Difficult to Say Names in the News in 2022
2022-12-27
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1Do you know about the Ohtani rule?
2Have you seen a movie with actor Domhnall Gleeson?
3If you are a fan of Japanese baseball player Shohei Ohtani or Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, you likely know how to say their names.
4Both men were in the news in 2022.
5Ohtani got attention in the spring because America's professional baseball league introduced a rule change that many call the "Ohtani rule."
6They call it that because of his special skills.
7And in October, Domhnall Gleeson jokingly called out television show host Stephen Colbert for saying his first name wrong. (The right way to say it is DOH-null.)
8In fact, their names are among the most mispronounced names of 2022.
9That information comes from The Captioning Group.
10The company puts real-time words under live news stories in the U.S. and Canada.
11The group has released a "most mispronounced" list every year since 2016.
12This year's list includes names like the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia and Negroni sbagliato, an Italian alcoholic drink.
13Zaporizhzhia is the city that is home to the world's largest nuclear power plant.
14Serious fighting between Russia and Ukraine took place in the area earlier this year.
15Russian soldiers took control of the power center.
16It was shut down in the autumn to avoid a major accident.
17People often worry about mispronouncing a foreign name.
18But one expert, Esteban Touma, says it is a good thing that we live in a world where we hear and see new names and sounds.
19Touma is a producer and teacher for the language learning company Babbel.
20He said seeing all the difficult names in the news "really shows the ways we interact with other languages and really gives a good grasp of what's going on in the world and how we connect with people abroad."
21Even people who have help sometimes make mistakes, including U.S. President Joe Biden.
22He had trouble saying the name of Great Britain's new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. Biden said "Rasheed Sanook."
23Another famous person, the singer Adele, recently said her fans have been saying her name incorrectly for many years.
24She said her name should sound like "uh-Dale."
25Of course, many fans said that is just how people with a British accent pronounce it.
26Other mispronounced names in the news include athletes Tua Tagovailoa, the American football player, and tennis star Novak Djokovic.
27Tagovailoa was talked about because of a serious head injury he suffered during a game.
28Djokovic was in the news early in 2022 because he arrived in Australia to play in a competition but was not permitted to play because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19.
29In the world of science, many people talked about a large crater in the Gulf of Mexico.
30It is called Chicxulub.
31Some say the crater was caused by an asteroid that led to the disappearance of dinosaurs.
32And many people learned the correct way to say the capital city of Scotland during televised memorial services for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
33Many people say "ed-in-bor-o." But locals say "ed-in-BRUH."
34I'm Dan Friedell.
1Do you know about the Ohtani rule? 2Have you seen a movie with actor Domhnall Gleeson? 3If you are a fan of Japanese baseball player Shohei Ohtani or Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, you likely know how to say their names. 4Both men were in the news in 2022. Ohtani got attention in the spring because America's professional baseball league introduced a rule change that many call the "Ohtani rule." They call it that because of his special skills. And in October, Domhnall Gleeson jokingly called out television show host Stephen Colbert for saying his first name wrong. (The right way to say it is DOH-null.) 5In fact, their names are among the most mispronounced names of 2022. That information comes from The Captioning Group. The company puts real-time words under live news stories in the U.S. and Canada. 6The group has released a "most mispronounced" list every year since 2016. 7This year's list includes names like the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia and Negroni sbagliato, an Italian alcoholic drink. 8Zaporizhzhia is the city that is home to the world's largest nuclear power plant. Serious fighting between Russia and Ukraine took place in the area earlier this year. Russian soldiers took control of the power center. It was shut down in the autumn to avoid a major accident. 9People often worry about mispronouncing a foreign name. But one expert, Esteban Touma, says it is a good thing that we live in a world where we hear and see new names and sounds. 10Touma is a producer and teacher for the language learning company Babbel. He said seeing all the difficult names in the news "really shows the ways we interact with other languages and really gives a good grasp of what's going on in the world and how we connect with people abroad." 11Even people who have help sometimes make mistakes, including U.S. President Joe Biden. He had trouble saying the name of Great Britain's new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. Biden said "Rasheed Sanook." 12Another famous person, the singer Adele, recently said her fans have been saying her name incorrectly for many years. She said her name should sound like "uh-Dale." Of course, many fans said that is just how people with a British accent pronounce it. 13Other mispronounced names in the news include athletes Tua Tagovailoa, the American football player, and tennis star Novak Djokovic. Tagovailoa was talked about because of a serious head injury he suffered during a game. Djokovic was in the news early in 2022 because he arrived in Australia to play in a competition but was not permitted to play because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. 14In the world of science, many people talked about a large crater in the Gulf of Mexico. It is called Chicxulub. Some say the crater was caused by an asteroid that led to the disappearance of dinosaurs. 15And many people learned the correct way to say the capital city of Scotland during televised memorial services for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. Many people say "ed-in-bor-o." But locals say "ed-in-BRUH." 16I'm Dan Friedell. 17Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 18_______________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20live-adj. happening in the moment, not recorded 21interact -v. to come together and have an effect on each other - such as during a conversation or meeting 22grasp -v. to understand something that is difficult 23accent -n. a way of pronouncing words that only occurs among the people in a specific area 24crater -n. a large round hole in the ground caused when something crashes into land 25________________________________________________________________ 26We want to hear from you. What are some other hard-to-say names you heard this year? 27We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 28Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.