but Mark Wessels at MacArthur jokingly refers to Ducru as the Dew Crew Boogaloo.

[Bob_Davis]

Mat Garretson said he had someone walk into the tasting room and pronunced Viognier as you would Vosnee

[PeterH]

Without coaching, and without knowing were the wines are from, how would you pronounce Txakolina, Xinomavro, Grillo?

[Claus_Jeppesen]

It is all a matter of educational level