“Hey mate, nice to meet you – I’m Brian.”
“Sorry, did you say your name was Bread?”
“What? No, that’s not even a… my name’s Brian.”
“Oh, ‘Brian’. Right, anyway, I’m going to call you ‘Bread’.”
If you ever met someone and that was how the conversation unfolded your first thought would be ‘that dude is weird as hell’.
It’s just simply not the way a human person who has ever lived in the world would think to interact with someone.
Now imagine how bizarre it would be if 50 per cent of that person’s only job was to say people’s names correctly.
You wouldn’t read about it.
Yet here we are, because actual professional commentator Brian Taylor has bravely announced he’ll continue to mispronounce Essendon forward Orazio Fantasia’s name on his broadcasts – despite Fantasia himself clarifying in 2018 to Chris Judd that “I introduce myself as fanta-see-ah”, again on Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show earlier this season, and most recently his captain bringing it up again this week.
Just purely on a social or professional level, it’s either patently bizarre or breathtakingly arrogant that you’d refuse to say someone’s name even after they’ve told you how to say it.
It shouldn’t need an opinion piece to clarify it, the universal Rules Of Not Being A Weird Unit dictate that it is so.
And it’s not even hard to do! It’s not like the bloke’s saying ‘It’s spelled Fantasia, but it’s actually pronounced ‘Coolguy Von BigSchlong’, it’s just the literal phonetic pronunciation of his name.
It’s not politically correct, it’s just correct.
Plus, he can still do that thing he does with his name – all the magic’s in the ‘Oraaaaaaazio’ anyway and it even gives you an extra syllable in the surname to lean into.
(Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
So what’s the go BT, even after he’s told you, why won’t you just say it properly?
“In Italy, it’s ‘Fanta-sia’. Guess where we live? Australia, and we call it ‘Fan-tay-sha’,” Taylor explains.
“We don’t pronounce Italian names in Australia in the full Italian way.”
“We pronounce it with the Australianism in it, and that’s how we’ll continue to do it.”
There’s a lot to unpack here, just in terms of pure facts it’s breathtakingly wrong at every turn.
1: We don’t call it ‘Fan-Tay-Sha’ in Australia, that’s just some weird thing you said before asking anyone! In fact, ask any muso and they’ll tell you in Australia we literally pronounce it ‘fanta-sia’. Contrary to what you might think BT, four 50-something white commentators who think ‘brang’ is a word are not the gatekeepers of Australian linguistics.
2: God knows what he means by ‘full Italian way’ (perhaps it involves riding a Vespa and declaring whether pizza pies are or aren’t ‘amore’) but historically we stay pretty true to the original. We don’t hit the hard g in Anthony LaPaglia or Natalie Imbruglia, we don’t call Albo Anthony Al-ban-eez, and christ, the football world’s even managed to nail Robert DiPierdomenico.
3. And I must’ve missed the memo but when did willfully mangling foreign surnames become such a sacred ‘Australianism’? Larrikinism, Egalitarianism and Mispronunciation – the true backbone of Australian culture.
But beyond all the cognitive dissonance lies something a touch more sinister about all of this.
It’s not that he struggles with names (that’s annoying but tolerable), but the ugly attitude that underpins his defiance.
“This is Australia… we pronounce it with the Australianism in it, and that’s how we’ll continue to do it.”
Read: “If you come to this country, we’ll decide what you’re called.”
It’s the same toxic mentality that sticks ‘love it or leave’ bumper stickers to the backs of custom-fitted Holdens and feeds the dangerous delusion that to be Australian is to be white.
And while it’s not a hate crime worthy of mass outrage or a well-aimed teen egging, it still matters – especially if you’re the voice of Australia’s most watched sport.
Because in life, like footy, the one-percenters make a difference.
The Milkman
Roar Rookie
BT did not. Not sure where you're pulling that from. He made it clear he didn't care about what the player wants, which is the whole point. Despite what you think, this isn't about sticking up for Orazio, who has since made it obvious he doesn't mind too much. It's a broader point about commentators respecting players. BT is making it all about himself. If another player prefers his name said correctly and BT says "nah sorry champ, this is 'Straya hehe", it's really poor form.
David
Roar Rookie
Well, there are numerous 'journos', who did not go to the source and ask how he'd like his name to be pronounced. BT actually did. So any criticism of BT for this is pure tripe
John Dohler
Roar Rookie
I agree, Matt, but this still makes me laugh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlVtxbq883o
Nineteen
Guest
What are you on about Jay? He is saying it right! :D
Les Zig
Guest
Brilliant piece. Well done.
Chancho
Roar Rookie
“In Italy, it’s ‘Fanta-sia’. Guess where we live? Australia, and we call it ‘Fan-tay-sha’,” Taylor explains. We don’t pronounce Italian names in Australia in the full Italian way. We pronounce it with the Australianism in it, and that’s how we’ll continue to do it.” Maybe racist is a bit extreme, but it's highly ignorant for a commentator. He was told how to pronounce it correctly, he says the above quote meaning that the Australian way is superior; that could be classified as racist. But you can't call dog-whistle rhetoric.
Chancho
Roar Rookie
But, Fantasia IS an Italian/Latin word! The 'guess what, we're in Australia and we pronounce it with an Australian-ism' is such a BS line, in fact I'd go as far as to say racist... In Australia do we pronounce zucchini as Italians do i.e. zoo-kee-nee, or do we pronounce the 'ch' as in zoo-chi-nee? And on that, in the morning do we order a cappa-keen-o, or cap-pu-chi-no? Don't get me wrong, the overly pronounced rolling R's you hear some do in Italian restaurants can be a bit too much, but I'd rather hear someone having a go. What really grinds my gears is hearing people mispronounce Italy as Iddaly... and I bet that's how BT would pronounce it
Penster
Roar Guru
It's his job to pronounce all words properly and not deliberately mangle them because he's a PitA attention seeker.
The Milkman
Roar Rookie
He said in August last year that Fan-ta-see-ya is correct: https://www.triplem.com.au/story/listen-back-orazio-fantasia-addresses-the-pronunciation-of-his-name-137265 Think he's just trying to settle things down in the clip you've shared.
The Milkman
Roar Rookie
He said in August last year that Fan-ta-see-ya is correct: https://www.triplem.com.au/story/listen-back-orazio-fantasia-addresses-the-pronunciation-of-his-name-137265 Think he's just trying to settle things down in the clip you've shared.
Daz
Roar Pro
Deliberately mispronouncing a name because you want to, is different to having difficulty wrangling your tongue around the linguistic differences of language.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
How do you pronounce “Paris”? The city is pronounced in the English language to rhyme with "Harris", that's a given. However, if a sports commentator or journalist were to anglicise the name of that same city's biggest football team to "Parris Saint German" he or she would be laughed off the screen.
Wal
Roar Guru
And the ignorant again feel the need to defend being ignorant. Get some social awareness and show people some respect.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Lay off Brian Taylor. I get a great deal of enjoyment from his commentary. With the sound MUTED.
David
Roar Rookie
...but BT actually pronounces it the way Orazio prefers. (Ref: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2019-orazio-fantasia-clears-the-air-on-pronunciation-of-surname/news-story/9eca97ec6bbadac7d03ef00319febbb2) So will there be an article re-submission?
IAP
Guest
He’s not the first Fantasia to pronounce his name Fant-asia.
IAP
Guest
I’m not talking about BT specifically; I’m talking about those who jump to calling white people racist because they mispronounce names, even though people from other races do exactly the same thing without the same accusation.
IAP
Guest
That’s exactly my point. I obviously do have a problem with getting my point across. Thanks for pointing that out to me.
dankswonderelixir
Guest
Who cares and this is pointless as that bumbling git BT!! The upside is Fantaseeaah is out injured for a couple of weeks so we will not have to listen to this none sense for a while..
Angela
Guest
You seem to be having trouble expressing yourself IAP. Name pronounciation has nothing to do with 'racism' but everything to do with thoughtfulness, courtesy and good manners and making an effort.