The hosts on a couple different NPR shows have been making fun of NBC commentators for mispronouncing China’s capital city and the host city of the 2008 Olympics, Beijing. You see, on NBC, they’re constantly pronouncing the “j” in Beijing as a “zh” sound, as in “Jacque” or “Zhivago.” It’s actually supposed to be pronounced like a “j” (go figure), as in “jump” or “Jo Jo Dancer.” Anyway, it’s funny to hear one network criticize another. You can hear it at the end of this story from NPR’s “All Things Considered” program today.
Also, if you want to see a funny little video on how to pronounce Beijing, look no further:
That’s hysterical!
Not any funnier than those that pronounce Alzheimers as Alltimers. I heard ads like this all the time.
Remember, NBC is the network who, two years ago, brought us the Winter Olympics from Turino, Italy.
You’d think with as much money as they spent to cover the games, they’d be trying really hard not to make fools of themselves.
Who cares what a couple of intellectuals that have an audience of 5 people think. That’s why I can’t stand NPR. You have a bunch of guys who think they’re better than everyone else yet they’re stuck on public radio because they have no personality and couldn’t hack it in the mainstream medida. There are different ways to translate and interrupt the Chinese language..hell, it’s pronounced different ways depending on what dialect your speaking.
I am not sure if I have said Beijing yet, but I bet I would have pronounced it wrong! That bit was hilarious!
Ryan — Did someone at NPR kill your dog or something?
I get your point, I guess, but just in the interest of accuracy, as of 2006, “NPR programming, whose audience has on average grown by more than one million listeners a year since 2000, has hit a new audience high of 26.5 million, according to the just-released Arbitron ratings for Fall 2006.” So your audience estimate was only off by 26,499,995 listeners.
But if NPR gets your dander up, here’s the same rebuke from Fox News. Note especially:
That’s “jing,” not “zhing.” Also, “Williams is right, if you talk to experts in the Chinese language.”
CJ,
Thanks for pointing out NPR’s audience numbers to Mr. Johnson. He’s also incorrect about NPR staff not being able to make it in commercial media. Many people have bounced back and forth between NPR and commercial networks and stations. There is no reasonable assessment that public radio is somehow a place for people that couldn’t “hack it” in commercial media.
But he is entitled his opinion, and welcome to find the insight and depth he seeks from other places.
Who, other than those who want to feel superior, care how one pronounces it? Call it Peking, for all I care. I know what they are trying to communicate.
There are still people in this area who live in WARSHINGTON, or are concerned about NUCULAR weapons.
The Chinese people come immediately to mind.
Martha,
You were not the only person in this country who got bent out of shape over the fact that NBC decided to go with the Italian pronunciation(Torino)rather than the Anglicized version (Turin) when covering the Olympic games.
How using the pronunciation native to the host city (and country) constitutes “making fools of themselves” is beyond me. Then again, people have told me that there is no such place as Roma, Firenze, etc. Good grief. I think this is the sort of thing people are referring to when they talk about “ugly Americans.”
Is this any worse than people from the United States pronouncing our own state, “Illinoize?”
I think not….
Wien, Munchen, Paree, Des Moines, Des Plaines, Cairo Illinois, Cairo Egypt… Germany or Deutschland… come on… aren’t there better things to get your panties in a wad about?
Anyone note that in trying to write the pronunciation of Jing with a long i, it should have been a short i They used a straight line over the i not a curved one.
kramer — I believe Martha was referring to the fact that they called it “Torino, Italy” — mixing the Italian pronunciation of the city with the American pronunciation of the country. I.e., they should have said either “Torino, Italia” or “Turin, Italy.”
All — Listen to yourselves for a moment. Are you all just playing devil’s advocate, or do you sincerely mean to extol the virtues of sounding ignorant and condemn those with proper pronunciation as being elitist? Why is everyone so bent out of shape over being told the proper pronunciation of a world capital?
“Beijing” used to be Peking, until we had to pander to the Chinese. Frankly, I don’t care how they pronounce the name of the capital of that fascist state.
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What a stupid word – even for a spammer.