For the Presidential Pronunciation Police

[Spock]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/41689067.html

Pull quote at the end

"All terrific press for Orion, except that Obama kept pronouncing the company’s name wrong, calling it OAR-ee-on.
After finishing his remarks and talking with a few people, the president returned to the microphone and said his prepared remarks led him to pronounce the firm's name wrong.

“I suspect this is Or-EYE-on as opposed to OAR-ee-on. Just wanted to make sure that when I’m giving you a plug, that we’ve got the right plug. It’s Or-EYE-on.”"

Darn teleprompter must not include phonetic pronunciation guides.

[NellyLunatic1980]

Darn teleprompter must not include phonetic pronunciation guides.

And where exactly is your proof that Obama used a teleprompter during this speech?

(I do mean a credible source, so this excludes comedian Boss Limbaugh, FOX Cartoon News, Matt Drudge, TownHall.com, World Nut Daily, New York Post, etc.)

[wintergreen48]

Appropos of not much, but one of the books that I am reading is 'In the Court of the Red Tsar,' which is essentially a joint biography of Stalin and his associates (the author's point is that Stalin reigned like any of the earlier tsars, and the folks around him acted and were treated like the courtiers who served earlier tsars). We're up to about 1939 now, just after the 'Great Terror' (when Stalin and company purged the senior military and the political leadership, as well as butchering hundreds of thousands of people who had no direct connection to either), Stalin is now in complete control of EVERYthing, and Beria has just been named the chief of the secret police (Beria was one of the nastiest of all of Stalin's people-- he and his predecessor, Yezhov, were the only ones who personally participated in the torture sessions-- but it was Beria who recommended that Stalin stop the killings-- for the time being, anyway-- arguing that 'if we don't stop, there won't be anyone left to arrest'). Anyway, Stalin has just given a lengthy speech before one of the big Party plenums, and was followed by a lot of other speakers; as it happens, Stalin, born in Tbilisi, spoke Russian with a pronounced Georgian accent ('Do svidonya, y'all'), and this led him to mispronounce some words (and, like anyone, he sometimes mispronounced words through slips of the tongue, or out of ignorance when he hit a word with which he was unfamiliar). Well, as it also happens, EVERY SPEAKER WHO FOLLOWED HIM mispronounced each of the words the exact same way; Molotov (who was very articulate) later remarked that if he had pronounced the words properly, it would have looked like he was correcting Stalin, which he could not do.

Anyway, it is obvious that someone pointed out to Obama that he had misprounounced 'Orion,' correcting him apparently without fear of reprisal, so whatever else some people here might think, Obama is NOT Stalin.

Of course, if we hear that one of Obama's aides has suddenly disappeared (earlier photos that showed the aide with Obama are doctored to remove him, etc.) that would be different, but until then...

[Jeemie]

Darn teleprompter must not include phonetic pronunciation guides.

And where exactly is your proof that Obama used a teleprompter during this speech?

(I do mean a credible source, so this excludes comedian Boss Limbaugh, FOX Cartoon News, Matt Drudge, TownHall.com, World Nut Daily, New York Post, etc.)

We need CREDIBLE sources for this?

It is well documented that Obama uses a teleprompter for almost ALL of his speeches.

There have been stories about this- even pointing out situations where the presence of the telepropmpter has proved to be a distraction, and complaints from aids that Obama relies on it too much.

Finally, why do you have such a thin skin that YOUR guy is the butt of some jokes regarding his reliance upon the teleprompter? You didn't seem to mind making cracks about Bush any chance you got.

[Spock]

Darn teleprompter must not include phonetic pronunciation guides.

And where exactly is your proof that Obama used a teleprompter during this speech?

(I do mean a credible source, so this excludes comedian Boss Limbaugh, FOX Cartoon News, Matt Drudge, TownHall.com, World Nut Daily, New York Post, etc.)

Ok, Fine-I accept your premise and he was not using a teleprompter.

The key point is that he still fundamentally mispronounced a very well-known word.

I thought that was a major black mark on a president.

[ne1410s]

spock

The key point is that he still fundamentally mispronounced a very well-known word.

Twenty-five miles north of us is the small town of Orion, IL. It is, and always has been, pronounced Oar e on. But, then, you know how stupid rural folk is...

[silvercamaro]

spock

The key point is that he still fundamentally mispronounced a very well-known word.

Twenty-five miles north of us is the small town of Orion, IL. It is, and always has been, pronounced Oar e on. But, then, you know how stupid rural folk is...

I didn't know about that little town, NE1. If the President had grown up in rural Illinois, I would consider that a reasonable and sufficient explanation, as the pronunciations of our childhood often carry over into adulthood.




But he didn't.

[Jeemie]

spock

The key point is that he still fundamentally mispronounced a very well-known word.

Twenty-five miles north of us is the small town of Orion, IL. It is, and always has been, pronounced Oar e on. But, then, you know how stupid rural folk is...

So he gets slack for that, but Quayle didn't get slack for potatoe, even though it's quite likely he learned to spell it that way growing up?

[Beebs52]

Sorry, but Orion is usually pronounced Oh RYE on. The constellation, etc. Anyone who has gone to any US school or has ever read a book would probably first pronounce it "Oh Rye on."

Just like I wouldn't automatically pronounce Chicago, CHEE ca go. Or, Nebraska, KNEE bras ka.

It's just common sense.

[Rexer25]

Sorry, but Orion is usually pronounced Oh RYE on. The constellation, etc. Anyone who has gone to any US school or has ever read a book would probably first pronounce it "Oh Rye on."

Just like I wouldn't automatically pronounce Chicago, CHEE ca go. Or, Nebraska, KNEE bras ka.

It's just common sense.

The queen of whack, lecturing on common sense?

OK, Lord, I've seen it all, I can go now.

[Beebs52]

Sorry, but Orion is usually pronounced Oh RYE on. The constellation, etc. Anyone who has gone to any US school or has ever read a book would probably first pronounce it "Oh Rye on."

Just like I wouldn't automatically pronounce Chicago, CHEE ca go. Or, Nebraska, KNEE bras ka.

It's just common sense.

The queen of whack, lecturing on common sense?

OK, Lord, I've seen it all, I can go now.

Well, consider the source, ya know.

[Sisyphean Fan]

Sorry, but Orion is usually pronounced Oh RYE on. The constellation, etc. Anyone who has gone to any US school or has ever read a book would probably first pronounce it "Oh Rye on."

Just like I wouldn't automatically pronounce Chicago, CHEE ca go. Or, Nebraska, KNEE bras ka.

It's just common sense.

How would you pronounce Cairo?

[Beebs52]

Sorry, but Orion is usually pronounced Oh RYE on. The constellation, etc. Anyone who has gone to any US school or has ever read a book would probably first pronounce it "Oh Rye on."

Just like I wouldn't automatically pronounce Chicago, CHEE ca go. Or, Nebraska, KNEE bras ka.

It's just common sense.

How would you pronounce Cairo?

KYE roh, as would most, since it references Cairo, Egypt.
Shuh

No different than peeps calling the Arkansas River (in Kansas) Ar KAN sas.
No regular people would call it that. They'd say AHRK an saw. Because that's how it's pronounced by most people. If you live in Kansas, it's called Ar KAN sas. Which I found out when I moved there.
Provinciality.

[secondchance]

The town of Cairo in southern Illinois is pronounced KAYro. Perhaps Obama had relatives from the Orion in Illinois and had that pronounciation ingrained in his head...

[Sisyphean Fan]

Sorry, but Orion is usually pronounced Oh RYE on. The constellation, etc. Anyone who has gone to any US school or has ever read a book would probably first pronounce it "Oh Rye on."

Just like I wouldn't automatically pronounce Chicago, CHEE ca go. Or, Nebraska, KNEE bras ka.

It's just common sense.

How would you pronounce Cairo?

KYE roh, as would most, since it references Cairo, Egypt.
Shuh

No different than peeps calling the Arkansas River (in Kansas) Ar KAN sas.
No regular people would call it that. They'd say AHRK an saw. Because that's how it's pronounced by most people. If you live in Kansas, it's called Ar KAN sas. Which I found out when I moved there.
Provinciality.

I would naturally pronounce the capital of Egypt as Kayro, since that's how my dad pronounced it. If I think about it, I say Cairo.

Versailles, Orion, Chili, Cairo, Manitou..... some people naturally pronounce them "wrong". I would think that Obama probably had it drilled into his brain to NOT mispronounce the names of cities within the state he was representing.

Disclaimer: I'm not necessarily an Obama supporter.

[Bob Juch]

Sorry, but Orion is usually pronounced Oh RYE on. The constellation, etc. Anyone who has gone to any US school or has ever read a book would probably first pronounce it "Oh Rye on."

Just like I wouldn't automatically pronounce Chicago, CHEE ca go. Or, Nebraska, KNEE bras ka.

It's just common sense.

How would you pronounce Cairo?

KYE roh, as would most, since it references Cairo, Egypt.
Shuh

No different than peeps calling the Arkansas River (in Kansas) Ar KAN sas.
No regular people would call it that. They'd say AHRK an saw. Because that's how it's pronounced by most people. If you live in Kansas, it's called Ar KAN sas. Which I found out when I moved there.
Provinciality.

But Cairo, Georgia is pronounced "kay-roh".

[Beebs52]

How would you pronounce Cairo?

KYE roh, as would most, since it references Cairo, Egypt.
Shuh

No different than peeps calling the Arkansas River (in Kansas) Ar KAN sas.
No regular people would call it that. They'd say AHRK an saw. Because that's how it's pronounced by most people. If you live in Kansas, it's called Ar KAN sas. Which I found out when I moved there.
Provinciality.

But Cairo, Georgia is pronounced "kay-roh".

So what? Cairo is an international city. Cairo, Georgia was named after Cairo, Egypt. You didn't read my earlier section about Arksansas River, etc. Historical names one usually pronounces as they're supposed to be. Not in the county that they are necessarily, but, in general...

Orion, Cairo, Arkansas, whatever, your first guess would be the normally pronounced version.

[Beebs52]

The town of Cairo in southern Illinois is pronounced KAYro. Perhaps Obama had relatives from the Orion in Illinois and had that pronounciation ingrained in his head...

I find that hard to believe in the grand scheme of things.

[Beebs52]

How would you pronounce Cairo?

KYE roh, as would most, since it references Cairo, Egypt.
Shuh

No different than peeps calling the Arkansas River (in Kansas) Ar KAN sas.
No regular people would call it that. They'd say AHRK an saw. Because that's how it's pronounced by most people. If you live in Kansas, it's called Ar KAN sas. Which I found out when I moved there.
Provinciality.

I would naturally pronounce the capital of Egypt as Kayro, since that's how my dad pronounced it. If I think about it, I say Cairo.

Versailles, Orion, Chili, Cairo, Manitou..... some people naturally pronounce them "wrong". I would think that Obama probably had it drilled into his brain to NOT mispronounce the names of cities within the state he was representing.

Disclaimer: I'm not necessarily an Obama supporter.

Orion Energy Systems, which was the company referenced, isn't based in some small Illinois town with which Obama has an connection. It's in Wisconsin. Probably based on OrEYEan.

[Sisyphean Fan]

KYE roh, as would most, since it references Cairo, Egypt.
Shuh

No different than peeps calling the Arkansas River (in Kansas) Ar KAN sas.
No regular people would call it that. They'd say AHRK an saw. Because that's how it's pronounced by most people. If you live in Kansas, it's called Ar KAN sas. Which I found out when I moved there.
Provinciality.

I would naturally pronounce the capital of Egypt as Kayro, since that's how my dad pronounced it. If I think about it, I say Cairo.

Versailles, Orion, Chili, Cairo, Manitou..... some people naturally pronounce them "wrong". I would think that Obama probably had it drilled into his brain to NOT mispronounce the names of cities within the state he was representing.

Disclaimer: I'm not necessarily an Obama supporter.

Orion Energy Systems, which was the company referenced, isn't based in some small Illinois town with which Obama has an connection. It's in Wisconsin. Probably based on OrEYEan.

I didn't say it was. However, I didn't even know what Orion he was referencing, because I didn't look at the link and I don't really care what Obama says on a day to day basis.

Just thinking about it personally, if I was a resident and former senator of Illinois, I would probably think of Orion as a town in my state before I thought of a company in Wisconsin.

When I hear Manitou, I think about Mani-two Springs, a city in Colorado (which is generally referred to by those of us who live in 'the Springs' as simply Manitou). I don't think about Mani-toe, a town in New York. I think the spirit manitou is pronounced as I pronounce it, but I suppose people in upstate New York might beg to differ.

[Beebs52]

I would naturally pronounce the capital of Egypt as Kayro, since that's how my dad pronounced it. If I think about it, I say Cairo.

Versailles, Orion, Chili, Cairo, Manitou..... some people naturally pronounce them "wrong". I would think that Obama probably had it drilled into his brain to NOT mispronounce the names of cities within the state he was representing.

Disclaimer: I'm not necessarily an Obama supporter.

Orion Energy Systems, which was the company referenced, isn't based in some small Illinois town with which Obama has an connection. It's in Wisconsin. Probably based on OrEYEan.

I didn't say it was. However, I didn't even know what Orion he was referencing, because I didn't look at the link and I don't really care what Obama says on a day to day basis.

Just thinking about it personally, if I was a resident and former senator of Illinois, I would probably think of Orion as a town in my state before I thought of a company in Wisconsin.

When I hear Manitou, I think about Mani-two Springs, a city in Colorado (which is generally referred to by those of us who live in 'the Springs' as simply Manitou). I don't think about Mani-toe, a town in New York. I think the spirit manitou is pronounced as I pronounce it, but I suppose people in upstate New York might beg to differ.

Again, I agree with you about Manitou (Mani-too) like the spirit. I still think any normal person would think of Orion (Ore RYE an) the constellation, instead of a small town in Illinois or wherever, and , if I saw it, as a name of a company, regardless of whether it's in Wisconsin or Illinois or Guyana, I'd STILL PRONOUNCE IT Ore RYE an.

[SportsFan68]

Where are the Pennsylvanians?

It's VerSALES.

[Jeemie]

Where are the Pennsylvanians?

It's VerSALES.

This Pittsburgher knows that the more famous location is pronounced "Ver-SEYE"

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

here's another theory

Mispronouncing "Orion."

Barack Obama was criticized in the last day for repeatedly mispronouncing "Orion" in Orion Energy Systems.

While some of us have known the northern constellations since grade school, I would suspect that President Obama knows how to pronounce about as many English words as I do (and a lot more foreign names than I do).

My guess is that Obama pronounced Orion as "OR-ee-un" because that is how the longtime WGN Chicago announcer Orion Samuelson, "the best-known agricultural broadcaster in the country," pronounces his name.

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009 ... 1237931344

[ne1410s]

sprots

Where are the Pennsylvanians?

It's VerSALES.

It's VerSales in Illinoy, also. I'll give you that and throw in a San Joes (San Jose) down near Peoria...