Post #4108801
2026-07-26 08:04 UTC
Here's a dilemma you have as a person from two different cultures: how do you pronounce the names of people who mispronounce their own names?
For example, English football is full of players of Nigerian heritage - Saka, Madueke, Eze - and everyone mispronounces their names. So should I anglicise their names too? Feels weird in my mouth tho.
Same thing when I met British-Nigerians in real life.
Example: if you're British and you meet an American called Craig or Graham, what do you call them?
Replies (2)
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@grumpydad@infosec.exchange 2026-07-26 09:35
@davidnjoku@mastodon.world I speak four languages fluently and can make do in four others and I definitely see the problem. English speakers seem to have less of a tolerance for people actually pronouncing their own names in the way it should be pronounced in my experience, but that could also be a cultural thing...
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@syntaxseed@phpc.social 2026-07-26 20:08
@davidnjoku@mastodon.world I'm actually quite embarrassed & critical of English speaking countries (I'm Canadian) and how unwilling we seem to put in even small effort to pronounce people's names correctly or to figure out uncommon names. I feel bad when people feel pressure to pick an Anglophone name in order to make it 'easier' for North Americans.