HanoiVillan Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 How long have Chinese snooker players been regulars at international tournaments? It's got to be a good fifteen years at least since you might have a tournament in which you didn't have to say at least two different Chinese names a few times. So how come commentators and presenters on TV are just having random stabs at saying their names with any old sound? I'm not expecting them to actually sound Chinese, but sounding like something other than an utter pleb would be a start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 4 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: sounding like something other than an utter pleb You are Andrew Mitchell and... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 (edited) I know it makes me sound like both a knob and a snob, but it really does my nut in. When the Olympics rolls round, the commentators on diving and table tennis and other sports with lots of Chinese competitors have just obviously practised saying their names a few times in front of the mirror, but for some reason in snooker nobody expects any better or something? EDIT: I guess Marco Fu lured them into a false sense of security for years. Edited February 4, 2019 by HanoiVillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 5 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: I know it makes me sound like both a knob and a snob, but it really does my nut in. When the Olympics rolls round, the commentators on diving and table tennis and other sports with lots of Chinese competitors have just obviously practised saying their names a few times in front of the mirror, but for some reason in snooker nobody expects any better or something? EDIT: I guess James Wattana and Marco Fu lured them into a false sense of security for years. Is it more to do with the audience? Perhaps the feedback on the Olympic commentary is more critical of half-arsed attempts at pronunciation? But isn't it also just about a largely anglophone attitude to foreign pronunciation that pervades - see Van Gogh for a battleground closer to home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 9 minutes ago, snowychap said: Is it more to do with the audience? Perhaps the feedback on the Olympic commentary is more critical of half-arsed attempts at pronunciation? But isn't it also just about a largely anglophone attitude to foreign pronunciation that pervades - see Van Gogh for a battleground closer to home. It's probably some of both of those reasons, to be honest. Van Gogh is a difficult one: that we pronounce his name like Darren Gough's Dutch cousin, or rhyming with 'dough', is so baked-in that doing otherwise risks sounding confusing and pretentious. But it's a bit different with these Chinese snooker players who aren't household names and aren't even mispronounced in the same way from one sentence to the next. I wouldn't actually want presenters to pronounce names exactly like the Chinese do - it would be hard to do it well while speaking quickly in English - but there are some basic conventions of 'westerners saying Chinese names' and they don't even manage those (like treating 'X' as 'sh', not 'z' or 'dj'). It probably is a lot to do with the audience, but as a member of that audience, it annoys me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 7 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: It's probably some of both of those reasons, to be honest. Van Gogh is a difficult one: that we pronounce his name like Darren Gough's Dutch cousin, or rhyming with 'dough', is so baked-in that doing otherwise risks sounding confusing and pretentious. But it's a bit different with these Chinese snooker players who aren't household names and aren't even mispronounced in the same way from one sentence to the next. I wouldn't actually want presenters to pronounce names exactly like the Chinese do - it would be hard to do it well while speaking quickly in English - but there are some basic conventions of 'westerners saying Chinese names' and they don't even manage those (like treating 'X' as 'sh', not 'z' or 'dj'). It probably is a lot to do with the audience, but as a member of that audience, it annoys me. Does it upset you when Chinese/Japanese & other Asian people cannot pronounce English words properly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 (edited) 48 minutes ago, lapal_fan said: Does it upset you when Chinese/Japanese & other Asian people cannot pronounce English words properly? It would annoy me if their highly-paid commentators didn't bother trying, yes. Normal everyday people who are not doing their job, of course not. Edited February 5, 2019 by HanoiVillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 (edited) 40 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: It would annoy me if their highly-paid commentators didn't bother trying, yes. Normal everyday people who are not doing their job, of course not. Thank ruck for dat! Edited February 5, 2019 by lapal_fan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 It could be because the snooker circuit is still very much dominated by the UK and I believe a fair few of the Chinese players are based here, so the commentators would actually know the players more than the Olympics for example. The Chinese players then may be happy to be called by a more Anglicised version of their name if they are common acquaintances, or at least not likely to correct them. It could also just be ignorance, as many snooker players when they are growing up are known to prioritise practicing snooker than schoolwork. I don't think they are that highly paid for commentating on snooker either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rodders0223 Posted February 5, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 5, 2019 When someone is telling a really long anecdote, and it's really long, and it's not interesting and it's very boring, and you are nodding along, there has been already far too much eye contact, they can tell I am totally bored at this stage, I want to laugh but there is no punchline yet, and I am nodding along, yeah, yeah, yeah, smiling, trying my best to fane interest and everyone in the office is overhearing this nonsense and I feel now complicit in this shit story, and I want to tell them to stop and tell everyone I find this as utterly boring and mundane as them, but I am in too deep, and the story still hasn't wrapped up and I want to kill myself but I can't 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCDAN Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 2 minutes ago, rodders0223 said: When someone is telling a really long anecdote, and it's really long, and it's not interesting and it's very boring, and you are nodding along, there has been already far too much eye contact, they can tell I am totally bored at this stage, I want to laugh but there is no punchline yet, and I am nodding along, yeah, yeah, yeah, smiling, trying my best to fane interest and everyone in the office is overhearing this nonsense and I feel now complicit in this shit story, and I want to tell them to stop and tell everyone I find this as utterly boring and mundane as them, but I am in too deep, and the story still hasn't wrapped up and I want to kill myself but I can't Like x 10 I hate small talk and long anecdotes like that where you have to pretend to give a sh*t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 5, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted February 5, 2019 The guy who sits next to me at work can't detect jokey sarcasm. He takes everything seriously. He's just been telling me how he's going to have a busy couple of months because he's going to loads of gigs. And he's going to the races. So I said "You'll need to win at the races to fund all those gigs!" He just dead pan replied something like "No I've planned it all out quite carefully so I should be fine with money" Yeah it was a joke mate. It wasn't funny but it was a shit story anyway. Just give me a polite laugh and shut up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted February 5, 2019 Moderator Share Posted February 5, 2019 1 hour ago, Stevo985 said: The guy who sits next to me at work can't detect jokey sarcasm Perhaps you should change your technique and test it out by making a funny comment and see if he notices. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post El Zen Posted February 5, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 5, 2019 1 hour ago, rodders0223 said: When someone is telling a really long anecdote, and it's really long, and it's not interesting and it's very boring, and you are nodding along, there has been already far too much eye contact, they can tell I am totally bored at this stage, I want to laugh but there is no punchline yet, and I am nodding along, yeah, yeah, yeah, smiling, trying my best to fane interest and everyone in the office is overhearing this nonsense and I feel now complicit in this shit story, and I want to tell them to stop and tell everyone I find this as utterly boring and mundane as them, but I am in too deep, and the story still hasn't wrapped up and I want to kill myself but I can't tl:dnr... 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 4 hours ago, Stevo985 said: So I said "You'll need to win at the races to fund all those gigs!" He just dead pan replied something like "No I've planned it all out quite carefully so I should be fine with money" Office bantz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 21 hours ago, Stevo985 said: The guy who sits next to me at work can't detect jokey sarcasm. He takes everything seriously. He's just been telling me how he's going to have a busy couple of months because he's going to loads of gigs. And he's going to the races. So I said "You'll need to win at the races to fund all those gigs!" He just dead pan replied something like "No I've planned it all out quite carefully so I should be fine with money" Yeah it was a joke mate. It wasn't funny but it was a shit story anyway. Just give me a polite laugh and shut up Maybe he's being deadpan and you haven't got the joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mrbojangles Posted February 6, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 6, 2019 The guy who sits next to me at work and assumes I struggle with my finances I have just been telling him how I'm going to have a busy couple of months because I'm going to loads of gigs. And I'm going to the races. So he said "You'll need to win at the races to fund all those gigs!" Look mate, i'm an adult and can sort my own finances. I was making small talk to pass the time, the story may be shit but don't criticise my ability to run my finances. What makes it worse the guy is a Villa fan so don't want to annoy him too much Brothers in arms and all that 4 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post lapal_fan Posted February 6, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 6, 2019 15 minutes ago, mrbojangles said: The guy who sits next to me at work and assumes I struggle with my finances I have just been telling him how I'm going to have a busy couple of months because I'm going to loads of gigs. And I'm going to the races. So he said "You'll need to win at the races to fund all those gigs!" Look mate, i'm an adult and can sort my own finances. I was making small talk to pass the time, the story may be shit but don't criticise my ability to run my finances. What makes it worse the guy is a Villa fan so don't want to annoy him too much Brothers in arms and all that THAT GUY SOUNDS LIKE A STUPID, BALD BITCH! SLAP HIM ON HIS HEAD. 3 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted February 6, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted February 6, 2019 27 minutes ago, mrbojangles said: The guy who sits next to me at work and assumes I struggle with my finances I have just been telling him how I'm going to have a busy couple of months because I'm going to loads of gigs. And I'm going to the races. So he said "You'll need to win at the races to fund all those gigs!" Look mate, at least I can afford socks. I was making small talk to pass the time, the story may be shit but don't criticise my ability to run my finances. What makes it worse the guy is a Villa fan so don't want to annoy him too much Brothers in arms and all that FTFY 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 (edited) 28 minutes ago, choffer said: FTFY By not wearing (buying) socks, he's actually demonstrating that he's astute with money and is making savings in places others can only dream of.. That's it, I am no longer purchasing any trousers. Edited February 6, 2019 by lapal_fan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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