Fallout From Mispronouncing Schiavo For Weeks=Name Now Mispelled 90%

[stopbush]

of the time.

I thought this might happen. I know that Michael Schiavo mispronounced it, but once the MSM took it up, that sealed the deal.

The name is Italian, and in Italy, it's pronounced "Skee-ah-voh." That's *Sch* like in school, *i* like in Ski, *a* like in ah and *vo* like in vote. It's pretty simple.

Thanks to mispronouncing it as "Shy-vo" for weeks, many (including lots of DUers) are now spelling it phonetically...and wrong. Shaivo seems to be the most common mistake.

During the debacle, Tweety railed that politicos couldn't pronounce her name correctly (never mind that he didn't get it right, either). Now, injury is being added by not spelling the name correctly after the poor lady is dead.

Just an observation.

[Aiptasia]

1. sounds like a pet peeve

I can't stand people that mis-pronounce nuclear. Makes my skin crawl.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. But it's far from Italy now

If the Schiavo family has been in the USA for a hundred years -- and most Schiavo families have been here since at least the post-WWI immigration wave -- "Shy-vo" or "Sky-vo" is how it's pronounced now. The name is still very common in Italy, where it means "slave" or "servant", like the name Diener or names ending in -dienst in German.

I had a friend whose family name was Iacobino. She pronounced her last name "Aye-ko-PEEN-o", not "Ya-ko-BEEN-o" as it would be in Italy.

And look at the modern interjection yo! -- it comes from guaglione, or "young man".

--p!

[calico1]

3. A lot of people pronounce surnames

incorrectly---even their own because we tend to Americanize everything. For example, my maiden name is Rodriguez. You are supposed to roll the "r" when you say it. Its not a soft "r." But nobody rolls the "r." And usually I don't because then people give me funny looks or ask me if I am having trouble with my throat. :crazy:Some people probably just don't know the correct pronunciation of their name. Others, like me just don't want to be constantly correcting people, so we let it slide. Its just not worth the trouble most of the time.