Saturday Night Live once had a hilarious skit with Latino Jimmy Smits in which the Anglo people around him are oh-so-politically-correct in pronouncing words like “Nicaragua” in exaggeted Spanish. But little by little they begin extending it to more and more words with perfectly fine English pronunciations until Smits gets angry. At the end he succumbs and starts (mis)pronouncing like the others and they finally accept him as one of their own.
I think of this every time I hear a Spanish-named news reader give his or her name in the same kind of hyper-Spanish pronunciation regardless of what his/her first language might be.
Good grief! Could that have been over 18 years ago?!?!
My stupid State passed a law that all public meetings must be conducted in English. Half the people here don’t speak proper Anglis, but sum mishmash redneck.
In pscharer’s vein: I attended a naturalization ceremony for a friend originally from Haiti. The official reading the names of the new American citizens would read Latin American names with the accent (he was White), but those from other parts of the world got a “normal” pronunciation. My Haitian friend’s name was mangled—even his easier-to-pronounce name was messed up.
farren over 15 years ago
That’s Go-Jee-Rah.
pschearer Premium Member over 15 years ago
Saturday Night Live once had a hilarious skit with Latino Jimmy Smits in which the Anglo people around him are oh-so-politically-correct in pronouncing words like “Nicaragua” in exaggeted Spanish. But little by little they begin extending it to more and more words with perfectly fine English pronunciations until Smits gets angry. At the end he succumbs and starts (mis)pronouncing like the others and they finally accept him as one of their own.
I think of this every time I hear a Spanish-named news reader give his or her name in the same kind of hyper-Spanish pronunciation regardless of what his/her first language might be.
Good grief! Could that have been over 18 years ago?!?!
Nighthawks Premium Member over 15 years ago
I guess the hometeam is on the road
Yukoneric over 15 years ago
My stupid State passed a law that all public meetings must be conducted in English. Half the people here don’t speak proper Anglis, but sum mishmash redneck.
Shikamoo Premium Member over 15 years ago
farren- That’s no gorilla (King Kong). It’s Godzilla. What city is the newscaster in?
Keith Messamer over 15 years ago
In pscharer’s vein: I attended a naturalization ceremony for a friend originally from Haiti. The official reading the names of the new American citizens would read Latin American names with the accent (he was White), but those from other parts of the world got a “normal” pronunciation. My Haitian friend’s name was mangled—even his easier-to-pronounce name was messed up.