Colleague Irritated By Redditor Saying Her Name Using French Pronunciation Instead Of The Americanized One

“I am mispronouncing her name probably about once a week now, only when I am very stressed or distracted at work by 1000 other things”

Ayoub

• Published in Interesting
• November 8, 2022

Pronouncing people's names correctly is extremely important. It might not seem as much, but each person values their name deeply and get irritated when someone makes the least amount of effort when trying to pronounce it.

People typically feel valued, respected, and included when their name is used and pronounced correctly. However, when a name is mispronounced, it might come off as hurtful, considering how the person will feel like they are not important enough. 

Names are an essential part of our identities and can originate and be linked to our heritage. When a name is mispronounced, it can feel like a sort of microaggression, especially if the person feels unworthy, put down, or invisible because of that.

Many names originate from other cultures, but once they reach the other side of the planet, the pronunciation can change and often adapts to the language spoken in the region. This can lead to confusion if someone who originates from the country where their name was taken from tries to pronounce it “correctly.”

A Redditor who goes by the username u/Maleficent_Hope_4593 made a post on the r/AmItheAhole subReddit where he explained how his co-worker always gets irritated when he occasionally pronounces her French-originating name with the correct French pronunciation instead of the Americanized version. Scroll down and check out the full Reddit post.

Here's the original post by Reddit user u/Maleficent_Hope_4593:

OP felt as if he was being an a-hole by repeatedly mispronouncing his colleague's name, so he decided to ask the Reddit community about it.

OP added an EDIT at the end to clarify matters further.

Soon after that, OP added a second EDIT for even more context.

OP then added a last EDIT since some issues still needed to be addressed.

OP cannot afford to be unemployed because of a colleague's distress.

OP insisted that he was not doing it on purpose.

Here's why OP thinks he might potentially be the a-hole:

Here's how the Reddit community reacted to u/Maleficent_Hope_4593's post:

When English is not your mother tongue, it can be hard to switch back and forth every now and then.

OP should just avoid saying his co-worker's name altogether.

Sometimes you can't even say English names right.

As long as you make a genuine attempt, people will appreciate the effort.

If you get it wrong you have to apologize.

Irish people sometimes have to deal with the same problem.

She gets to decide how her name is pronounced.

OP should trick his brain into forgetting the original pronunciation.

OP agreed to practice to avoid repeating this easily avoidable mistake.

OP had a different reaction to the previous comment because the user is French.

OP's colleague is kind of making a big deal out of this whole ordeal.

“It's pretty English-centric to get mad at peoples' accents and language contexts”

OP should try to make more effort in pronouncing his coworker's name correctly. Most people take offense when their name is mispronounced, especially when it happens regularly. Other than that, the co-worker should also take a chill pill and not make such a big deal out of it.

Ayoub