Paul

[millyskate]

That's what I was thinking. Can you imagine trying to "watch" skating via radio?!

I assume so. Or close enough. (It's hard to convey pronunciation via letters) The L is barely pronounced as well. So more like sow-cow. (sow as in a mother pig, not sow as in plant seeds) But not exactly.

Anyway, I've never heard it pronounced any other way on tv or in person. But I also didn't care that much about it because it was close enough and, as I said, everyone has an accent.

Oh wow - I had aways said Salko but then I first learnt the word in French, so didn’t give it much thought.

 

[Braulio]

Give the job to PJ Kwong! period

 

[VGThuy]

I don't remember ever hearing it other than "sow-cow" with a light "L" sound in the middle from any commentator previously including the Brits. I guess it's more like "sal-cow" for me but don't say "Sal" in the stereotypical NYC/NJ accent you'd see from Hollywood way either. Now I'm curious to know if I actually heard that right or if my brain just "corrected" it.

 

[MacMadame]

Given that the salko pronunciation jarred me, I don't think I was subconsciously correcting other people. That's literally all I've ever heard before. I didn't realize it was one of those words that were different in different parts of the world.

 

[Marco]

Funnily Paul's pronunciation for Lutz is American. Other UK commentators have always pronounced it as "loots".

 

[millyskate]

I don't remember ever hearing it other than "sow-cow" with a light "L" sound in the middle from any commentator previously including the Brits. I guess it's more like "sal-cow" for me but don't say "Sal" in the stereotypical NYC/NJ accent you'd see from Hollywood way either. Now I'm curious to know if I actually heard that right or if my brain just "corrected" it.

Eurosport version

2018 European Championships - Evgenia Medvedeva FS (Eurosport)

youtu.be

 

[miffy]

I’m annoyed now. I learnt all my pronunciation from Chris and Simon about 20 years ago. I picked up from going to live events and speaking to people in the skating world when they had the skater names wrong (I spent years screaming at the screen when they called Takahashi ‘Die-soo-kee’) but I expected them to have the jump names right at least!

 

[millyskate]

I’m annoyed now. I learnt all my pronunciation from Chris and Simon about 20 years ago. I picked up from going to live events and speaking to people in the skating world when they had the skater names wrong (I spent years screaming at the screen when they called Takahashi ‘Die-soo-kee’) but I expected them to have the jump names right at least!

Oh they do - I don't think anyone in Europe pronounces sow-cow

 

[Vagabond]

A leading authority on American pronunciation

sal·chow | \ ˈsal-ˌkau̇, -ˌkȯv, -(ˌ)kō \

I shall henceforth use the middle one of the three.

Then there's lutz, which has only one American pronunciation, but Chris Howarth (no American he) does not use it.

 

[VGThuy]

A leading authority on American pronunciation



I shall henceforth use the middle one of the three.

Then there's lutz, which has only one American pronunciation, but Chris Howarth (no American he) does not use it.

Seeing it written out, I think it's the first one that most Americans use.

Eurosport version

2018 European Championships - Evgenia Medvedeva FS (Eurosport)

youtu.be

I really do think my brain corrected it "Sal-kau" and just thinking they were saying the same thing but that their accents just differed from the American commentators.

Here's Peggy's pronunciation:

Michelle Kwan - 2001 World Figure Skating Championships - Long Program

Music: Song of the Black Swan by Villa-Lobos and Dumky Trio by Dvorak

youtu.be

Now that I'm hearing this Eurosport version:

Michelle Kwan USA - 1996 World Championships LP

SP : 1st, LP : 1st, gold medal March 17th-24th, Edmonton, CAN

youtu.be

I'm more than convinced I was still hearing "sal-kau" even though he is saying something closer to "salko". I think I may have put too much emphasis on the "ko" part when I read "salko" like saying "Balto" or something when the "ko" is actually a bit softer where it can sound like "kau" if you were already conditioned to hearing that way.

 

[MsZem]

I’m annoyed now. I learnt all my pronunciation from Chris and Simon about 20 years ago. I picked up from going to live events and speaking to people in the skating world when they had the skater names wrong (I spent years screaming at the screen when they called Takahashi ‘Die-soo-kee’) but I expected them to have the jump names right at least!

I learned the pronunciation from What Would Brian Boitano Do.

 

[miffy]

Something else the Brits pronounced completely differently to Americans, going back a bit here - Yagudin. YAG-a-din, or Yag-OOH-din? I assume the Americans are right now although at the time I only heard the Brits. I never saw him live and have always avoided saying his surname to anyone who would know

 

[millyskate]

Something else the Brits pronounced completely differently to Americans, going back a bit here - Yagudin. YAG-a-din, or Yag-OOH-din? I assume the Americans are right now although at the time I only heard the Brits. I never saw him live and have always avoided saying his surname to anyone who would know

Russians would say "Ya-goo-din.

This discussion reminds of of the US v UK pronunciation of Tkatchev / Katchev in gymnastics (they even write it differently).
(Tu-kah-tcheff v cat-chef). Actual Russian pronunciation https://youtu.be/3lT4YOe1iQo?t=35

Lutz comes from Austrian skater Alois Lutz, so should definitely be more "loots" than "lahts"

 

[Hanna]

Belinda Noonan!!!

Is she the one they always dig out from her hiding place for the Olympics?

 

[Immortelle]

Is she the one they always dig out from her hiding place for the Olympics?

Yup, she’s the one...

 

[Bunny Hop]

Paul spent two seasons insisting there was an ice dancer called Scott Muir, so he is capable of mangling any name.

 

[antmanb]

Since we're talking pronunciation I was really shocked when the commentators started talking about Eulers and pronounced it with a German accent. I'd only ever see the word written down so in my head read it as Yew-ler rather than Oy-ler.

 

[Kateri]

I've heard so many conflicting pronunciations of salchow from different commentators, skaters and coaches over the years that at this point I just call it "the sal".

 

[text_skate]

Lutz comes from Austrian skater Alois Lutz, so should definitely be more "loots" than "lahts"

Loots isn't correct either. In English the "oo" tends to be long (like in loot). But it should be a short vowel. I don't know any people with English as their first language, that can pronounce German without being recognized immediately. Same is for us Germans when speaking English.

I think the talk about not pronouncing correctely isn't very productive as everybody is captured in her/his own phonetical system.

 

[mollymgr]

I would prefer that Gold keeps it commentary free. If we have to have commentary it would be best to tell these commentators to shut it during performances. Gold is ad free so they can totally utilize the time allotted for ads. I can mute them for that part if I choose. The main point being that they don’t need to break something that doesn’t need fixing by finding someone who is not qualified for the job. I understand that NBC had no choice but to use the ISU feed so my comment is really for the ISU.

 

[clairecloutier]

And good luck spending time and resources taking down unofficial YouTube videos.

Unfortunately, this is one of the few things that the ISU/media partners seem to be good at.

 

[misskarne]

My coach says Salko.

The judging convenor in our area is an international judge so we all got slapped with the correct Oiler pronounciation as soon as they got back from Oberstdorf.

I'm not exactly Paul's biggest fan - he's clearly still fairly clueless, although he did surprise me at some points during 4CC (hello, actually remembering Max Aaron). And I hate that he talks through the programs - this is very new, he didn't used to do it for SBS, so it must be an ISU thing.

But I confess myself a little disconcerted at the level of vitriol being spewed towards him. Why, anyone would think he'd admitted to using the cough button to laugh at a skater - oh wait, that was Weir and Lipinski. Sorry. Anyone would think he'd accused a skater of skipping a competition to go viral on social media - oh wait, that was also Weir. Hmm. Anyone would think he'd made it all about him and his fashion and repeated his achievements...oh wait...

I think he's a bit of an idiot, but he's clearly doing his best, and it's got to be hard. Blame the ISU for throwing him so far into the deep end. I'd also like Belinda Noonan to come back.

 

[muffinplus]

When (which event) did Belinda Noonan do ISU commentary? I keep seeing people say they want her back but I last heard her commentary during the Olympics

 

[puglover]

I am like everyone else, I have my preferences. However, the one thing I just can't stand in a commentator is the catty, mean spirited comments. I didn't hear that from Paul.

 

[PRlady]

I have a friend at NBC who tells me that the sound issues in Korea were maximally bad and Paul was stuck with a permanently open mike the whole time, a nightmare for any broadcaster. So under those circumstances we all should give him a break.

 

[BlueRidge]

I have a friend at NBC who tells me that the sound issues in Korea were maximally bad and Paul was stuck with a permanently open mike the whole time, a nightmare for any broadcaster. So under those circumstances we all should give him a break.

That's good to know. He didn't stand out at Euros for me, which is basically what I want if there has to be a commentator. I thought he was awful at 4CCs but if that was because of extraordinary circumstances then that's different. I'm sure it was nightmarish for him.

 

[antmanb]

I'm probably in the minority but I missed the commentary when i was watching the GP. It took me a while to adjust to no commentary and by the 4th GP I was used to it but I was fairly happy to hear Chris at the GPF

I think I said at the time that I quite liked that they had the microphones on in the KnC for the first couple of GPs so you could hear the coaches and skaters commenting on the slow mos and the performances....by the third they turned them down/off.

 

[Erin]

Re the pronunciation of salchow, I'm assuming that the Brits and Americans are both following the similar pronunciation rules that they also use for Moscow and Glasgow where the British pronunciation of the last syllable rhymes with "low" and the American pronunciation rhymes with/is "cow." I'm not sure why this is a big deal.

As for Paul, I find him generally inoffensive in spite of the ignorance, occasionally amusing, and can see where he would become super irritating if you watched every skater of Euros and 4CC on that stream (I did not).

 

[Aerobicidal]

Maybe the Salchow can now be renamed the PaulPaul (or the ChenChen in the U.S.) so we can go back to having 4-page discussions about more important and endlessly interesting things like what foods people refuse to eat.

 

[mjb52]

Re the pronunciation of salchow, I'm assuming that the Brits and Americans are both following the similar pronunciation rules that they also use for Moscow and Glasgow where the British pronunciation of the last syllable rhymes with "low" and the American pronunciation rhymes with/is "cow." I'm not sure why this is a big deal.

So is it really sol-kva then?