Post #531338 by The Gnomon on Thu, May 20, 2010 8:43 AM

"So don't I" instead of "so do I" always seems to irritate me for some reason.

Decided to add "Beijing" as well, which really drives me nuts.

You'd think that after the US returned from the Beijing Olympics, they would begin pronouncing the name of that city with some semblance of correctness.

"Bei" means North and is pronounced "bay" (more or less). "Jing" means capital and is pronounced "jing" (more or less). Granted, this completely ignores the tonal specifications of the vowel sounds (flat, rising, dipping down and up, descending).

"Beijing" (North Capital) is roughly pronounced "bay-jing."

Somehow, broadcasters are compelled to call the place "bay-zhing," which would require that the city be spelled "Beizhing," which it isn't. I'll have to check, but to my knowledge there is no such Chinese word, "zhing" nor "zhin." Whenever I hear someone pronouce Beijing, "bay-zhing" (the "J" is there for a reason), especially, if they've freakin' visited the place, it gives me comfort knowing that "the Ugly American" is alive and well.

[ Edited by: The Gnomon 2010-05-20 09:25 ]