I don't know what other people think of when they hear the name of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but I think, My people, my people! I don't know how many times I got called Zelensky in my youth, and I don't know what compels so many people to insist on inserting a superfluous n in Zelesky, but it happened ALL. THE. TIME. Zelesky, Zelensky, Zaleski, and other variants of the name are common in Eastern Europe, but growing up, I never met a Zelesky who wasn't a blood relative, so it's kind of fun to hear the name all over the airwaves, even for a bizarre reason.
And speaking of names in the news, this morning I heard the regional NPR station's newsreader mangle the name of a former college classmate of mine, Greg VanTatenhove, who is now a federal judge in Kentucky. The name is not that difficult if you take it slowly, but the newsreader charged at it all at once and fell on his face.
Also this morning I found a familiar photograph in the Marietta Times, accompanying an article about declines in bird populations. The reporter called yesterday to ask some questions, but I was at first reluctant to respond because the local rag has a reputation for mangling quotes; however, she wanted to ask me why I love birds, which I'm usually happier to talk about than others are to listening. The article got the quotes mostly correct, and I was delighted about the photo because it brings back memories of chasing yellow-rumped warblers around a local wetland.
And you know what else? She spelled my name right, and she even pronounced it correctly when she called. (You don't want to know how many horrible ways there are to mispronounce Hogue.)
2 comments:
If Zelesky was a Polish name, it probably had a curlicue under the second 'e', which would nasalize the vowel to an 'en' sound. Hence Zelensky when it had to be rendered in English.
Very helpful! My grandparents came here from Lithuania, where their name was originally spelled something like Zeleckiis.
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