There is an excellent chance you’ve already seen this video elsewhere on FreethoughtBlogs. I post it here as well, because you may not have seen it but still want to know how a bunch of us here talk about this when we get together. There is also one thing I’d like to draw your attention to.
A number of people have been mispronouncing my name lately on the radio and in Google+ hangouts and the like. They’ve been doing this despite me doing a radio show on which I introduce myself approximately every other week.
Now, I’m used to this. People who hear the radio show regularly still mispronounce my name. Still, if you want to know how it’s done, let this discussion be your guide.
Just make sure you pay attention to how I pronounce it, not how that Meyers guy does.
19 comments
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michaeld
June 18, 2012 at 7:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I actually played that part a couple times to try to get it ;p
Nentuaby
June 18, 2012 at 7:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
The relevant introduction is just after 04:50, for those wondering.
Nepenthe
June 18, 2012 at 8:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
/zə’væn/, yes?
Stephanie Zvan
June 18, 2012 at 8:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
To the extent I’ve translated the phonemes correctly, yes, although the schwa is only just there.
mythbri
June 18, 2012 at 8:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I seed what you did there.
Stephanie Zvan
June 18, 2012 at 8:38 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, good. I’m glad someone did.
Robert B.
June 18, 2012 at 8:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hm, thanks. I was pronouncing it as though Dracula were trying to say the word “swan.” (Also I thought Dan Fincke’s E was silent.) The things you learn from audio!
Improbable Joe
June 18, 2012 at 9:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
So, totally NOT like the name of a red-skinned alien piloting a giant space robot. Gotcha.
Jason Thibeault
June 18, 2012 at 9:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
First name’s Zephanie, right?
IslandBrewer
June 18, 2012 at 9:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
How come Greg Lah-den mispronounced his name?
Suido
June 18, 2012 at 10:29 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Jason… what’s his surname? Throb-a-lot?
Jason Thibeault
June 18, 2012 at 10:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
According to Mallorie Nasrallah, Thibi-dibi-doo.
Improbable Joe
June 18, 2012 at 10:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
“Thibi-dibi-doo” is actually sort of catchy… you could do a little dance with it.
David
June 19, 2012 at 5:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
“Thibi-dibi-doo”…..They wouldve gotten away with it too, if it wasnt for those pesky Free Thought Bloggers
Sili
June 19, 2012 at 6:28 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks.
(How does the schwa get in there?)
Stephanie Zvan
June 19, 2012 at 10:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
The schwa is introduced mostly because it’s not comfortable for primarily English-speaking mouths to hold the Z all the way to the V. It’s come by honestly, though, since the name is a “corruption” of le vin. There are other versions of the name that are spelled Zevan.
Ophelia Benson
June 19, 2012 at 12:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
A bit like Siobhan, perhaps – the schwa is barely there in that name, too.
Becky
June 26, 2012 at 1:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Apologies for the on-air mispronunciation
Stephanie Zvan
June 26, 2012 at 5:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
No worries, Becky. It really does happen all the time.