Posted on 02/06/2010 7:26:50 PM PST by This Just In
TelePrompter lets Commander-in-Chief Down as He Mispronounces ‘Corpsman,’ Mangles French
Posted By Michael Walsh On February 5, 2010 @ 5:20 am
Surely, the White House has someone on the staff who can teach the President how to pronounce the word “corpsman.” It would also be great if someone in media knew what a corpsman is, but the Harvard-educated press’s knowledge of anything having to do with the military is limited to the phrases ”baby killers” and “exit strategy,” so there’s probably not much hope there.
And maybe somebody else could point out that the Haitian Creole word for America — transliterated here as “Etazini,” but more commonly spelled “Zetazini”– is derived the French les États-Unis, and not from an Italian recipe for stuffed pasta shells.
Here’s the transcript of the TOTUS-assisted speech at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday:
One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world — Navy Corpsman Christian [sic] Brossard. And lying on a gurney aboard the USNS Comfort, a woman asked Christopher: “Where do you come from? What country? After my operation,” she said, “I will pray for that country.” And in Creole, Corpsman Brossard responded, “Etazini.” The United States of America.
And here’s how the Harvard-educated President delivered those remarks:
Isn’t this the same man who said that more Americans should learn a foreign language — even though he doesn’t speak any himself?
It’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and all we can say is merci beaucoup, right?
Speak for yourself, Mr. President.
As far as the French goes, well, what did you expect?
Send him to Haiti for...errrrr....about 50 years so he can learn French. I think it was either intentional or just plain incompetence. Either way....he comes off REALLY bad.
Corpsman
Let me guess
Barry said corpseman
Apologies in failing to include the link to the transcript. If you visit the site you’ll have access to the transcript.
It was totally correct ebonics ,like “can I ax you a question?”
On GWB’s pronunciation of Abu Ghraib. And for what it is worth, I had a Kuwaiti tell me that GWB’s pronunciation was the closest to correct. The media kept it.
Jun 18, 2004 at 11 mispronouncing:45 am
Abu Grah-Eeb is the correct pronunciation of the name of the prison. The words were transliterated from Arabic, wh/ like many languages does not combine vowels to make a new sound but rather assigns each a consistent value. A is always “ah” and I is always “ee.”
If the vowel were meant to sound like A in fate they’d have written it Grabe.
That said, it’d probably have been simpler to transliterate it Grah-Eeb for us. I’ve noticed many reporters are aware the word has two syllables but can’t bring themselves to break in the middle so say Guh-Rabe.
Apologies in failing to include the link to the transcript. If you visit the site you’ll have access to the transcript.
____________________________________________
Its Saturday night..
I’ll take a break from self abuse...
The media kept it. Should read:
The media kept wronging it.
“It’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and all we can say is merci beaucoup, right?”
##############
I remember that and when he says “Corpse-man” and “Cinco de Cuatro”. Un-effen-believable. Or should I say, “El jefe es muy tonto” and “les miserables” are po’d.
I will not be talked down to by an ignoramus POTUS. Pass the damned escargot and bagettes, seive you play? LOL
bttt
Don’t be so hard on him, he is fluent in Austrian.
Good Grief!
As part of my CHRISTmas Show, I sing a song in Haitian Creole (Depuis Lonton Nan Bethlehem), and even I, Your Irish Indian Biker bass Player, Gets it Right. Haitians have remarked on my pronounciation and i have EVEN recorded the song with a Haitian baritone as a duet!
Without a teleprompter.
And although I am from Boston, the closest I ever got to Hahvahd was Singing Reggae Music at Porkie’s Western Front in Cambridge with my Blues band! LOL
“TelePrompter lets Commander-in-Chief Down as He Mispronounces ‘Corpsman’, Mangles French”
Merci beau coup
Remember how everyone in the media (and many on here) slapped their heads every time GW said Nuclear? The way he pronounces the word is no different than a million others in Texas and other parts of the South.
Hubby is born and bred E. Texas and a Reactor Operator - while he says nuclear “correctly” now, it took him YEARS to break his Texas accent.
Dear Leader can butcher the language, butcher the economy, butcher our military and the media gives him a pass.
As ou Grant said o Ted Baxter, “Oh, no. Now that he’s mutilated English, he’s branching out!”
But I think “Corpseman” was a Freudian slip.
aye TOT zee NEE — a rather obvious corruption of the French.
lol
Obama is not an orator he is a dramatic reader who has no clue what he is actually saying as he reads his canned speech. As for a POTUS knowing another language George Bush probably had a working knowledge of spoken Spanish. Obama can’t pronounce English, but probably can recite the Koran in Arabic with a good accent
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.