White House prepares ‘phonetic guide’ for Bush.
White House prepares ‘phonetic guide’ for Bush.
As President Bush spoke to the United Nation’s General Assembly this morning, “a marked-up draft of the president’s speech popped up on the U.N.’s website” that included “phonetic spellings of some names and countries, and the cellphone numbers for Bush speechwriters.” White House Press Secretary Dana Perino got annoyed when a reporter asked “if the president has trouble pronouncing some country’s names,” calling it an “offensive question” before saying, “it was taken down and there’s nothing more to say about it.” Blake Hounshell has some of the phonetic guides over at Foreign Policy:
• Kyrgyzstan [KEYR-geez-stan]
• Mauritania [moor-EH-tain-ee-a]
• Harare [hah-RAR-ray]
• Mugabe [moo-GAH-bee]
• Sarkozy [sar-KO-zee]
• Caracas [kah-RAH-kus]
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Phonetic guides are, in general, fairly common. They are particularly important when dealing with other countries and cultures to make sure no embarrassing gaffes occur when giving a speech.
That being said… it sure does fit the stereotype, doesn’t it?
September 25th, 2007 at 2:36 pmOh, man WTF
FOR CHRISSAKES THIS IS NOT NEWS.
This is petty and pointless and makes you guys look like jackasses.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:37 pmHe needs to get a grasp on English first.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:38 pmUnderstandable that he couldn’t pronounce these. It’s not an
September 25th, 2007 at 2:38 pmoffensive question to ask given the president’s history of butchering so many other words.
Too funny! Do you suppose they also gave him a bathroom pass, too, so that he wouldn’t have to ask Condoleeeeeeeeeeeezza for permission again?
Now, if only they would include pronunciation guides for common English words in his speech notes — you know, things like “NU-cle-ar” and such.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:39 pmSo the White House is trying to help Bush fix some of his speech slip ups and making sure he doesn’t insult any nationality by pronouncing they’re countries names imcorrectly, something that he gets mocked for regularly, this is a good thing.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:39 pmWow. Some of these aren’t even correct pronunciations.
It’s SAR-ko-zee. French don’t put accents in the middle of words.
And KEYR-geez-stan, more like KIR-ji-stahn. If you wanna be correct.
Don’t get me started on moor-EH-tain-ee-a. Ugh!
September 25th, 2007 at 2:39 pmBush can not speak words with more than one syllable.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:40 pm#7
I noticed that they were wrong, too, and then I realized that it really wouldn’t matter because GDumbya would ignore them anyway.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:41 pmThe only words he needs to say:
“ahy ri-zahyn”
September 25th, 2007 at 2:41 pmWhile they’re at it, maybe they could add entries for Iraq and Iran as well. I don’t expect Bush to manage the 3ayn or roll the Rs, but at least he could lay off the EYE-rack and EYE-ran a bit.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:42 pmDana Perino got annoyed when a reporter asked “if the president has trouble pronouncing some country’s names,†calling it an “offensive question†before saying, “it was taken down and there’s nothing more to say about it.â€
What, the Deciderer having problems with the pronunciation of names? That’s umpossible!
September 25th, 2007 at 2:43 pmOur presnit is an embarrasment of biblical proportions.
Remember, he’s the same tard who seriously pointed out that not ALL poor people are killers.
People who still admit to voting for this clown (or worse yet, still have the bumber sticker), need to spend some time on a tharapist’s couch.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:46 pmI think it’s an excellent idea and not to be sneered at, especially when you get to some of these long names with an overload of consonants–I doubt if I can pronounce them correctly. (Of course, as Toasterhead says, some from this list aren’t correct either.)
We may realize that GWB is less than linguistically-talented, but it won’t hurt if he looks better to the world at large. Or is it too late for that?
September 25th, 2007 at 2:46 pmDana Perino…we go from Snowflake to Cornflake.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:47 pmhow about NEW-clee-ar ? (i can’t stand “nucular”)
September 25th, 2007 at 2:48 pmI am confident that Clinton would not have needed this.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:48 pmI’m surprised the words aren’t more like C-A-T and D-O-G. Georgie hasn’t even worked his way up, so how could they expect him to understand even the pronunciation guide?
September 25th, 2007 at 2:49 pmDave: “This is petty and pointless and makes you guys look like jackasses.”
No, actually it makes you people who still support Bush look like jackasses.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:49 pmVet
Remember, he’s the same tard who seriously pointed out that not ALL poor people are killers.
So your saying that ALL poor people are killers then?
People who still admit to voting for this clown
September 25th, 2007 at 2:49 pmAnd you want people to lie about how they voted?
Jay-zus
September 25th, 2007 at 2:49 pmI would hump Dana to the left.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:50 pmWe may realize that GWB is less than linguistically-talented, but it won’t hurt if he looks better to the world at large. Or is it too late for that?
Comment by Georgette Orwell — September 25, 2007 @ 2:46 pm
I guess I expect a little more from my President, that’s all. I expect that if my President is meeting with the leader of France or citing Mauritania and Kyrgyzstan in a speech that he’d either be familiar with these names, or have taken ten minutes in the limo ride practicing them so that he actually sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. I really don’t think it’s too much to ask that the leader of the free world do his homework.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:52 pm#20. You’re joking, right? I’m making the point that this dumbarse actually thought it had to be pointed out that not ALL poor people are killers - as if most people think that they are.
And yes, I’m willing to bet that many, many repugs now deny ever voting for Bush.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:54 pm#23. Very well said. I would expect the POTUS to take the time to learn the proper pronunciation of nations to which he refers. Then again, this is W we’re talking about.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:56 pmThe only words he needs to say:
“ahy ri-zahynâ€
Comment by TheToonGuy — September 25, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
hahahahaha!!
September 25th, 2007 at 2:56 pmSqueezy: “So your saying that ALL poor people are killers then?”
“And you want people to lie about how they voted?”
What is this, Squeezy? A strawman convention?
September 25th, 2007 at 2:57 pmFailure [Fay-LA-Your]
September 25th, 2007 at 2:58 pmI am not at all alarmed that Bush uses a phonetic guide, and I’m quite glad that he does. I wish more television journalists used them, too.
There was once a time when we could learn the names of all the countries of the world in school. These days, however, the world changes at an ever-increasing pace, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up.
When the Soviet Union broke up, I admit I needed a pronunciation guide to handle the names of all the new little republics created. Furthermore, there’s always some city or town in some foreign country in the news I’ve never heard of.
Mispronouncing the name of someone’s city, country, or leader is a faux pas. I would rather Bush study up and pronounce these names correctly than create even more of a foreign policy mess than he already has. (it would also be nice if he could learn how to pronunce “nuclear” correctly, but I recognize this to be a lost cause)
A little side story: My family comes from Yakima, Washington. The correct pronunciation of this town is YACK-i-maw. Not yah-KEE-muh, not YACK-i-muh, and not YAW-ki-muh. When Mount St. Helens blew its top in 1980, Yakima was suddenly in the national news, and most east coast anchormen completely butchered the pronunciation of the city. The nice people of Yakima would have appreciated it if they had used a pronunciation guide.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:59 pmI think it’s about time for these 28%-ers to receive the same minority treatment they’ve been dishing out for the last 100+ years.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:59 pmno amount of lipstick is going to pretty up this pig.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:00 pmHA! Proves the point that a handball is smarter than this bozo…
September 25th, 2007 at 3:00 pmEmbarrassment [Em-BARE-ris-MINT]
September 25th, 2007 at 3:00 pm#11
Don’t you think it’s kind of cute the way GDumbya mispronounces Iraq? Kinda like how Poppy Bu$h used to mispronounce Saddam’s name. The acorn didn’t fall far from the tree.
Besides, it somehow seems petty to criticize GDumbya for not pronouncing Iraq correctly in light of the fact that he has spent thousands of lives and over half a trillion dollars saving that country and making life so much better for the average Iraqi. (sarcasm)
September 25th, 2007 at 3:00 pmCoke induced Drain Bamage
September 25th, 2007 at 3:01 pmAnti-treason,
September 25th, 2007 at 3:03 pmI know I shouldn’t ask, but how would one hump Perino from the left?
If you haven’t seen this one, enjoy!
September 25th, 2007 at 3:04 pmAs if this stupid bastard is capable of understanding a “phonetic guide” anyway ?
He wouldn’t give it a glance unless it’s written in crayon ………..
September 25th, 2007 at 3:04 pmactually, i wish he — and dick cheney — would
learn to pronounce this catchy phrase:
“no search, without a WARRANT. . .”
i’ve made my latest “nightly nolo”
all about it. . . and i agree that this
IS a worthy topic — given that bush had
scarcely travelled outside the US by the
time he became president. . . he is a rube.
plain and simple. . .
September 25th, 2007 at 3:05 pmThis is pathetic. Chimpy’s Big Golden Book of Speaking at the U.N..
We’re the laughingstock of the world.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:05 pmGeorge W. Bush [MOR-ohn]
September 25th, 2007 at 3:06 pmDoes anyone need any more insight into how pathetic this administration truly is ?
A phonetic guide for the unintelligible imbecile , yet not a one of them was concerned that the douchebag wanted to illegally invade a sovereign nation without cause or provocation (just for oil and a personal grudge) ; yet didn’t realize that the country he wanted to invade (Iraq) , had different sects that made up the entire population ……..To Chimpy the Wonder Monkey , they were just all Iraqis.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:09 pmI am not at all alarmed that Bush uses a phonetic guide, and I’m quite glad that he does. I wish more television journalists used them, too.
I totally agree. The most mispronounced word in the last 7 years is Iraq. It’s not eye-rak, it’s more like e-rak. As in “impossible” (not eye-mpossible).
Of course, now it’s acceptable to say eye-rak and eye-ran. The english language has been butchered over the last 20 years.
Back on topic, It is good that Bush uses these phonetic guides BUT seriously, he is nearly 7 years into being the President of the United States of America and he STILL NEEDS THE PHONETIC GUIDES!!!!!!! Doesn’t it show how incapable he is of learning? Ugh.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:09 pmKinda like how Poppy Bu$h used to mispronounce Saddam’s name. The acorn didn’t fall far from the tree.
Comment by tom — September 25, 2007 @ 3:00 pm
Poppy Bush mispronounced “Saddam” on purpose. He was told that this particular pronunciation sounded like a word that was an offensive slur, so he used it consistently.
Turned out, the “slur” was only used in some obscure Egyptian slang, so the only people who might have been impressed by Bush’s insults were probably street gang youth of Cairo. Meanwhile, Bush just looked like an ignoramus to everybody else.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:10 pmAre you sure that such phonetic guides are not standard issue at the UN?
I hate bush as much as the next true American patriot, he might not be the only person getting such phoentic guidance…
September 25th, 2007 at 3:12 pmOur dyslexic and attention deficit disordered preznit is an insult to functioning members of society who are similarly afflicted.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:13 pmIt’s hard to believe that he actually presides in the White House.
I totally agree. The most mispronounced word in the last 7 years is Iraq.
Comment by Nature Rules — September 25, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
Just be glad we’re not doing any fighting in Qatar.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:13 pmI’m most surprised that he has graduated from pictures to actual letters…..
September 25th, 2007 at 3:13 pmBush went to Yale and he doesn’t know how to pronounce Caracas? How bad is that?
September 25th, 2007 at 3:13 pmUntil W learns how to pronounce nuclear, it’s all a waste of time.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:19 pmSorry, I don’t think a phonetic list is going to help this idiot:
“And so, in my State of the — my State of the Union — or state — my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation — I asked Americans to give 4,000 years — 4,000 hours over the next — the rest of your life — of service to America.â€
~ George W. Bush, Bridgeport, CT, 2002-09-04
Maybe keeping him away from the bottle will help.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:20 pmHay-BEE-us COR-pus?
September 25th, 2007 at 3:23 pmNEW-clee-er?
Words you’ll never hear from the Pretzel Target.
vet
You’re joking, right? I’m making the point that this dumbarse actually thought it had to be pointed out that not ALL poor people are killers - as if most people think that they are.
And yes, I’m willing to bet that many, many repugs now deny ever voting for Bush.
Yah, I have a hard time resisting stupid comments when they present themselves to me. Although I still think you may have meant people who still support Bush need therapy, as opposed to people who will admit to voting for him.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:24 pmWhat do expect from a Connecticut cowboy using a phony Southern accent ?
He hasn’t as of yet been able to correctly read and pronounce all the words in “My Pet Goat” , let alone foreign countries and their leaders/dignitaries names ; and he’s been balls deep with that book for over 6 years……
September 25th, 2007 at 3:24 pmComment by Nature Rules — September 25, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
Just be glad we’re not doing any fighting in Qatar.
Comment by missmolly — September 25, 2007 @ 3:13 pm
We are having some problems finding the leaders of al-Qa’ida, though.
Perhaps the problem is that we’re looking for al-Kayda, which literally means “the deceitfulness.”
September 25th, 2007 at 3:25 pmUntil W learns how to pronounce nuclear, it’s all a waste of time.
Comment by Shayne — September 25, 2007 @ 3:19 pm
If only pronounciation was the single problem ; definition(s) of words aren’t a real “strong suit” for the nitwit , either…….
September 25th, 2007 at 3:27 pmShayne
Until W learns how to pronounce nuclear, it’s all a waste of time.
Just remeber, the S is silent.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:29 pmFoo-net-tick…
September 25th, 2007 at 3:32 pm“Just remeber, the S is silent.”
Comment by Squegeeboo
I did not know that!
So, you mean, it’s like this? KwEEzeeboo
September 25th, 2007 at 3:34 pmThe Bushs’ are al-lee-skum that didn’t limit themselves to what they stole. That’s a poor homeless criminal…That’s how they know the difference that all poor aren’t criminals.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:39 pm“New-key-ler” must be on that phonetics list. Only that could explain why Bush continues to mis-pronounce it that way. Unless he’s a complete moron.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:40 pmNow he has all three guides, Phailure, Phanatics, and Phonetics.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:40 pmTo bad he never got the Guide to Sentient Sentences.
Nevar
So, you mean, it’s like this? KwEEzeeboo
Ha, nice. But I was referencing a family guy episode:
September 25th, 2007 at 3:45 pm“Haha! You said nuclear; it’s nucular, dummy; the ’s’ is silent.”
You can lead a horse to water, but . . . whooops hippophobe!
September 25th, 2007 at 3:55 pmSo, bush attends his first G-8 summit, and on the second day, he turns to Tony Blair and says “Why are the French even here? They don’t understand economics, hell, they don’t even have a word for entrepuenuer.”
September 25th, 2007 at 3:56 pmHa, nice. But I was referencing a family guy episode:
“Haha! You said nuclear; it’s nucular, dummy; the ’s’ is silent.â€
Comment by Squegeeboo — September 25, 2007 @ 3:45 pm
I got that reference! But wasn’t it Homer from the Simpson’s?
September 25th, 2007 at 3:57 pmJrst remember–never send him to Wales.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:57 pmI also recall the time Bush called the Prime Minister of Spain a “goose” in Spanish. He called him Prime Minister Ansar (a word for “goose” in Spanish) instead of his actual name: Aznar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ List_of_U.S._presidential_faux-pas,_gaffes,_and_unfortunate_incidents
September 25th, 2007 at 4:07 pmNature Rules
I got that reference! But wasn’t it Homer from the Simpson’s?
Thats what I thought, but wikipedia claims he just corrected the pronunciation, not the spelling. And then Peter ‘corrects’ the spelling in a family guy.
So now I’m all confused
September 25th, 2007 at 4:09 pmEarly in his presidency, George W. Bush was an enthusiastic proponent of “Hooked on Phonics” for educating America’s children. Now we know that his ringing endorsement came from personal experience. At the United Nations today, President Bush addressed the General Assembly using a crib sheet of phonetic pronunciations for those difficult country names and leaders sure to trip up any leader of the Free World.
For the details and more on the Four Types of Bush Gaffes, see:
September 25th, 2007 at 4:14 pm“Bush Hooked on Phonics at the UN.”
Actually, the “moor-EH-tain-ee-a” pronunciation isn’t too far off. The double-o, in many English dialects, can be pronounced like a long o (think how “poor” often sounds like “pore”). The stressed syllable IS off, however (it should come on the “tain”).
September 25th, 2007 at 4:15 pmAs to toasterhead’s comment at #7, the phonetic pronunciation of Kyrgyzstan IS correct (as long as the “gee” phonetic is pronounced with a “hard g”–as in “get”). Prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Republic’s name was spelled Kirghizstan. Even in the Cyrillic alphabet (at present, the official script), the country’s name uses the г in spelling КыргызÑтан–the г is a “hard g” sound.
memo to GWB: buh-Lo Mee
September 25th, 2007 at 4:19 pmThe City of Chicago does this for Mayor Daley. I’m no apologist for either him or Bush, but I think this is no biggie,
September 25th, 2007 at 4:42 pmCaracas? Sarkozy? These are not complicated. What a flippin’ idiot. Reminds me of the SNL when they’re trying to prep chimp for a speech.
Can’t you pronounce the capital where your boogey man Chavez lives?
September 25th, 2007 at 4:56 pmNature Rules
I got that reference! But wasn’t it Homer from the Simpson’s?
Thats what I thought, but wikipedia claims he just corrected the pronunciation, not the spelling. And then Peter ‘corrects’ the spelling in a family guy.
So now I’m all confused
Comment by Squegeeboo — September 25, 2007 @ 4:09 pm
Ah Ha. So Family Guy used the same gag! I do remember the Simpson’s gag. I think you have taken the confusion out of it - both are funny.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:06 pmThe City of Chicago does this for Mayor Daley. I’m no apologist for either him or Bush, but I think this is no biggie,
Comment by AMcG773 — September 25, 2007 @ 4:42 pm
How many Mayors have foreign dignitaries from countries that are difficult to pronounce , visiting their respective city ?
A Mayor doesn’t generally tend to have to worry about that type of duty ; plus their constituency is nowhere near that of the president of the US , who is also representing 300,000,000 + Americans………
What an embarrassment Chimpy the Wonder Monkey is……
September 25th, 2007 at 5:07 pmIn about a half-dozen generations we went from George Washington to George Bush.
I don’t believe in evolution anymore.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:36 pmWho gave Bush the guide to go with the phonetic guide?
September 25th, 2007 at 6:12 pmDid Bush finally finish My Pet Goat book? And does he need his speechwriter to pronounce the big words in the book?
September 25th, 2007 at 6:19 pmDamien: “In about a half-dozen generations we went from George Washington to George Bush.
I don’t believe in evolution anymore.”
I hear ya, but this is social evolution. Compare this pres to our last. This one is the product of generations of blue blood opulence. He has mediocre talent, mediocre intelligence, almost no curiosity and is infused with an astounding arrogance and cockiness despite the fact that he can’t even ride a fricking bicycle without face-planting.
The guy before him came up on the other side of the track. He had to work and scrape for everything he got. He’s extremely intelligent, full of energy and has a very quick wit.
As with European royalty, our corporate aristocracy will continue to get weaker as it becomes more and more like a modern corporate version of royalty.
September 25th, 2007 at 6:34 pmNuclear - [New-cue-lear]
Decision maker - [de-side-er]
Pissed off Iraqis - [al-kay-da]
Mushroom cloud - [no-w-m-d]
911 - [fear]
New Bush version.
Buck Fush
September 25th, 2007 at 7:49 pmSorry, despite my opinion of “the decider”, this story is a non-starter.
When you transliterate a forieng name into english you lose the real pronunciation. A phonetic spelling (or using the native language) is the only way to really do it right.
Of course, I doubt W can handle phonetics any better.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:39 pmser -tay -ther - course
September 25th, 2007 at 9:23 pmTRAY-TOR
September 26th, 2007 at 9:03 amTraitor
Used in a sentence:
George W. Bush is a traitor and will be held accountable in a court of law, afterwhich, as we have done before with other traitors, he will be hung.