History Main / PretentiousPronunciation

* ''Series/KeyAndPeele'' inverts this in the substitute teacher sketch - a black InnerCitySchool teacher subs in for a class full of suburban white kids, and when taking attendance pronounces every kid's name in overstyled GhettoName fashion, because those are the kinds of names he's used to. For example, "Jacqueline" becomes "Jay-kwellen", and "Aaron" becomes "Ay-ay-ron". He becomes angered when the kids fail to recognize their names being called, and even more so when they correct his pronunciation, thinking they must be pranking him because [[YourNormalIsOurTaboo nobody could ever have such ridiculous sounding names]]. The exception is [[TokenMinority the only black student in the class]], Timothy, who instantly responds with "Pre-sent" after hearing his name called as "Ti-MOH-thy", either because his name actually ''is'' pronounced like that, or because he's simply able to understand the teacher and play along to avoid getting in trouble.

* ''Series/KeyAndPeele'' inverts this in the substitute teacher sketch - a black InnerCitySchool teacher subs in for a class full of suburban white kids, and when taking attendance pronounces every kid's name in overstyled GhettoName fashion, because those are the kinds of names he's used to. For example, "Jacqueline" becomes "[=JayKwelle=]", and "Aaron" becomes "A. A. Ron". He becomes angered when the kids fail to recognize their names being called, and even more so when they correct his pronunciation, thinking they must be pranking him because [[YourNormalIsOurTaboo nobody could ever have such ridiculous sounding names]]. The exception is [[TokenMinority the only black student in the class]], who is the only one shown to understand him and respond when called (Timothy, pronounced by the sub "Ti-MO-thy").

[[caption-width-right:286:It's actually pronounced "FRAJ-əl"... or is it "FRAJ-''eye'əl''"?[[note]]Ironically enough, "fragile" in Italian [[AccidentallyCorrectWriting really is just the same word pronounced "Fra-gee-lay"]].]]

Usually the "high-class pronunciation" uses French pronunciation, [[RealityIsUnrealistic with varying accuracy]]. Today this is probably because EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench and as we all know sexy people can't be made fun of. The original reason for this is likely because from the 17th century all the way until the mid 20th century, French was considered the CommonTongue of European diplomacy. Also, the Norman Conquest in the 11th century meant that a substantial fraction of the English nobility ''did'' have French (well, Norman, so French''ish'') names and ancestors who spoke French. This also established a certain "rich French conquerors" vs. "common English conquered" tradition in the languages as they combined towards modern English.

Usually the "high-class pronunciation" uses French pronunciation, [[RealityIsUnrealistic with varying accuracy]]. Today this is probably because EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench and as we all know sexy people can't be made fun of. The original reason for this is likely because from the 17th century all the way until the mid 20th century, French was considered the CommonTongue of European diplomacy.[[note]]Also, the Norman Conquest in the 11th century meant that a substantial fraction of the English nobility ''did'' have French (well, Norman, so French''ish'') names and ancestors who spoke French. This also established a certain "rich French conquerors" vs. "common English conquered" tradition in the languages as they combined towards modern English.[[/note]]

** In another episode he read "Kelly, USA" as "Kelly Usa" and referred to her as an "exotic lady from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usa,_%C5%8Cita the far east]]".

[[caption-width-right:286:It's actually pronounced "FRAJ-əl"... or is it "FRAJ-''eye'əl''"?]]

* In ''Film/Snapshot/1979'', Angela's boss at the salon is Mr. Pluckett. He (and his employees) pronounce the name 'Plew-Shay'. However, Madeline addresses him as Mr. Pluckett, rhyming with 'bucket'.

* At the start of Stephen Leacock's parody of 18th century English romantic novels "Gertrude the Governess, or Simply Seventeen", we are informed that the setting is Knotacentinum Towers (pronounced Nosham Taws), home of Lord Knotacent (pronounced Lord Nosh)...

* ''Radio/TheUnbelievableTruth:'' When Henning Wehn (who is German) mispronounces ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' as "Flin-stuhns", the other panellists remark that he sounds like he's talking about an incredibly posh version of the show. Discussion moves on to whether Barney Rubble's name would therefore be "Rue-bleh" (Henning gets back at them by providing Barney's actual name in German translations).

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'' when Twitchy pulls out the dynamite and goes "Dee-na-mee-tay. Hmm, must be Italian."

* In ''Film/Infamous2020'', Arielle was named after the character in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid''. However, she hates this fact and insists that everyone pronounce her name "Ar-ee-AHL".

* In ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'', [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-298/ it's not Peri-DOT,]] [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-299/ it's Peri-DOH!]]

* ''Literature/TheNameJar'': When [[TheProtagonist Unhei]] tells some kids on the bus her name, they start messing it up. Unhei tries telling them her name is pronounced "Yoon-hye".