Peter Regin - Denmark's Gretzky

rooneypoo wrote:

Straight Shooter wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Bass Destruction wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Bass Destruction wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Bass Destruction wrote:Thanks for clearing that up! I think I know what accent you are talking about. Like the accent over the C in the youtube video right?

In which case I'll stick to Mee-hhhhah-lehk.

Seriously, there's no question here. Michalek asked the media to pronounce his name "Mi-kall-ic" when he got here.

But there is a proper way, and an improper way. I have a last name that was shortened from another Irish last name, so it doesn't really seem to have any roots to anything. I also grew up in the French system, and they kept butchering my last name. But it didn't bother me that much, and I would let them pronounce it like that. Doesn't mean that's the proper way. I'd like to pronounce his name as closely to what it actually is as possible, regardless if he says it's ok to pronounce it wrongly.

Pronunciation and stress patterns are determined by tradition and therefore totally arbitrary. Why do we say quixote (quix-ot-ic) and Quixote (key-hoe-tay)? There's an historical reason, for sure, but in the end, both words co-exist, non-sensically, side by side in English.

Language is prescriptive. How we use it determines what's 'right.' There's no essential truth to any language form.

Plus, listen to the video again. The stress falls on the hard K sound -- "Kall".

Language is one thing, proper names is entirely different. Ergo, quixotic vs Quixote.

I feel as though he told the media to say Mee-kall-leck to make it easier on them, not because it's correct.

And I've listened to the video many times, and it sounds to me as though he is saying hhhalik, like in Chanukah, as though coming from the back of the throat.

Dude, why can't you accept that Milan Mickalek knows how to pronounce "Milan Michalek" better than you or I do? Not much to debate here.

Dude, relax. Bass is saying he said he feels like Michalek asked to have it pronounced one way to make it easier on North American fans and media. Not because that way is correct though.

Yeah, people hold press conferences to make sure people collectively mispronounce their names. Sounds right to me!

Why would his brother ask to pronounce it in a different way though? Not saying that either of you is right, just wondering why the difference.

rooneypoo wrote:

Straight Shooter wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Bass Destruction wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Bass Destruction wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Bass Destruction wrote:Thanks for clearing that up! I think I know what accent you are talking about. Like the accent over the C in the youtube video right?

In which case I'll stick to Mee-hhhhah-lehk.

Seriously, there's no question here. Michalek asked the media to pronounce his name "Mi-kall-ic" when he got here.

But there is a proper way, and an improper way. I have a last name that was shortened from another Irish last name, so it doesn't really seem to have any roots to anything. I also grew up in the French system, and they kept butchering my last name. But it didn't bother me that much, and I would let them pronounce it like that. Doesn't mean that's the proper way. I'd like to pronounce his name as closely to what it actually is as possible, regardless if he says it's ok to pronounce it wrongly.

Pronunciation and stress patterns are determined by tradition and therefore totally arbitrary. Why do we say quixote (quix-ot-ic) and Quixote (key-hoe-tay)? There's an historical reason, for sure, but in the end, both words co-exist, non-sensically, side by side in English.

Language is prescriptive. How we use it determines what's 'right.' There's no essential truth to any language form.

Plus, listen to the video again. The stress falls on the hard K sound -- "Kall".

Language is one thing, proper names is entirely different. Ergo, quixotic vs Quixote.

I feel as though he told the media to say Mee-kall-leck to make it easier on them, not because it's correct.

And I've listened to the video many times, and it sounds to me as though he is saying hhhalik, like in Chanukah, as though coming from the back of the throat.

Dude, why can't you accept that Milan Mickalek knows how to pronounce "Milan Michalek" better than you or I do? Not much to debate here.

Dude, relax. Bass is saying he said he feels like Michalek asked to have it pronounced one way to make it easier on North American fans and media. Not because that way is correct though.

Yeah, people hold press conferences to make sure people collectively mispronounce their names. Sounds right to me!

Rooney, I often correct people who pronounce my name making it sound French (think Praget). I tell them to pronounce like like "prayer" but with a hard-g in the middle, so something like Pray-gher. But that's not how the name was actually pronounced back in Russia.

rooneypoo wrote:

Straight Shooter wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Dude, why can't you accept that Milan Mickalek knows how to pronounce "Milan Michalek" better than you or I do? Not much to debate here.

Dude, relax. Bass is saying he said he feels like Michalek asked to have it pronounced one way to make it easier on North American fans and media. Not because that way is correct though.

Yeah, people hold press conferences to make sure people collectively mispronounce their names. Sounds right to me!

What are you even talking about? I'm searching for the proper pronunciation to his last name. That is important to me, to know I'm pronouncing people's names properly. If it isn't to you, that's fine. You want to believe what you want to believe, I'll believe what I want to believe. It just so happens I believe when he went to the announcers to tell them how to pronounce his name, since they couldn't get it, he went with the hard c. You believe he told the announcers to pronounce his name with the hard c because that's how he pronounces it. That's fine. You don't have to be a dick about it.

Bass Destruction wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Straight Shooter wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Dude, why can't you accept that Milan Mickalek knows how to pronounce "Milan Michalek" better than you or I do? Not much to debate here.

Dude, relax. Bass is saying he said he feels like Michalek asked to have it pronounced one way to make it easier on North American fans and media. Not because that way is correct though.

Yeah, people hold press conferences to make sure people collectively mispronounce their names. Sounds right to me!

What are you even talking about? I'm searching for the proper pronunciation to his last name. That is important to me, to know I'm pronouncing people's names properly. If it isn't to you, that's fine. You want to believe what you want to believe, I'll believe what I want to believe. It just so happens I believe when he went to the announcers to tell them how to pronounce his name, since they couldn't get it, he went with the hard c. You believe he told the announcers to pronounce his name with the hard c because that's how he pronounces it. That's fine. You don't have to be a dick about it.

Sorry if I'm coming off like an Donkey, but the theory frankly doesn't make any sense. Michalek played in SJ for years, and every announcer under the sun, including the people in SJ, pronounced his name with the stress falling on the "H" sound (Mi-hall-ic). Then, he got to OTT, and he specifically asked everyone to pronounce his name as Mi-kall-ic, transferring the hard stress in his name from the "H" to the hard "C" sound. This is fact.

Now, I absolutely do not buy the argument that he did that to make things easier for anyone; in fact, if anything, doing so made things harder for everyone, since everyone had been pronouncing his name differently (Mi-hall-ic) for years prior, and he was now asking them to make the adjustment to Mi-Kall-ic. Now, in light of this, you have two options here: either he's an idiosyncratic Donkey who has categorically asked the media to mispronounce his name, or he finally got fed up of people mispronouncing it and clarified things for the media. Really, which sounds more likely?

Here is a link where SensGirl11 has grabbed an interview with Michalek. It talks about the proper pronunciation.

http://www.gmhockey.com/ottawa-centaurs-f31/getting-to-know-milan-michalek-t3928.htm

ElliottRules wrote:Here is a link where SensGirl11 has grabbed an interview with Michalek. It talks about the proper pronunciation.

http://www.gmhockey.com/ottawa-centaurs-f31/getting-to-know-milan-michalek-t3928.htm

Huh. That makes it even stranger that he came out at the start of last year and asked everyone to pronounce his name with the stress landing and the "chal" / "kall" sound -- even SensGirl11's line there about pronunciation makes a note of this inconsistency.

rooneypoo wrote:

ElliottRules wrote:Here is a link where SensGirl11 has grabbed an interview with Michalek. It talks about the proper pronunciation.

http://www.gmhockey.com/ottawa-centaurs-f31/getting-to-know-milan-michalek-t3928.htm

Huh. That makes it even stranger that he came out at the start of last year and asked everyone to pronounce his name with the stress landing and the "chal" / "kall" sound -- even SensGirl11's line there about pronunciation makes a note of this inconsistency.

The only thing left to do is track him down, record him saying it, and just play that whenever I want to say his name. Or maybe I'll just stick to nicknames from here on out.