General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt's pronounced "Pooh-air-toe-Reek-ohhhhh"
NOT:
portorica
portorico
Just like how the United States is NOT:
Oooh-nit-eeed Stats .
carry on
snooper2
(30,151 posts)LOL
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Similar to pronouncing the name Sotomayor. Another foreign sounding name.
Or Drumpf, another foreign sounding name.
Croney
(4,656 posts)It's just easier. But I'm from Looz-ee-anna so I have some quirks.
SharonClark
(10,014 posts)Orrex
(63,167 posts)I've heard that one many times over the years, typically from good, patriotic 'Muricans.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)But nobody pronounces them that way.
Besides, we've all seen West Side Story: we know how Puerto Rico is pronounced in Spanish. And it doesn't make a whit of difference how mainland, English-speaking Americans pronounce it, as long as we know what and where it is. There are waaaay more important issues to think about regarding Puerto Rico than the Spanish pronunciation of the country's name.
ProfessorGAC
(64,817 posts)We anglicized Rome and Milan and Venice and Florence. But especially those first two.
How much harder would it be to say Rom-ah, or Milan-Oh?
Geez are we lazy as English speakers, or what?
SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)I still remember how "upset" many were when Peking changed into Beijing ..and when Burma became Myanmar
I wonder what Native Americans called this place
If we can't say it easily, we just change it ..
Schmidt becomes Smith
Johanssen becomes Johnson
Bravo to those brave enough to resist
ProfessorGAC
(64,817 posts)But, geez Rom-Ah is too hard to say? They still pronounce pizza peets-ah. We didn't shorten that to Peets.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,315 posts)tavernier
(12,364 posts)it's KONK.
shanny
(6,709 posts)*at least in eddimacated places
tavernier
(12,364 posts)like the dog in the Stephen King novel. Originally named after Cousin Joe who owned the property.
DFW
(54,268 posts)In Republicanese, it's Portericko.
Tienes que saber que el Republicanés es un idioma para sí. No se puede comparar con el inglés.
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)DavidDvorkin
(19,465 posts)If you're speaking English, how do you pronounce the name of the largest city in Russia? Moskoe or Mahskvah? Etc.
Place names get anglicized, and the same thing happens in other languages. What starts as a mispronunciation becomes the correct version of the place name in that other language.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,142 posts)"Etats Unis."
Rolls beautifully off the tongue.
B2G
(9,766 posts)Just fix it.
rock
(13,218 posts)And other weak-stressed syllables.