r/southafrica • u/bevosully • Mar 16 '23

Sport Facepalm

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584 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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80

u/mEmEGaZ3R Mar 16 '23

Because Dricus is a popular name amongst our American friends

54

u/TheAnswerToYang Mar 16 '23

Trying to imagine how they say du Plessis over there.

16

u/Chamilanu Mar 16 '23

They can't unless they speak French. Most mispronounce it. Have a watch next time he fights

11

u/chris-za Western Cape Mar 16 '23 edited Mar 16 '23

And if they did pronounce it like the French do, then they'd be pronouncing it incorrectly. Have you ever heard a Frenchman say the name "du Toit"? I don't think any South African going by the surname du Toit would realise that they are saying his name....

There are three ways to pronounce these names: The African way, the French way and the random wrong way. (Americans tend to op for the last one)

15

u/[deleted] Mar 16 '23

[deleted]

5

u/0thedarkflame0 Emigrant  Mar 16 '23

Oddly enough, the Dutch pronunciation of this is phonetically correct, although they would likely have an odd accent added in

1

u/Chamilanu Mar 16 '23

Yes, the French pronounce it differently & not like the South African pronunciation, but the point is it's the closest to any Americans' attempt at it.

10

u/mEmEGaZ3R Mar 16 '23

Dew Ples-sis

3

u/[deleted] Mar 16 '23

His name too - probably “Dry-cuss

10

u/Saffer13 Mar 16 '23

In the 1970s and 1980s the American boxing commentators had a terrible time with the similar-sounding surnames of Gerrie Coetzee, Kallie Knoetze and Pierre Coertzen. Thank goodness they don't watch cricket over there, because hearing about umpire Rudi Koertzen would have pushed them over the edge....

7

u/hankthehunter Landed Gentry Mar 16 '23

Draaikoes