Amazingly, I always think I’ve nailed it, but the guffaws come anyway. Vietnamese servers guffaw out loud when I ask if I’ve said “bun dac biet” (combination grilled meat over rice noodles) right. Servers at Thai restaurants snicker when I ask if I pronounced “yum nue” (spicy cold beef salad, truly yummy) correctly. I don’t walk into a Taco Bell and order a “bu-RRRIT-toh.” I don’t order a “kwassahn” at the bakery when I want a croissant. I’m sure the British still think Americans are buffoons for mangling their language, mispronouncing words and using “incorrect” words like “trunk” for a car’s “boot” or hood for a car’s “bonnet.” And I don’t follow my own rules about Japanese words for other languages. “Tokyo” is probably the word that gets the most varied treatment.įirst, here’s a caveat about this rant of mine: Language evolves, and as cultures merge and are assimilated, words and pronunciation patterns change and are re-invented. Although I assume the broadcasters got coached on pronouncing not just the dizzying variety of foreign athletes’ names, but also Japanese words, many are mangled, or are inconsistent – often by the same anchor or reporter, within the same report. I enjoy the ways that NBC is broadcasting the games live and on demand, and putting lots of clips on YouTube.
The other, and more immediate reason I want to revive this post and add some words, is because of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, now being held a year late because of the Covid pandemic. However, many Americans pronounce this word as “PAN-koe,” like “pants.” The Japanese pronunciation is “pahn-koh,” with the first part more like “pawn” - almost like “punk” - and the second like Homer Simpson’s “DOH!” So it’s cool that Japanese food (starting with sushi a couple of decades ago) are catching on in the US and becoming mainstream. When they introduced the sandwich with a television ad campaign, the spots always irritated me because of the way they pronounced “panko.” Since then, panko – the traditional Japanese breadcrumb - has become a common ingredient for baking and frying in the US, and I still hear it mispronounced, without Wendy’s help.
#Pronounce sooey update
I decided I needed to update this blog post from 2009 - it’s still the most-read post on my site - because the inspiration for it, a panko-encrusted fish sandwich created by the Wendy’s fast-food chain, doesn’t even exist anymore. I hope the competition can continue, and that the Paralympics in several weeks can also be held. The Geelong West Rotary Book Fair is at Geelong West Town Hall on Friday August 5 from 9am to 6pm, Saturday August 6 from 9am to 5pm and Sunday August 7 from 9am to 2pm.The Tokyo Olympics has been taking a lot of my attention now that it’s finally arrived, and I’m glad it seems to be running well, with few health issues even though Tokyo outside of the Olympics is suffering from an increase in Covid-19 infections. Geelong Regional Library Corporation has supported the book fair for many years through the donation of books which have been ‘retired’ from their library collection. “Rotary is a proud not for profit organisation and all funds raised go directly to the community groups most in need”.įunds from previous fairs have been distributed to Rotary Clubs in towns ravaged by bushfire and drought, to Samaritan House to assist those without a place to sleep, Christ Church meals feeding those less fortunate, as well as to buy a cuppa to recharge the nurses working exhaustive hours at the start of the pandemic. “After a number of interrupted years with COVID-19, it is even more important now that we work as hard as possible to generate funds to share amongst our challenged communities,” Geelong West Rotary president Jim Marendaz said. You will be able to roam the aisles and pick out titles to stock your shelves, costing only $1 for children’s and paperback books and $2 for hardcovers.
There will be thousands of books on offer from fiction to biographies, cooking to gardening, classics to crime and a plethora of children’s books. The biannual fair is the club’s major fundraising event for the year.
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