No, you may NOT mispronounce my name

[iradney]

Ok, my name is Carly*. It's pronounced Kar-Lee. It's not rocket science.
And yet, I still get geniuses that CANNOT PRONOUNCE IT even after I have said it. It's ok, maybe they didn't hear me, it does happen - alot!
But this customer takes the cake. He hears me say my name, pronounces it correctly the first time, and then summarily decides that he will change my name to Kar-LAY.

What the hell dude? This is MY NAME. I am the only one with that privilege! I would love to have done the same to him, and mispronounced his name, but unfortunately his name is un-mispronouncable.
I know this may seem petty, but it's my name dammit. It's not just a label, it's who I am





*Name has been changed blah blah fishpaste

[batmoody]

What was his name? I bet we could find some way to slaughter it!

[iradney]

His name was a typical Afrikaans name - Johan (pronounced Yo-haan)

[shelly2jn]

I think I would have called him Joan or maybe Joanne!

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Johan...that's a hard name to pronounce. Mind if I call you "Dick" to keep it easy?

But that's just my evil streak

M

[ditchdj]

How do you pronounce Carly in that thick Afrikaaner accent??? That accent alone could probably qualify as its own dialect since I can barely understand someone from there that speaks English, unless they've been over here for awhile. Kinda like that British accent. I can understand Gordon Ramsay very well on TV here but it's a lot harder when I watch him on BBC America.

[rvdammit]

http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/bruces.htm

Bruces Sketch.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/bruces.htm

Bruces Sketch.

G'Day Bruce!

[BookstoreEscapee]

OMG! I know EXACTLY how you feel. My name has a kind of odd spelling, but the pronunciation is very simple. Two syllables, both parts of extremely common names, just not usually together. So I guess that, along with the spelling, confuses people. Somehow people just never seem to hear what I'm saying, now matter how clearly I speak or how slowly I enunciate it. And if they do manage to repeat the correct pronunciation back to me, it's usually an accident and the next time around they say it differently. (And why customers are always so bent on pronouncing my name I'll never know; it's not like they'll remember it in 30 seconds.) And I live in New Jersey so most people can't chalk it up to an accent (no, people in NJ don't have "that" accent).

My name starts with "aah" like apple but most people say "ay" like ape. (And occasionally I get "i" or "e" which makes no sense to me; there is one vowel at the beginning and it's an A.) There are people I've known for years who still say it wrong. After 31+ years, I give up.

</my own personal pet peeve rant>

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I grew up with people mispronouncing both my first name and my last. Both are uncommon enough where I live, so I am usually willing to cut some slack, especially on the last name.

However, my married name is two simple syllables. And it's the name of a famous writer and also a famous poet, so I feel like people don't have much excuse. In fact, when I was in Rome, people would say "Oh, like the poet!" and pronounce it flawlessly.

Over here, they squint, get a confused look on their face, and say it wrong, even after they've heard ME say.

It really pisses me off.

I was sitting in a doc's office once, and the chick at the desk said it wrong THREE TIMES, each time me correcting her. Finally, I was sitting in the waiting room with one other guy and she called out her version of my name. I never reacted. I didn't pause in reading my newspaper. She called it out again. I didn't even flinch. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hesitate, look nervously around the room. She knew it had to be me, the other patient was a man. She then finally said it right. Immediately, I put my paper down and went to her.

It was like training a dog, I swear. Frankly, I think I showed remarkable restraint for never getting angry in her face.She seemed to have learned to say it after that.

I understand getting it wrong once or even twice, but this chick was goading me. Refusing to get someones name right even after being corrected is just plain disrespectful.

[Boozy]

Mispronouncing someone's name when they know better is pretty cheeky.
I hate my first name. It happens to be the same name as a character on a very popular seventies sitcom, and the show had a catch phrase using this name. (Cookies for whoever guesses what it might be.) I hear that damn catch phrase EVERY single time I meet someone new. And they always give me this look, like "Aren't I clever?" like it was the first time I've heard it.
I love my last name because I identify so strongly with my family roots. But its still a pain in the ass to spell out for people. I'm thinking of taking my husband's name for that reason alone.

[BookstoreEscapee]

People get my last name wrong too, but that's more understandable. Actually if we were in Italy they'd be right cuz there's 2 vowels together and most people pronounce them both, but really they run together in one syllable. I don't mind when they throw in the extra syllable...it's when they throw in extra letters that I go "huh?"

I was at the doctor once and they called "Allison"...well, they got the first syllable right, anyway...

[Hobgoblin]

It happens to be the same name as a character on a very popular seventies sitcom, and the show had a catch phrase using this name. (Cookies for whoever guesses what it might be.) I hear that damn catch phrase EVERY single time I meet someone new. And they always give me this look, like "Aren't I clever?" like it was the first time I've heard it.

I feel your pain completely. My name happens to be that of a certain Star Wars character who finds out, mid-trilogy (hexilogy?), who his father is. Yeah. I get it all the time. I respond one of two ways: "Cause that's the first time I've heard THAT today," and "What's that from?" Since nearly everyone has seen Star Wars, that throws everyone for a loop. And I find it remarkably funny because 1) I can probably quote Episodes IV-VI from start to finish and 2) I'm a really good liar, so people always fall for it.

But for goodness sakes people, come up with something new. I can even deal with Cool Hand comments, just cause it's different. But if your name is John and you make a Star Wars joke, be prepared to be told I shat on your namesake this morning.

[Horsetuna]

I have a name popular in young girl's stories, including: Anne of Green Gables and Little Orphan Annie, as well as songs like Annie-bo-bannie and Annie Get Your Gun.

I hate all of them (Well, I enjoyed Anne of GG and LoA, but I'm tird of the jokes. Even one of my TEACHERS did the annie-bo-bannie one and I wanted to kill him).

The most popular mispronounciation is saying Annie instead of Anne, but its an understandable one because of the 'e', but I just say 'its French nd its' just Anne." and most accept it.

I dont mind Annie either, I used to be called that, but several people at work call me Anna. That's not my name, and I am starting to not pay attention to it, since we have an Ana already.

[Sofar]

I'm named after a character in The Hobbit. There are three ways to pronounce the name and I'm fine with all of them. My last name has two acceptable pronounciations and I'm fine with both. Sometimes people spell my name with a J, and that's fine too.