chevvron wrote:..
They're called 'Rafales' not 'Rafaels'.
I've encountered this mis pronunciation ever since they first displayed at Farnborough umpteen years ago!!(Even the BBC got that right surprisingly)
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BBC has (or had) a 'pronunciation unit', with a high reputation. I believe it was mandatory for newsreaders to be coached by it when tricky names were topical like
Eyjafjallajökull BBC ('newsroom') Correspondents, specialist by topic or locality, are also usually very good, and the locality ones are usually pertinent linguists. BBC Presenters (a wholly different tribe, often scorned in private by the Correspondents in my experience
) are not nearly as diligent. I guess the last are far less likely to seek or absorb coaching, possibly because they are changing topics frequently even within a programme.
[I recall a senior one being interviewed on his retirement. He mentioned his indignation when, soon after he had mastered saying unhesitatingly the name of the Nigerian PM, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the gentleman was overthrown in a military coup and murdered
]
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