Hacker News Reader

Comment by IvyMike | Hacker News Reader

I don't know why, but I really like that he pronounces his middle name "Gray-am".

How do you pronounce it? I'm from New Zealand, and "gray-am" seems to be the common pronunciation here.

It's often pronounced "gram" (one short syllable), particularly in American media.

I've lived my entire life in the US, and I distinctly remember at the age of about 7 or 8, reading the name as "Gruh Ham," only to be told that it's pronounced "Gram."

This recording is the first time I've heard someone else pronounce it as two syllables, but it may also be the first time I've ever heard the name pronounced by a non-US speaker.

I am American and have always pronounced it and heard it pronounced with two syllables. Maybe not as deliberately as the recording. I wonder if he is talking slowly as he is because it's so new to him, or maybe we're not hearing it at the right rate, or some combination thereof.

Also, where's the thick Scottish accent?

He's actually enunciating that way because his wife was deaf. She could read lips, so he would enunciate very carefully.

This is actually quite a Scottish accent, however it does not really fit with the stereotype (Groundskeeper Willy et al). To me (a Scot) it sounds very similar to George Galloway's accent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_AOTexf6uc

There are numerous distinct accents across Scotland despite it being a pretty tiny country.

I guess my expectation was that the older the recording, the goofier the accents would sound, due to changes over time. For example, the recordings of Edison have him sounding like no American alive today.

Haha, your average Scot might get upset by any implication that our accent is in any way "goofy" but I completely understand what you mean

>where's the thick Scottish accent

His father would have elocuted it out of him.

Well

Americans have a problem pronouncing some things.

I always though it would be two syllables.

I can't find a reason why it would be otherwise (unless it was French, but even then...)

"Americans have a problem pronouncing some things."

Tell me, how do the English pronounce "Worcestershire"?

That is the way it is pronounced in the uk.

Gee, that's funny -- I'm pretty sure that is how it's pronounced.

I was interested to see some people say they've commonly heard it pronounced as a single syllable. I've heard that, but I didn't know it was common.

Here's a website with an audio clip of that pronunciation (http://inogolo.com/pronunciation/Graham)

Here's a website that has many pronunciations. (http://www.forvo.com/search/graham)

The Forvo website is interesting because it has some American (?) accents using the 2 syllable form, and some (Lindsey Graham) using the single syllable form.

(DuckDuckGo's search results were particularly useful for me here.)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com