Why is it OK to pronounce Mexico "Me-hi-co" on TV?

[WazzuGrad00]

Kirk Gimenez, one of ESPNews' sunday afternoon anchors, was calling the highlights from the Mexico-Iran World Cup game. Everytime he said Mexico, he pronounced it with the Spanish X sound which sounds like an English H.

For some reason, this bothered me. TV people don't call Germany "Deutchland" or pronounce France "Fr-ah-nce," why would they make an exception for Mexico? I can understand saying it that way once for effect, but it really starts to stand out when it's every time.

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

That's how it's pronounced south of the border. Not sure that it's a racial slur or anything.
Boring, sure.

 

[flaming_mo]

Is it Jon Miller who enunciates all the Spanish names to demonstrate how "with-it" he is? I find that obnoxious.

 

[BigRed]

I think Gimenez is obnoxious. He pulls the same thing you witnessed this afternoon for every Spanish-sounding name.
It's a shtick, and it gets old real fast.
Yes, Kirk, we get it, you're of Hispanic heritage. You're proud of it.
Move on.

 

[jay_christley]

Same reason we had the Torino v. Torin debate during the Olympics.
Pick a style.
And stick to it.

 

[Cristiano_Ronaldo]

I think Gimenez is obnoxious. He pulls the same thing you witnessed this afternoon for every Spanish-sounding name.
It's a shtick, and it gets old real fast.
Yes, Kirk, we get it, you're of Hispanic heritage. You're proud of it.
Move on.

What's so wrong with that?

It's better than the donkey that kept mispronouncing Juan Roman Riquelme's name during a highlight.

 

[BigRed]

I think Gimenez is obnoxious. He pulls the same thing you witnessed this afternoon for every Spanish-sounding name.
It's a shtick, and it gets old real fast.
Yes, Kirk, we get it, you're of Hispanic heritage. You're proud of it.
Move on.

What's so wrong with that?

It's better than the donkey that kept mispronouncing Juan Roman Riquelme's name during a highlight.

I don't know.... it just gets my goat. I realize it's his style and there's nothing I can do about it - I just find it annoying as heck.

 

[crusoes]

He also pronounced Mehico's foe as eye-ran, when you would expect him, of all people, to go with ear-rahn.

 

[baskethead]

Let me get this straight. It bothers you when someone pronounces someone's name the way it's supposed to be pronounced? Why is that?

 

[BigRed]

Let me get this straight. It bothers you when someone pronounces someone's name the way it's supposed to be pronounced? Why is that?

Because it's exaggerated and it's annoying and it's schtick. OK? :

 

[baskethead]

No, not OK. Why is pronouncing someone's name correctly obnoxious? What's the difference between pronouncing a name right and spelling it right in a story? I find it far more obnoxious to not take the time to learn how to say someone's name the right way and just go with how you think it should be pronounced. I didn't realize doing something the right way is a "schtick"

 

[slappy4428]

Same reason people say Keh-bec instead of Kwee-bec... because it makes them sound kool