Can you say "Ahmadinejad?"

[Sparkly]

Seriously, can you?

Colbert has had a running joke about how oh-so-hard it is to say those long, 'strange,' baffling middle-eastern names. A perfect example of it came up today on Tweety's show -- Tweety stumbled over it, and then Ed Rogers referred to him as "the president of Iran," claiming he couldn't even try to pronounce his name!

(Which reminds me of how Chimpy couldn't remember "Musharraf" for a long time -- "Mr -- Mr. uhh, the leader of Pakistan.")

Do you think it's really THAT hard to say "Ahmadinejad?" If so, could they accomplish it with practice? And if so, should they consider practicing, maybe??

Or do you think it's a stupid put-on, as Colbert suggests?

:shrug:

[ikojo]

1. OCK ma DIN ee jahd

That's how I'd say it.

[Kutjara]

5. I think the stress is on the NEE syllable.

And the 'Ah' is aspirated, so it's more like amedy-NEEjad.

Either way, though, not the toughest thing in the world to pronounce. Say it a few times fast and you'll remember it, particularly if your job involves being able to pronounce foreign names (like...oh, I don't know...a television journalist).

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. I thought it was "Arme-NEENdijad" ?

at least that's how I say it. I love seeing the freepers eyes when I can pronounce it, and they know b*sh and half of Faux news can't. :evilgrin:

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Well, you're not pronouncing it anything like it's spelled

so if you can tell us why you pronounce the first 'd' in a different place from where it is in the word, let us know. The rest of us, we'll keep pronouncing letters in the order they're written down. :evilgrin:

[Sparkly]

6. "OCK or "AH" -- and "DEEN" or "DIN" -- I've heard both and

I think it matters less than pronouncing it understandably and with some level of comfort, you know?

Stammering "Ama-ma-ah-dee-ma-di-jahd" or saying "I'm not even going to try" are just unnecessary for people whose jobs are being "talking heads," imho.

[Nimrod2005]

19. THERE IS NO "K" in the name...

[babylonsister]

2. Yes, but I can relate. My last name has four syllables with a

vowel for each, and you wouldn't believe how many people cannot pronounce it.
I've referred to Ahmadinejad (cut and pasted from your OP) as "the president of Iran" also,
when I couldn't remember his name early on.
But now, him being in the news all the time, I think there's no excuse to not know it.
Having said that, don't ask me to spell it.

[GAspnes]

3. I know one way to say it

The pronounciation guide at the radio station says "ah-med-IN-e-zhad". But there are others, none even close to the actual pronounciation.

As someone with a hard to pronounce last name, I'm sympathetic.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. Wikipedia , VOA and BBC all put the stress on the last syllable

Wikipedia has æhmædineˈʒɒd

in the IPA form (I don't even know if that will display for most people); as far as I can tell, that is

"ah-ma-di-ne-ZHOD"

VOA puts it as "ah-mah-dih-nee-ZHAHD", and gives a voice sample: http://ibb7.ibb.gov/pronunciations/sounds/5343.ra

Today's pronunciation is Iranian President Mahmoud AHMADINEJAD (sometimes also spelt AHMADINEZHAD). Our recommendation is mah-MOOD ah-mad-in-uh-ZHAAD (-h is pronounced in 'Mahmoud' and in 'Ahmadinejad') based on the advice of the BBC Persian Monitoring team.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2006/08/how_to_say_mahmoud_ahmadinejad_1.html

[TomInTib]

4. No matter what, I consistently switch the 'd' for a 'b'.

And I have been trying for quite some while.

We call him "the guy from Iran" at our house. And ours is a multi-lingual household.

[Orrex]

8. You mean Samir? The guy from Office Space?

No problem.

[newsguyatl]

9. ock-meh-DEEN-eh-jahd

[Nimrod2005]

20. NO letter K in his name, get rid of the K

[Nimrod2005]

21. Here it is folks, right here:

AH...As in Ah...It feels great, then
MA, as in Mama
De, as in the letter D
Ni, as in "Nei"ther, so far we have

Ah-ma-De, then

Ni, again same as above

Jad, as in Ja Rule, with a "D" at the end

Ah-ma-de-ni-jad.........

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. "Jad, as in Ja Rule" isn't that useful

becasue it's not a standard English phrase. The professional broadcasters, as noted in post #17, say "zh-" - the sound in 'pleasure', for instance. Is that how you pronounce "Ja Rule"? It sounds rather French if it is.

"Ni, as in "Nei"ther"? You say 'n-ee-ther', I say 'n-eye-ther', let's call the whole thing off ... :P

"AH...As in Ah...It feels great" - so just a general moan of pleasure, then? :P

[Nimrod2005]

24. Yes pleasure...

[Nimrod2005]

25. Your flag?

Are you Lebanese?

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. No, just a token of support for the Lebanese people

who had such a hard time in the last couple of months. I had been wondering if, with the naval blockade of Lebanon finally raised, I should change to something else, but with the cluster bombs still lying around, I still have much sympathy for their predicament.

[Nimrod2005]

29. I hear you...Tough road ahead for sure, this is set the country back

about 50 years...

[newsguyatl]

31. the k sound comes from the glottal stop

of correctly pronouncing ahmad -- it's not simply "ah mahd" as you state.

[Hosnon]

10. Workin' on it...I actually walk around repeating it to myself trying to

make it stick...it's a tough one.

[No Exit]

11. I can say it better than George Bush can say "tola-tari-tal-tarian"

(I think he meant "totalitarian".)

BLOWN GASKETS AND TOLA-TARI-TAL-TARIANS

By W. David Jenkins III

“This war will be difficult, this war will be long, and this war will end in the defeat of the terrorists and the tola tari tari to tal tarians –( totalitarians), and a victory for the cause of freedom and liberty.”- Bush in Salt Lake City 8/31/06

"I think Bush is scared out of what’s left of his mind. I hear the pundits going on about how assertive and forceful the President is in this last push to make his case to the American people regarding the Geneva Convention, but all I see is a law breaker who is desperate to change the laws that he broke. Time is running out all right, but the ticking clock is more of a threat to Bush and his minions. They have become so disassociated from reality that they are incapable of recognizing how irrational they come across to others.


This country and the rest of the world are witnessing a President and a Vice President lobbying Congress to legalize torture – plain and simple and despicable. Their actions are not based on any altruistic goal to protect the people of this country from terrorists, but represent an attempt to legalize what has been illegal for almost sixty years. They broke international laws and they know it and now they need to have those laws “amended” - retroactively mind you – or they could face big trouble."

(snip)


http://poac.wordpress.com/2006/09/20/blown-gaskets-and-%e2%80%9ctola-tari-tal-tarians%e2%80%9d/

[Sparkly]

12. Yes, I heard that one... "Islamo-Fascistststsssts" also seems to give him

some trouble.

And the one time I thought he'd gotten "nuclear" down, he was talking about his "New Clear Skies Initiative." (I'm thinking, "Nuclear Skies? Whaaa??")

[Blue_In_AK]

38. Terrists, terrists, terrists.

[Balbus]

13. "Bigoted piece of shit" is the best way I know how.

[moondust]

14. "Dinny"

What a pal.

[AlienGirl]

16. Yes, it sounds a lot like "Ah'm-a-dang-nutjob."

[eridani]

18. Jeebus! No sportscasters as role models?

The ones in Seattle can say "Vladimir Radmanovich" fast, 10 or 20 times a game.

[bicentennial_baby]

23. You mean AhmaMichaelMooreabad?

:rofl:

[Bucky]

26. I have no trouble saying it, but I have several Iranian friends. The trick

apparently is to say "Ahmedinejad" through slightly gritted teeth while rolling your eyes.

[notadmblnd]

27. it's not that hard to pronounce

AH-Ma-Din-I-Jad. I think it's just their childish way of putting him down.

[spin]

30. Glen Beck

Glen Beck just calls him "President Tom".

[newyawker99]

33. Hi spin!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[progressisvirtue]

32. its Ach-mah-deen-e-jihad

the jihad there is for pronunciation purposes only, i swear, lol


pretty crazy guy though

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

34. Sure! Deh-loo-gihn-uhl-sy-koh-pah-th

[KamaAina]

35. NUT-job

seriously, I've seen it as two words, "Ahmadi-nejad", thus AKH-mah-dee-nay-ZHAHD.

[lonestarnot]

36. Are My Jeans Dead? Whaaaat?

[Blue_In_AK]

37. I can say it...

...but we call him "Frank" around here (thanks, Bill Maher, for the suggestion).

[question everything]

39. Colbert also had hard time saying the name of the Path to 9/11

guy..