David Bean wrote:
> Now, the question: Pronunciation always has to do with snobbery; how do we
> prounounce "Don Juan" correctly? As in Spanish or as the title of Byron's
> poem is pronounced?
Aha! The pronunciation of foreign names. Always a bone of contention in
the cycling community.
I would pronounce it Don Wahn, as I expect most Americans would pronounce it, because Spanish is in fact a second official language in many parts of the US. I don't think I've ever pronounced it any other way, except when I was a little kid and didn't know any better. However, I might expect some Brits, especially those of a certain age who never travelled much abroad, to say "Don Joowan"
Incidentally, on the subject of pronunciation snobbery, the CBC talking heads in Canada always go out of their way to try and pronounce foreign names as the natives might pronounce them, to the point of grimacing and spitting, especially if it's French, because francophones seem to run the CBC. They keep saying "Port au Prawns" when talking about Haiti, although they don't say "Paree" when talking about Paris.
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John Betmanis Woodstock, Ontario Canada