Reply to How to professionally and politely correct people’s pronunciation of my name

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm an Andrea. There are multiple ways to pronounce it. [b]I find that people default to the way that someone close to them pronounces it and have a hard time shaking it.[/b]

Some people ask, and I appreciate them asking. If asked, I'll give my pronunciation. But I don't typically correct people on the spot (I will use my pronunciation if I'm re-introducing myself). There are people who persist in the wrong pronunciation even though they've known me for years and have heard everyone else call me the other (correct) name for years.

I think a lot depends on the situation. Like my boss's boss always says it wrong. I don't interact with him much though, so there's not a lot to gain by correcting him. If I hired a new person and they used an alternate pronunciation, I'd wait for a chance to talk with them one-on-one and point it out. I wouldn't point it out in front of other people. But that's a person I'm going to be talking to daily where it's going to get awkward for them if they realize they've been saying it wrong.

As for nicknames, just please tell people what you prefer! I always ask and so many people say "oh whatever" and then I feel weird because I don't actually know if they want to be Dave or David or Jen or Jennifer.  [/quote]

This happens to me so much!  I will meet someone who has a name that can be pronounced multiple ways (Andrea, Liza, Cara, etc), and they’ll tell me which way but then after a couple of weeks only interacting with them via email/chat, I always forget which one!  I mostly try to avoid calling people by name unless I’m absolutely sure I’m not messing up the pronounciation but sometimes I have to.

My name is ordinary but long — I don’t mind if people get creative with the prononciation but the people who randomly assign me a nickname irritate me.  I don’t think anyone should have to edit their name for other’s benefit and I would always prefer to be corrected as soon as possible if I messed up anyone’s name at all (although the likelihood of me being able to learn to roll my Rs or hear/pronounce tones is extremely small; I have a TERRIBLE ear and a hopeless American accent).[/quote]

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