What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[The Larch]

Latin, most likely. It was Florentia during Roman times (and I believe the name is even of Etruscan origin).

Ah, so it's the Italians who fucked it up. 

Nah, the names in different languages just evolved separately. Italian just had more time to diverge from Latin.

[The Brain]

I remember in (the equivalent of) high school when the American kid tried to pronounce "Leicestershire" in English class. Poor guy.

[Tamas]

Well yeah English-speaking people in general merrily ignore how something was meant to be pronounced. Case in point the cities he listed. Or e.g. Blenheim palace which is wholesomely pronounced "Blanam" over here.

Are other language speakers any better?  Honest question.

I know, for example, that we follow the French pronounciations for German cities (i.e. Cologne instead of Koln), which suggests they are just as bad, or worse, than we are.  Which is closer to the native pronounciation, the English Cambodia or the French Camboge?  Lebanon or Liban?

I wonder who's to blame for Florence instead of Firenze.

I guess it varies. In Hungarian we definitely write cities in their original names, and for closer by languages we usually manage to pronounce them close enough. Country names we use our own versions.

[Admiral Yi]

Americans pronouncing almost any English placename

Are Continentals better?  I can see they might be from more exposure to fodbol.

I haven't paid close attention to which nationalities have more trouble with American Indian-based place names; everyone seems to fuck them up equally.

[Sheilbh]

Are Continentals better?  I can see they might be from more exposure to fodbol.

I'd say they're better. Also, crucially, less confident when they don't know how to say it/are making a mistake

[Hamilcar]

I'm not a fan of people going out of their way to use the native pronunciations of personal names or places. It breaks the flow of speech when you suddenly pronounce a word in a completely different style, and it also often sounds contrived and pretentious. Add to this the effect of sometimes only thinking that you know the native pronunciation. I would find it a bit ridiculous if an English-speaker tried to pronounce my name in Swedish, or Stockholm in Swedish. When I speak English I use English pronunciations of my name and of Stockholm.

What's your name? We should practice pronouncing it.

[The Brain]

I'm not a fan of people going out of their way to use the native pronunciations of personal names or places. It breaks the flow of speech when you suddenly pronounce a word in a completely different style, and it also often sounds contrived and pretentious. Add to this the effect of sometimes only thinking that you know the native pronunciation. I would find it a bit ridiculous if an English-speaker tried to pronounce my name in Swedish, or Stockholm in Swedish. When I speak English I use English pronunciations of my name and of Stockholm.

What's your name? We should practice pronouncing it.

What's in a name?

[celedhring]

The usual rule over here is to use Spanish/Catalan names when they have a traditional name that has been used for ages. I.e. Stockholm = Estocolmo. Then for those that don't have a traditional Spanish form, you use the native name as best as you can. Pronunciation then comes at the pleasure of the speaker, but i.e. newcasters are expected to learn and do it in the native language.

[garbon]

mispronouncing the name as written in the original language.

An example please.

Americans pronouncing almost any English placename

I can well believe we are, as a group, as bad at foreign place names.

A bit of a fail as many places in New England uses those same English pronunciations.

[Sheilbh]

The usual rule over here is to use Spanish/Catalan names when they have a traditional name that has been used for ages. I.e. Stockholm = Estocolmo. Then for those that don't have a traditional Spanish form, you use the native name as best as you can. Pronunciation then comes at the pleasure of the speaker, but i.e. newcasters are expected to learn and do it in the native language.

Yeah. I think newscasters etc get told how to pronounces places that are new to us all - eg that Icelandic volcano a few years ago.

[celedhring]

The usual rule over here is to use Spanish/Catalan names when they have a traditional name that has been used for ages. I.e. Stockholm = Estocolmo. Then for those that don't have a traditional Spanish form, you use the native name as best as you can. Pronunciation then comes at the pleasure of the speaker, but i.e. newcasters are expected to learn and do it in the native language.

Yeah. I think newscasters etc get told how to pronounces places that are new to us all - eg that Icelandic volcano a few years ago.

That was my job once 

[Sheilbh]

The usual rule over here is to use Spanish/Catalan names when they have a traditional name that has been used for ages. I.e. Stockholm = Estocolmo. Then for those that don't have a traditional Spanish form, you use the native name as best as you can. Pronunciation then comes at the pleasure of the speaker, but i.e. newcasters are expected to learn and do it in the native language.

Yeah. I think newscasters etc get told how to pronounces places that are new to us all - eg that Icelandic volcano a few years ago.

That was my job once 

I always imagine there's a panic in Broadcasting House, London any time something happens in Wales as they desperately hunt for someone who can tell the newscaster how to say, for example, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy.

[merithyn]

mispronouncing the name as written in the original language.

An example please.

Americans pronouncing almost any English placename

I can well believe we are, as a group, as bad at foreign place names.

A bit of a fail as many places in New England uses those same English pronunciations.

I remember my mom and dad getting into a huge fight once because my mom, born and raised in Connecticut, pronounced Thames as thaymes. My dad, who had never been to Connecticut, kept telling her that no, it was tims. My mom, exasperated, finally said,  "Why would anybody say it that way! It's stupid! It's spelled thames, I've swum in the thames, it's the goddamn thaymes!"

My dad let it drop until they were watching a show on London and it was pronounced tims. My dad lost his shit gloating, until Mom called her dad and asked him to tell my dad what the river was in New London.

Funniest fight they ever had.

[HVC]

The usual rule over here is to use Spanish/Catalan names when they have a traditional name that has been used for ages. I.e. Stockholm = Estocolmo. Then for those that don't have a traditional Spanish form, you use the native name as best as you can. Pronunciation then comes at the pleasure of the speaker, but i.e. newcasters are expected to learn and do it in the native language.

Yeah. I think newscasters etc get told how to pronounces places that are new to us all - eg that Icelandic volcano a few years ago.

That was my job once 

I always imagine there's a panic in Broadcasting House, London any time something happens in Wales as they desperately hunt for someone who can tell the newscaster how to say, for example, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy.

A tragic accident happened today in... a welsh city, which we shall point to on the map.

[Hamilcar]

I'm not a fan of people going out of their way to use the native pronunciations of personal names or places. It breaks the flow of speech when you suddenly pronounce a word in a completely different style, and it also often sounds contrived and pretentious. Add to this the effect of sometimes only thinking that you know the native pronunciation. I would find it a bit ridiculous if an English-speaker tried to pronounce my name in Swedish, or Stockholm in Swedish. When I speak English I use English pronunciations of my name and of Stockholm.

What's your name? We should practice pronouncing it.

What's in a name?

Control.