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What's in a name?
Plenty, if it's mine.
A simple-looking name isn't always easy to pronounce.
"Banche" looks easy to pronounce, but it's not.
I get "banche" (1 syllable), "blanche" (1 syllable, added "l"), "blan che" (2 syllables, added "l"), "bianci" (trying to make my name more Italian than it is), and "ban shee" (2 syllables, soft s--no, I am not an Irish ghost).
I even get flak from machines. If you search for me on amazon, amazon asks "Are you sure you don't want blanche?"
A very nice gentleman from the UK with the same last name as mine asked if my family came from Mauritius. I had to look up Mauritius. Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean. No, we don't hail from so far afield. My family came from Italy.
So how do *I* (and I'm the only person who counts since it's my name *g*) pronounce my last name?
Correct pronunciation is ban-che --two syllables, accent on the first, short a, long e, "ch" as in "church".
How's that for complex? I figure if I ever make it to the bookstores, they'll shelve me next to the queen of regency romance, Mary Balogh (whose name rhymes with "kellogg"), and there isn't any better company.
What simple-looking names have you found that are difficult to pronounce? Is yours hard to pronounce?
Thank you all,
Linda
15 comments:
Linda, this is so funny. I like your sense of humor. Imagine that for a long time I read Blanche, and then finally realized there was no L. BTW I visited Mauritius, nice beaches but otherwise very poor, third world type country.
Well I admit I have not been pronouncing it correctly lol. My maiden name was Dichiara - don't even try lol. My first is Jeanne as in I dream of but I still get it mispronounced and never spelled right. I named one daughter Alysa and it gets slaughtered for goodness sake.
Visiting from Blog Jog Day. Have a lovely weekend!
Thanks, Mona. And you did no worse than anyone else. LOL! And you actually went to Mauritius. Wow.
Catslady, most people pronounce my last name wrong because it's not an English word. It's probably pronounced differently in Italian, but I don't know what that is.
As for your maiden name, how about Di-chi-AR-a, 4 syllables, 1st i long, 2nd i "ee", "ch" pronounced as "k", accent on the third syllable. And A-LISS-a, 3 syllables, accent on the second, both short a's.
Thanks, Avalon Cat Cartoons.
I loved this. I have a name that has caused me nothing but frustration since I started school. I get Jawlene, jolene, jocelyn, jolyn, everything but Joylene. On the 3rd attempt I tell people, "Think Marlene, Darlene, Arlene, Charlene, Joylene." How easy is that???
LOL
Happy jogging.
Linda, I have to admit I've never seen a name like yours, but it seems so simple to pronounce. Now you take my last name, Ehrentreu and you have a nightmare. There isn't a time when I don't have to spell it out for people. Then they pronounce it so many different ways it's frightening. But the correct way to say it is:
air en true. Easy. When I was a teacher I taught every kid in every class how to say it and they never had a problem.:) Glad I came over here.
Oh, if only I told you my real name, you'd all have a pickle of a time trying to figure it out. It's not a simple looking name in print, but I feel the pain of the mispronunciations.
Very cute post.
Thanks, Joylene. I knew I wasn't the only name. Your name is English and they still mispronounce it!
Lionmother, you have the right idea. The only way to get people to pronounce your name right is to tell them--over and over and over again. LOL!
EA, there will always be names difficult to pronounce. If I'm not sure, I try and then I ask the person if I'm correct. After all, it's your name. Have it pronounced the way you like!
Stopping by to say hello on Blog Jog Day.
Enjoying the blog jog.
Great post! I was pronouncing it wrong, as well.
Mine is always pronounced wrong, although it's completely phonetic.
Hunsaker - hun say ker
Easy enough, right? I usually get hun sack er
hun sick er (? do you see an I in there anywhere)
or worse @@
Phonetics: the E after the K and no C makes it sound exactly the way it looks! Too bad they don't teach phonics anymore.
Hi Suzanne and Janet. Glad you're having a good time.
LK, I confess, I pronounced your name wrong, too. Now I know better. Thanks for coming over.
Nope lol. Di (soft i)share (accent on the second) and a (soft) - Dichiara. I'm pretty sure that's not the true pronounciation because in italy the Di is the title with the i sounding like a long e and the rest probably the way you pronounced it lol.
LOL, catslady. I stand corrected!
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