Meadowsisms

[18.99s]

Just curious. Frequently in the minority here, am I the only person here who is unperturbed by the mispronunciation of foreign names?

I'm not perturbed when a name is mispronounced if the incorrect pronunciation matches the phonetics of the letters, and the athlete is not a very high ranking athlete whose name should already be familiar to the commentator.

But when the name neither matches the correct pronunciation nor the phonetic pronunciation, and/or they use multiple different incorrect pronunciations of the same name, I'm either annoyed or amused.

[SoCal45]

Just curious. Frequently in the minority here, am I the only person here who is unperturbed by the mispronunciation of foreign names?

No!

[NotDutra5]

Yes, some of her pronunciations are awful, but in her defense in this specific instance, she will not have had exposure to many Japanese names at all, not from growing up in Wigan in the north of England. The UK has a teeny, tiny Japanese population (something like 30k in the whole country) and when competing the majority of her competitors were European or others, rarely Japanese.

She will have no knowledge of how to pronounce Japanese names, where the emphasis should be etc.

My upbringing didn't have me exposed to many (if any) Japanese names at least until I started reading Track and Field News but I learned to pronounce them and don't find Japanese names all that difficult to pronounce in the first place. In fact, I've asked a few times on the board the correct method to pronounce a few athletes names.

Without calling the announcer derogatory names, I don't think it should be an ongoing issue with she.

BTW-how is Mboma pronounced? The announcer in the Keino meet sounded as if he said "Bomba" with no "M" sound prior. I had though it was pronounced "m-bomba"

[NotDutra5]

I have been reading the posts on this site for years and not posting myself
😄

If that is the case you must have skipped the plethora of posts criticizing virtually every aspect of commentary of track and field events on TV and streaming in the US. Quite a feat.

[Atticus]

BTW-how is Mboma pronounced? The announcer in the Keino meet sounded as if he said "Bomba" with no "M" sound prior. I had though it was pronounced "m-bomba"

Where is that second b coming from?
I think the first m is barely perceptible, like a hum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIWvzeAwLRU

[NotDutra5]

Where is that second b coming from?
I think the first m is barely perceptible, like a hum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIWvzeAwLRU

I don't know where the second "b" comes from however I've heard it used and thought that is what the Keino meet announcer used as well. I may be wrong since I've only heard it pronounced a couple of times when I was paying attention.

As Costello said to Abbott...that's why I'm askin' the question.

[gm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY8c-F9gUs8

This gives a more accurate pronunciation of Mboma (once you get past the action footage)

[Atticus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY8c-F9gUs8
This gives a more accurate pronunciation of Mboma (once you get past the action footage)

I think it's being said the same as the audio I linked, perhaps with an even more subtle initial m.

[eightsevensix]

Just curious. Frequently in the minority here, am I the only person here who is unperturbed by the mispronunciation of foreign names?

I can only assume from this comment that you’ve never had your name mispronounced because you’re not ‘foreign’?

Names have meanings. Names are given, passed down, etc for reasons. To mispronounce is to disrespect in my opinion as it can completely change the essence of a name.

Imagine a commentator saying “I can’t be bothered because your name is foreign/unfamiliar so I’m going to say it how I want because I know the audience don’t mind either way”. As an audience is this the right thing? Is this what we want? To allow a presenter to be so ill-researched and comfortable in that sense that they can just do whatever and still get paid? In a global sport as an audience we want to tolerate and accept peoples names being said incorrectly? Why? The bar for commentary is LOW. There’s too much, “yeah but” and acceptance of things that aren’t acceptable in day to day life in other jobs. And these people are presenting to the masses!

Anyway, I thought commentators are given phonetic spellings to work with sometimes? Isn’t that why commentators like Steve Cram are so good with names?

[ZazaShoya]

I can only assume from this comment that you’ve never had your name mispronounced because you’re not ‘foreign’?

Names have meanings. Names are given, passed down, etc for reasons. To mispronounce is to disrespect in my opinion as it can completely change the essence of a name.

Imagine a commentator saying “I can’t be bothered because your name is foreign/unfamiliar so I’m going to say it how I want because I know the audience don’t mind either way”. As an audience is this the right thing? Is this what we want? To allow a presenter to be so ill-researched and comfortable in that sense that they can just do whatever and still get paid? In a global sport as an audience we want to tolerate and accept peoples names being said incorrectly? Why? The bar for commentary is LOW. There’s too much, “yeah but” and acceptance of things that aren’t acceptable in day to day life in other jobs. And these people are presenting to the masses!

Anyway, I thought commentators are given phonetic spellings to work with sometimes? Isn’t that why commentators like Steve Cram are so good with names?

Pinpoint.

[gm]

Foreigners butcher my name all the time. So do non-foreigners. It's an easy name if you simply read it and don't jump to conclusions. I don't always expect TV talkers to know the finer points of a pronunciation, I just hope they get it mostly right without any extra syllables.

[aaronk]

Foreigners butcher my name all the time. So do non-foreigners. It's an easy name if you simply read it and don't jump to conclusions. I don't always expect TV talkers to know the finer points of a pronunciation, I just hope they get it mostly right without any extra syllables.

Not trying to kiss up to GH, but whenever he was on the mic at Hayward, he NEVER mispronounced a name, as far as I know!
I credit him with me learning a foreign athlete's name pronunciation!!

[gm]

Not trying to kiss up to GH, but whenever he was on the mic at Hayward, he NEVER mispronounced a name, as far as I know!
I credit him with me learning a foreign athlete's name pronunciation!!

Correct. Credit that to his extensive study and practice of his craft. The great ones do a lot of work.

[26mi235]

OK, I do not have the problems with her that many do. Now there is one thread on her and PLEASE, don't pollute other threads with comments on her; they provide no content and they add nothing actually new on the person herself. And, while you are at the mispronunciations I will note that she has also had the appropriate pronunciations when others were getting it wrong.

Using gh as a point of reference is unfair to virtually all announcers, as few have the depth and breath of experience or the memory and facility with language.