Monday, November 30, 2009



Must pronounce "Iran" correctly

Just one viewer not liking your pronunciation can cause big trouble:
"Clippers longtime play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler and color analyst Michael Smith were suspended one game by the Fox Sports Prime Ticket cable network for their comments about Memphis center Hamed Haddadi. Lawler and Smith made their off-the-cuff comments about the Iranian-born center during Wednesday night's telecast from Memphis. The on-air banter offended a viewer who e-mailed Fox to complain.

The transcript of the conversation between Lawler and Smith, which occurred late in the game, was printed on the Los Angeles Times' Web site:

Smith: "Look who's in."

Lawler: "Hamed Haddadi. Where's he from?"

Smith: "He's the first Iranian to play in the NBA." (Smith pronounced Iranian as "Eye-ranian," a pronunciation that offended the viewer who complained.)

Lawler: "There aren't any Iranian players in the NBA," repeating Smith's mispronunciation.

Smith: "He's the only one."

Lawler: "He's from Iran?"

Smith: "I guess so."

Lawler: "That Iran?"

Smith: "Yes."

Lawler: "The real Iran?"

Smith: "Yes."

Lawler: "Wow. Haddadi that's H-A-D-D-A-D-I."

Smith: "You're sure it's not Borat's older brother?"

Smith: "If they ever make a movie about Haddadi, I'm going to get Sacha Baron Cohen to play the part."

Lawler: "Here's Haddadi. Nice little back-door pass. I guess those Iranians can pass the ball."

Smith: "Especially the post players.

Lawler: "I don't know about their guards."

Source

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't get it. Was it the way in which he said it that was offensive or what? I can't believe all this is over a mispronunciation.

Bobby said...

In that case instead of saying Germany and Austria we should say Deutchsland and Ostereich.

Or what about Los Angeles, CA? Anglos don't prounounce it the same way as mexicans.

Anonymous said...

BFD

You say Row DEE Oh, I say Row DAY oh said...

Eye-ran is how the Iranians themselves pronounce it, I believe, not that potato/potahto matters in any event.

But for those addicted to sneering, a fix is a fix is a fix.

Anonymous said...

Doubt very much this has to do with the "eye"-ranian pronunciation that was the difficulty.

Look at the rest of the comments. They were suggesting Haddadi be played in any movie bio by Borat aka Sacha Baron Cohen - a JEW. How incredibly offensive to suggest that an Iranian be played by a JEW. Behead those buggers.

So now we have FOX supporting the radical antisemitism of one complaining idiot racist.

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:25,

I don't like what you said. What did cockroaches ever do to you?

Anonymous said...

This shouldn't come as a surprise except to those who believe Fox is a "concervative" network. If you watch them, (and listen) you will notice they are among the biggest purveyors of "PC-speak" on TV.

Angry American said...

I'm confused as to what exactly was the offense here. Was it their pronunciation of Iran, the comparison of the players appearance to the Borat character, or the doubt about the ability of Iranian basketball guards?

F*$King PC BS!

Anonymous said...

"Eye-ran is how the Iranians themselves pronounce it, I believe, not that potato/potahto matters in any event."

I believe this is incorrect. Iranians pronounce it neither as EYE-ranian or e-RAIN-ian. They don't have the need to "mix it up" like Americans do.

The Bulldog said...

My dictionary says that both pronunciations are correct.

Anonymous said...

eh-run / eh-run-ian

Like Teheran. Of course this has nothing to do with how English names are pronounced in English. If someone actually got mad over this he/she has to a bit off in the head.

jonjayray said...

The French don't seem to be bothered by how we pronounce "Paris"

They say it as "Paree"

Anonymous said...

If GWB were not the Carter-like moron that he was/is, he would have realized EYE-Ran was the real threat, not Iraq. In fact, Saddam would've been more than happy to help us eradicate EYE-Ran. He sent us to fight the wrong war in the wrong country! And because of his stupidity, we now have a nuclear EYE-Ran to deal with.

But when it comes to stupidity, no politician can compare with the American voters.

Anonymous said...

That would be Nuckiler Eyrran.

Anonymous said...

The French don't have problem with Paris but they hate everything else about the way Americans speak. And who can blame them? French with a strong American accent sounds horrible.

"Parle woo Francheese? Zay swee an Americaan." And then in English (because no one can understand that lingua franca of course) "Can you believe these frogs? What's with the attitude?"

Bobby said...

"French with a strong American accent sounds horrible."

--The french actually like it when you try to speak their langauge, then they'll switch to English to make it easier for you.

Either way, Americans and the rest of the world say Paris, not Pareee. If you're speaking English you should prounounce it in English and not in French unless its a word like rendevous or one of those french words we have appropriated in America.

Anonymous said...

The fact is, the french hate Americans, even though we spend hundreds-of-millions vacationing there every year. That's what we get for saving them. It was a waste of time and valuable American lives.

The Finn said...

I love stereotypes =).

The French hate everyone. It's a fundamental part of their DNA. Unless you are fluent in French and their own little customs they hate you and show it right away. That's just the way it is.

Americans are quite often the exact opposite. Being pleasant and smiley even though there's no reason to be. Then they say bad things behind the other person's back. I guess it's a matter of personal taste which way one prefers but I must say I've never been a fan of backstabbing.

The rest of the world lies somewhere in between. English are pleasant but if they don't like you they don't pretend to. Asians can't lose face so they never insult you but they aren't as outgoing either. No smiling and jokes with those guys.

Russians are good fun in a social situation. They have a way of including everyone and they are very open. Especially when alcohol is part of the equation - and it usually is.

Finnish people are generally no fun at all. Strictly business at work and closed up in all social gatherings. Except when alcohol is part of the equation - and it usually is in excessive amounts. And then Finns are no fun at all.