How do you pronounce Don Quixote...?

[Groucho]

I thought, when I was little, that the book was about a donkey called Hotey.

 

[King Biscuit Time]

I thought it was Key-ho-tay, but I heard Braggers say Quixote this morning too.

 

[girasol]

Depends, if I'm saying it in Spanish it's key-hoh-teh
in Portuguese it's key-sho-tea

 

[Donna Ferentes]

We have all these

...and some others besides...

 

[chooch]

Ki-ho-teh

Aye. That. But my English teacher used to pronounce it like Melvyn. But he probably called Lyon 'lions' too.

 

[beeboo]

I thought it was Key-ho-tay, but I heard Braggers say Quixote this morning too.

And have you written to your MP yet, hmm?

 

[King Biscuit Time]

No I haven't yet. Will get right on it.

My Form Tutor during some Sex Education he was obviously squirming his way through used to say Vadge-Inner.

 

[maya]

dON Quiche-HOT-UH (with a silent 'h' in 'hot'), i've always thought...

 

[JerryLundegaard]

dON Quiche-HOT-UH (with a silent 'h' in 'hot'), i've always thought...

Quiche Otter??

 

[llantwit]

My English lecturer at Uni always said "Don Quicks-ott" as well - I think it's how those in the know in the English literary scene pronounce it. I do it now, too, just to sound clever. It doesn't work, though. I think that shit 80s song has got a lot to answer for with Don Quixote.
It's like Byron's Don Juan being pronounced the English way ("Don Jew-unn") but he built rymes into his poem so it only works like that.
I think it's a bit more up for grabs with characters written by foreign types.
I think there's a certain homely honesty about not attempting to pronounce famous foreign literary/cultural names the indigenous way. I once heard Melvyn trying to pronounce Jorge Luis Borghes the Spanish way and contorting it beyond belief until he ended up with some Spanglish horror. Maybe the old twat has learned his lesson.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

I think that shit 80s song has got a lot to answer for with Don Quixote.

???

 

[maya]

Quiche Otter??

more like Quiche-Shot... but i guess that's only true for my particular language group which isn't english

anyway, what i'd like to know is- how do you pronounce Sancho Panza?(sp?)

 

[DRINK?]

Don Kwix - Otee???

how else

 

[Donna Ferentes]

how do you pronounce Sancho Panza?

San-cho Pan-tha

 

[maya]

But the real fun is... how would it be pronounced in medieval Spanish? How would Cervantes have said it?

Have we got any roman language experts with us? Donna Ferentes?

 

[maya]

San-cho Pan-tha

OK, thanks...

 

[Donna Ferentes]

I'm extremely unexpert. As for mediaeval pronunciations - I don't know, but I can surely ask.

 

[chooch]

San-cho Pan-tha

Round here, San-cho Pan-za. Tricky, huh?

 

[chooch]

But the real fun is... how would it be pronounced in medieval Spanish?

The x would probably be as in Catalan, a kind of 'sh'.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Who does the z and who does th? The Catalans and Basques do z, but I didn't know Andalusians did.

 

[CyberRose]

Shit, I've always said "Don Quicks Oat"! It's my bloody mum's fault, she has this little wooden statue of him and that's what she always used to say he was called (must be taking the piss as she's a French/Spanish teacher) and added to the fact I have no idea who he is, other than a little wooden statue, I've never known any different...

...so who is he??

 

[llantwit]

???

I think you should have to watch this in its entirety for making me dredge up all this nastiness again:

Don Quixote - Nik Kershaw

your mind can play tricks
makes you what you want to be
just like superheroes
you saw them on tv

coast to coast, wall to wall
got to go, duty calls
here i am
superman, lois lane
saved the world, back again
here i am

in my old, red saloon
i'm a knight in shining armour
if i were asleep, man
i couldn't be much calmer

hit the road, on the run
faster than anyone
here i amone for all, all for one
shake the fist, shoot the gun
here i am

don quixote
what do you say?
are we proud? are we brave?
or just crazy?
don quixote
what do you say?
are we shooting at windmills like you?

common sense, is as good
as a cafe' on the moon
when man and machinery come to their high noon

beat the clock, punch the wall
fix'd in no time at all
here i amradio on the blink
kick the cat, hit the drink
here i am

don quixote
what do you say?
are we proud, are be brave
or just crazy?
don quixote
what do you say?
are we shooting at windmills like you?

here i am
don quixote
we're all men of la mancha
Don Quixote

 

[llantwit]

Shit, I've always said "Don Quicks Oat"! It's my bloody mum's fault, she has this little wooden statue of him and that's what she always used to say he was called (must be taking the piss as she's a French/Spanish teacher) and added to the fact I have no idea who he is, other than a little wooden statue, I've never known any different...

...so who is he??

She was 'right' in so far as that's how the old school English intelligensia pronounce it. Spanish people might laugh, but Oxford dons wouldn't bat an eyelid.

 

[chooch]

Who does the z and who does th? The Catalans and Basques do z, but I didn't know Andalusians did.

Not entirely sure who does it. They do the th in Galicia, where no one could understand a word I said. And very much so in Madrid.

Some Andalusians do the 'th', but yer working man round here will tend to pronounce the soft c, s, and z very similarly. The accent's most pronounced down towards Cadiz where they also wildly do the very western andaluz thing of dropping consonants (especially the last 's'), as well as other charming stuff like calling everyone 'picha'

 

[8ball]

Shit, I've always said "Don Quicks Oat"!

Me too.

And when I've heard people say the term I always thought that it was a donkey called "Hoatey" they were talking about.

 

[N_igma]

Don Key-oh-tea.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

..because I swear I just heard Melvyn Bragg on R4 saying "Don Quicks -Ot"

Kee-ho-tay.