After teaching Ellen DeGeneres a proper lesson in accurately pronouncing his own name, Hasan Minhaj is back to help us all out with some other names.
The “Patriot Act” host released a “pronunciation guide,” demonstrating how to pronounce names like Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan, as well as Pokémon like “Aron.”
Of course, he shows viewers how to pronounce the toughest name of all, “Tom Hanks.” 😂
Though Minhaj’s video is all in good fun, his clarification of his own name on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” was a significant moment for many Asian Americans who can relate to people mispronouncing their ethnic names. Oftentimes Asians adopt English names in an effort to skirt the uncomfortable moments spent correcting people or having to bite their tongues.
Writer Inkoo Kang summed up the satisfaction in Minhaj’s correction of Degeneres’ mispronunciation.
“Minhaj insists on a less assimilationist way to pronounce his name without ever framing it as such,” she wrote in Slate.
She later added: “It’s hard not to feel at least a twinge of admiration when someone as prominent as Minhaj uses his platform to request that non-Desi audiences pronounce his trochaic name in a way that deviates from white English rhythms.”