A name is not a name..

[antiussentiment]

So over the last weeks I've heard the Kiwi mike jockeys continually mention a team called the Harg-ware-ez.

I'm pretty sure this is the same team the local Fox crew call The Jaguars? Though this spelling is missing from the various results..

Is it that the Rugby 360 crew think the Australian rugby public are too dim to handle a little Spanish?

Can someone with a Twitter account go and set Kafe', Martin and Co straight? Tell them we're not xenophobic dimwits..

After all, years ago they managed to learn there was no Kruger..
~rolls eyes~

[James]

Or do you come across as being a bit pretentious if you call them the Harg-ware-ez?

[antiussentiment]

Calling someone by their actual name is pretentious?
I learn something new every day..

[AndyS]

Depends I suppose, is it always preferred that someone try to imitate an Australian accent whenever pronouncing the name of Australian teams and players...?

[GIGS20]

I guess it depends on the individual.

Think about Digby Ioane, Ben Tapuai, or any other player who has undergone a public pronunciation change whilst playing.

How did you react? That will indicate how you feel about the Jaguares. (but it might have been easier if they had called themselves the Pumas)

At least they didn't choose a name with a double l.

[wjm]

So over the last weeks I've heard the Kiwi mike jockeys continually mention a team called the Harg-ware-ez.

I'm pretty sure this is the same team the local Fox crew call The Jaguars? Though this spelling is missing from the various results..

Is it that the Rugby 360 crew think the Australian rugby public are too dim to handle a little Spanish?

Can someone with a Twitter account go and set Kafe', Martin and Co straight? Tell them we're not xenophobic dimwits..

After all, years ago they managed to learn there was no Kruger..
~rolls eyes~

While on the topic of correct pronunciation and names

In this country thy are THONGS

[Herbasimplex]

I find it cute when the kiwi commentators mispronounce Ben Smith.

[antiussentiment]

Maybe I should not be surprised by the responses here..

I worked at UWA for quite some time. One day while helping an international student called "Eddie" I asked if he had a Chinese name. After a little conversation I realised he did not use it here as he thought Australians were too lazy to try pronouncing it. Being respectful enough to have a genuine crack at a foreign name, even if I get it wrong or make a hash of it, has been something I try to do ever since. It's just a small part of cultural respect.

I think GIGS20's example is pretty solid proof of what is preferred by the people involved.

If the Blues play a game at Whangarei I wonder what Fox Sports and the Colonials here will say?

[GIGS20]

If the Blues play a game at Whangarei I wonder what Fox Sports and the Colonials here will say?

Having had a serious crack at learning a foreign language usually changes your mind on this stuff AUSS. I fit a couple of semesters of conversational Spanish as an adult and there, I learned the importance of pronunciation.

For the record, my vote would be for Wuh-Hanger-eye....but then, I'm pretty sure I'd bugger it up.

[The InnFORCEr]

If the Blues play a game at Whangarei I wonder what Fox Sports and the Colonials here will say?

Or Whakatane for that matter.

I'd just be happy if they could actually get the players name correct, I don't know how many times Mozza was mistaken for DHP or Big Dog and Gus confused in the Highlanders game.

[shasta]

Having had a serious crack at learning a foreign language usually changes your mind on this stuff AUSS. I fit a couple of semesters of conversational Spanish as an adult and there, I learned the importance of pronunciation.

For the record, my vote would be for Wuh-Hanger-eye....but then, I'm pretty sure I'd bugger it up.

They'll probably just say "Thank whak they aren't playing in Whakatane"

[antiussentiment]

..
For the record, my vote would be for Wuh-Hanger-eye....but then, I'm pretty sure I'd bugger it up.

My old Kiwi flat mate use to call it Fung-ah-eye.. But in the next sentence point out that there is still argument in Northland on how "Wh.." should be pronounced..
~laughs~

And yeah.. Working out who is actually carrying the ball and calling it correctly would also be a good start..
~rolls eyes~

[Darren]

I reckon you can mix it up between Jaguars and Jaguares or Jag-wah-ez as the case may be with many of our accents.

No-one bats an eye lid when you mention the A-zoo-ree, or lay blues in a rugby conversation ...

[GIGS20]

lay blues in a rugby conversation ...

do you mean Lay Bleaugh?

[James]

Calling someone by their actual name is pretentious?
I learn something new every day..

No, but pronouncing a word that has a different English pronunciation might feel that way to some. Especially since the word isn't Spanish to begin with. If you want to get technical, the city Barcelona should be pronounced Barthelona, but if you did that and you aren't Spanish, you'd sound like a pretentious wanker to me.

To me, it has nothing to do with racism or anything of the sort. It is a comfort issue. Should we call Paris as Paree or Mexico as Mehico? I'd prefer not to.

Should we be calling the Sunwolves by their Japanese name?