People with massive cultural voids

[kngen]

Especially if he's into football. I put my encyclopedic knowledge of world geography down to being a football obsessive in my early years and knowing where a whole bunch of provincial towns are just because their team once qualified for the European Cup Winners Cup in 1976.

Has its occasional downsides too though, my pronunciation of Haiti is still off due to the way Brian Moore and David Coleman said it during the 74 world cup.

I think geography is every football fan's second specialist subject. Me and a mate once navigated our way from France, through Belgium and into the Netherlands using our knowledge of mid-table Benelux football teams because we were too skint to buy a map.

'Oh look, a sign for Breda. We're definitely going the right way!'

[Shit Good Nose]

I think geography is every football fan's second specialist subject. Me and a mate once navigated our way from France, through Belgium and into the Netherlands using our knowledge of mid-table Benelux football teams because we were too skint to buy a map.

'Oh look, a sign for Breda. We're definitely going the right way!'

You can do similar if you know your 70s prog and jazz concert tours.

[Jockice]

Has its occasional downsides too though, my pronunciation of Haiti is still off due to the way Brian Moore and David Coleman said it during the 74 world cup.

Mine too! Luckily they've never qualified since. Quick quiz question. Without looking it up, name the other two teams in that tournament who had never qualified before and never have again.

[Andy147]

Mine too! Luckily they've never qualified since. Quick quiz question. Without looking it up, name the other two teams in that tournament who had never qualified before and never have again.

Zaire and East Germany?

[jamiefairlie]

Zaire and East Germany?

Yes! Beat me to it!

The 74 world cup has an atmosphere all of its own. It's so "european", like watching episodes of "jeux sans frontieres" from the 70s.

Actually, where there any other shows that had the UK version linked to a pan-european version like this? I guess Superstars was similar.

[Jockice]

Well done you two. People sometimes stumble on east Germany. But not you two.

[jamiefairlie]

Well done you two. People sometimes stumble on east Germany. But not you two.

I read an article that claimed that Zaire were shite against Yugoslavia (9-0) on purpose because they hadn't been paid and they were on a go-slow on the pitch to make the point.

[kalowski]

Ah, the famous Brazil v Zaire free kick!

[Jockice]

I read an article that claimed that Zaire were shite against Yugoslavia (9-0) on purpose because they hadn't been paid and they were on a go-slow on the pitch to make the point.

It wouldn't surprise me. A conspiracy to knock the unbeaten Scottish team out.

[petril]

Ah, the famous Brazil v Zaire free kick!

better known as THAT Zaire Player

[DrGreggles]

Mwepu Ilunga!

Certain names never leave you.
Pak Do Ik is another

[Ferris]

Some of my interns are so young, they've never heard of the Tragically Hip. Like, no clue at all. In Canada.

[bgmnts]

Do you freak them out by trying to explain what Aston Villa is?

[jamiefairlie]

Mwepu Ilunga!

Certain names never leave you.
Pak Do Ik is another

Jurgen Sparwasser & Joachim Streich.

Branko Oblack

Ralf Edstrom

[Ferris]

Do you freak them out by trying to explain what Aston Villa is?

Stopped bothering. When you have to start by explaining the concept of Birmingham, you are onto a loser.

[bgmnts]

Birming-HAM

[Jockice]

Some of my interns are so young, they've never heard of the Tragically Hip. Like, no clue at all. In Canada.

My usual anecdote about my Canadian friend (who was, like, 23 when I met her a decade ago) being unable to believe that most people in Britain had never heard of them. She genuinely thought they were one of the world's biggest bands.

[phes]

A woman I met recently went to university in her late thirties an made herself a laughing stock by using the term internet memays (memes)

[BlodwynPig]

Jurgen Sparwasser & Joachim Streich.

Branko Oblack

Ralf Edstrom

Rocky Nyikeine

[Paul Calf]

Had a friend that pronounced Chile the same way you say bile. We were playing a co-op football game and came up against them, I was too socially awkward to call him out on it. Both around the age of 14 at the time, but I remember being staggered he'd clearly never heard the country of Chile referenced before in any conversation.

Also - no one at work had heard of the film The Brave Little Toaster despite all being of a similar age. Ended up having a bit a of a moment to the point of googling it just to confirm it's existence to myself such was the doubt. Perhaps not a massive void but still im convinced it was on tele a lot around Christmas in the 90s.

Conversely, 'a friend'* thought for ages that the Jimi Hendrix song was pronounced 'Voodoo Chilli'.




*Me

[touchingcloth]

I think the Chile/meme/Camus stuff is fair enough if someone hasn't heard a word spoken before. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, but it probably happens a few times a year that I'll hear a word I've been mentally pronouncing one way for years spoken out loud and realise I was dead wrong. I suspect that's not uncommon for people who were readers as kids in households of people who don't read, or who read books for pleasure rather than just the ones set by teachers.

My partner always pronounces "cache" like from off of browsers to rhyme with the first syllable of "geisha" rather than "cash", but I don't bother to correct her cos I'm not entirely sure I'm right. She also puts the stress on "palatable" on the second rather than first syllable, but again I'm not sure which way is "quote unquote" correct.

[Paul Calf]

I think the Chile/meme/Camus stuff is fair enough if someone hasn't heard a word spoken before. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, but it probably happens a few times a year that I'll hear a word I've been mentally pronouncing one way for years spoken out loud and realise I was dead wrong. I suspect that's not uncommon for people who were readers as kids in households of people who don't read, or who read books for pleasure rather than just the ones set by teachers.

Totally.

[touchingcloth]

Conversely, 'a friend'* thought for ages that the Jimi Hendrix song was pronounced 'Voodoo Chilli'.

That song confused the hell out of me as a teenager. I'd borrowed a couple of albums from a friend who was one of them roots rock types (you know the kind - the 14 year old Jim Morrisson wannabees ("basically who Kurt wished he could be")), one of them had the song listed as "Voodoo Chile", the other as "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)".

As well as wondering what the song was actually called, I also wondered if "slight return" was some kind of technical music term for...I dunno...feedback?

I will say for the record that I think it's a bad song. A great riff, but not one I want to listen to for half an hour LEARN TO FINISH A SONG, MAN

[NoSleep]

Conversely, 'a friend'* thought for ages that the Jimi Hendrix song was pronounced 'Voodoo Chilli'.




*Me

You never once listened to the song?

[NoSleep]

I will say for the record that I think it's a bad song. A great riff, but not one I want to listen to for half an hour LEARN TO FINISH A SONG, MAN

Cloth ears.

[touchingcloth]

I've remembered a relatively recent example of a word I was pronouncing all wrong in my head: polka. I always rhymed it more or less with "poker" and didn't realise the l wasn't silent.

[kalowski]

I think the Chile/meme/Camus stuff is fair enough if someone hasn't heard a word spoken before. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, but it probably happens a few times a year that I'll hear a word I've been mentally pronouncing one way for years spoken out loud and realise I was dead wrong. I suspect that's not uncommon for people who were readers as kids in households of people who don't read, or who read books for pleasure rather than just the ones set by teachers.

My partner always pronounces "cache" like from off of browsers to rhyme with the first syllable of "geisha" rather than "cash", but I don't bother to correct her cos I'm not entirely sure I'm right. She also puts the stress on "palatable" on the second rather than first syllable, but again I'm not sure which way is "quote unquote" correct.

As the old saying goes: "Never make fun of people for mispronouncing a word. It means they learned it by reading."
I think this is mainly true.

[kalowski]

I will say for the record that I think it's a bad song. A great riff, but not one I want to listen to for half an hour LEARN TO FINISH A SONG, MAN

The long version doesn't have the same riff, it's a slow blues number with Stevie Windwood on keyboards.

[Paul Calf]

You never once listened to the song?

I was too young to understand the lyrics.

[touchingcloth]

One notable counterexample of not thinking the worse of people who mispronounce things, but through work I have come into contact with a web developer who pronounces "beta" as "better", and "API" as "'appy". The former can be particularly confusing if you're told that the better software isn't as good as the old one.