Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 7:53 am on March 24, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Yesterday, President Obama delivered an address on green energy after watching several presentations from companies hoping to reap the bounty of his new policies. Unfortunately, he didn’t pay close enough attention to the presentations, as Obama repeatedly mispronounced the name of one firm he used as an example of innovation:
President Barack Obama just finished speaking at a White House roundtable on clean energy efficiency attended by Neal Verfuerth, Orion president and chief executive. Obama saluted Orion.
Obama said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes $59 billion for “clean energy and energy efficiency” and said his proposed 2010 budget would ocmmit [sic] $150 billion in funding over 10 years. …
All terrific press for Orion, except that Obama kept pronouncing the company’s name wrong, calling it OAR-ee-on.
Here’s the video of the Obamateurism:
Of course, one can’t be expected to get the pronunciation of every word on the TelePrompter correct. Not even, say, a word that plays a large role in Greek mythology and astronomy, two topics that a well-educated person could be expected to have some familiarity — if not the presentation that had taken place just minutes before, which Obama himself acknowledged in his speech. (via Jill and Bruce)
Update: Via Instapundit, I see some claim that Obama got the pronunciation correct. Let me refer back to the JS-Online report to have the President himself rebut that:
After finishing his remarks and talking with a few people, the president returned to the microphone and said his prepared remarks led him to pronounce the firm’s name wrong.
“I suspect this is Or-EYE-on as opposed to OAR-ee-on. Just wanted to make sure that when I’m giving you a plug, that we’ve got the right plug. It’s Or-EYE-on.”
I originally intended to include that in the video clip, but it wasn’t caught on tape.
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!
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You say po-TA-toe, I say pa-tha-TOE.
Right_of_Attila on March 24, 2009 at 7:56 AM
And he is a perfect example of a bumbling idiot.
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 7:56 AM
So I’m guessing this is the money line.
anniekc on March 24, 2009 at 7:57 AM
Dolt.
flipflop on March 24, 2009 at 7:57 AM
E-I-E-I-O I bet he would mispronounce that!
becki51758 on March 24, 2009 at 7:58 AM
You would think that a guy who spent several years spaced out would know how to pronounce Orion.
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 7:59 AM
This just means everyone else has been pronouncing it wrong for centuries. The Obama has spoken.
aikidoka on March 24, 2009 at 7:59 AM
But when Obama does it, it’s sassy!
JohnJ on March 24, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Maybe HAL is part of a vast right wing conspiracy.
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 8:01 AM
Are they going to start including pronunciation guides on the teleprompter? Or just have words written out phonetically?
JohnJ on March 24, 2009 at 8:01 AM
Did you ever consider he was just redistributing the emphasis between the syllables? The second syllable has more emphasis than the first, and that isn’t Emphasis Justice, is it?
trubble on March 24, 2009 at 8:01 AM
He also insists on saying Pock-i-ston, instead of Pakistan, which is the way the rest of the world pronounces it.
AubieJon on March 24, 2009 at 8:01 AM
I knew how to pronounce Orion in elementary school. Maybe they dont teach that stuff in Indonesia.
slednfool on March 24, 2009 at 8:03 AM
Yesterday we found out why he hasn’t released his medical records.
Today, it’s pretty clear why his college records remain sealed.
Barb Dwyer on March 24, 2009 at 8:05 AM
Maybe TOTUS needs to present the speeches phonetically to his majesty.
loudmouth883 on March 24, 2009 at 8:06 AM
Oy vey.
Rollie on March 24, 2009 at 8:06 AM
I still say that the Obamateurism of the Day should be released at midnight rather than in the early a.m. We have a long day ahead of us. and he has a press conference (which i will not watch)
kelley in virginia on March 24, 2009 at 8:07 AM
Its O Ryan!
Hopey/Changey gaffe,780,001 ,and counting!
I hope,that if there are alien civilizations,
near Orion,they get Obama’s clarification,the
last thing America needs is a cosmic war,
because,only words,will have meaning!(Sarc).
canopfor on March 24, 2009 at 8:08 AM
????? What medical records?????
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Oslime-a is such a chimp.
csdeven on March 24, 2009 at 8:10 AM
Why do I have to watch ” American Idiot” instead of “American Idol”?
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 8:10 AM
OUTRAGEnevermind again. it’s getting embarrassing.
sesquipedalian on March 24, 2009 at 8:11 AM
Past candidates have given fairly detailed medical histories. Obama had a brief letter from his doctor, saying “He’s healthy.”
Wonder how much will be released from the annual physical at Walter Reed.
Wethal on March 24, 2009 at 8:12 AM
Some one should invent a phonetically correct teleprompter, since he doesn’t know what he is talking about anyway.
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 8:12 AM
I know that, but what happened yesterday concerning his medical records?
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Next he ‘ll be saying “yer anus” instead of yeranus.
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 8:14 AM
It’s got to be Bush’s fault. Somehow, someway, dubya did it to him.
boomer on March 24, 2009 at 8:15 AM
The records that indicate brain damage from drug use.
Barb Dwyer on March 24, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Link, please. I doubt that.
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 8:17 AM
Heh, the woman next to him looked very uncomfortable. She looked like she wanted to slap him and call him an idiot.
boomer on March 24, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Maybe at the rate of Obama’s gaff’s,
the TOTUS AND POTUS could merge,maybe
install Obamas head on the teleprompter,
or the screen,on Hopey’s body,that way
it should slow the the rate of verbal
screw-ups!
———————————-
And,maybe the real problem,is Obama’s left to right
head sweeps!
The constant movement left to right could be causing
a blurring condition,when trying to read the telepromter!
Maybe a neck brace that could slow Obama’s head sweeps
to a more manageable speed so Hopey can grasp the words
better!—————–(Sarc)
canopfor on March 24, 2009 at 8:19 AM
Scene from the movie Being There with Peter Sellars:
Chauncey Gardner gets on the Tonight Show because everyone thinks he’s brilliant; he’s making random observations about gardening, which the viewers think are deep metaphorical insights into the economy; the black house maid who raised him knows he’s an idiot (“short changed by the Lord and dumb as a jackass”), talks back to her television set from her run down shack:
“Yessir, all you got to be is white in America to get what ever you want.”
jeff_from_mpls on March 24, 2009 at 8:20 AM
its clear that this administration has never been to school or read newspapers (or read them years ago when there was something to read). maybe they don’t even watch the News on TV. doesn’t everyone know how to pronounce “Orion”? doesn’t everyone know that Chirac is no longer France’s president?
kelley in virginia on March 24, 2009 at 8:21 AM
Great way to start a day! I’m going to like this new addition to HA.
The clip reminds me of another pet peeve I have about BHO. The way he pronounces Pahk-ee-stahn. Wha?
I swear he does it just to proclaim, “I’m more worldly than all of you rubes who say Pakistan.”
JRDFLA on March 24, 2009 at 8:22 AM
still not as irritating as when he says POK-ee-stan.
ctmom on March 24, 2009 at 8:24 AM
with so many substantive obamateurisms, why focus on something trivial like this? it’s starting to sound like the left’s coniptions about ‘nucular’ vs. ‘nuclear’
gatorboy on March 24, 2009 at 8:25 AM
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of OR-ee-on…
Cuffy Meigs on March 24, 2009 at 8:26 AM
It’s a small gaffe. The bigger item is the swarms of defenders claiming POTUS pronounced it correctly. Narrative trumps truth for these people even on minor matters.
Mark30339 on March 24, 2009 at 8:27 AM
Because George Bush never claimed to be the smartest man in the world. When he screwed up, it didn’t refute the whole narrative.
President Obama was chosen because he was said to be one of the smartest men in the world. You have to admit, every time he screws up, it refutes the whole bill of goods.
Every time Obama screws up, America is reminded that he’s as dumb as a jackass, which means… “uh, why did we elect him again?”
The distinction is important.
jeff_from_mpls on March 24, 2009 at 8:28 AM
As with the “57 states” and his awful problems using the indefinite articles and a whole slew of other “odd” mistakes, these are all proof that he is not really American. He spent his formative years in Indonesia and is, essentially, a kid from Indonesia. He keeps giving these easily identifiable clues, but the story never seems to connect. No American would ever mispronounce “Orion”. Never. It takes a certain odd grasp of English to do that, and a non-American one, for sure.
progressoverpeace on March 24, 2009 at 8:29 AM
Orion is one of the first constellations taught and learned because it’s so easy to find and identify in the sky. Our kids learned it at an early age. This is a gap in his cultural literacy.
INC on March 24, 2009 at 8:30 AM
Yep.
INC on March 24, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Do you think NOTUS (Narcissist of the United States) has a vane compulsion to mispronounce all other “O” names?
Mark30339 on March 24, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Well, he’s probably just trying to reinvent the image. Orion is the mighty hunter, so we change the pronunciation and maybe say he’s holding arugula or something.
hoosiermama on March 24, 2009 at 8:31 AM
This whole exercise is trivial, which is why I love it! The point is not to intellectualize the process, but to hopefully nullify it for the next
conservative(ahem) republican official.geckomon on March 24, 2009 at 8:32 AM
The same experts who continue to tell us how brilliant President Ogabe is were the same ones who said essentially the same thing about John Kerry.
Wrong then. Wrong now.
maladapted on March 24, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Mr. Obama got shanghai’d on the Orion-t Express.
eaglewingz08 on March 24, 2009 at 8:34 AM
Its a gaffe,
but,its daily, as well
as weekly,
so then,its almost habitual,
like a pattern!
So,what does this week have in store for
gaffemaster Hopey,I wonder what the next
gem will be,after all,it will happen again!!
canopfor on March 24, 2009 at 8:34 AM
I don’t know that you have to claim literally he’s not an American, you can even mean it in the broad sense wherein you don’t challenge his citizenship, but merely claim there is a stunning unfamiliarity with the American experience the rest of us take for granted in this guy. No, it’s not a black/white thing, it’s an inside/outside thing. He’s an outsider in a way we’ve not seen before in a high ranking official, which is actually pretty creepy.
Sort of like how an old guy says “now you kids stop watching The MTV on the Cable!”
It screams: “I know nothing about your culture.”
jeff_from_mpls on March 24, 2009 at 8:35 AM
I understood him fine…then again, I speak fluent Obonics.
Alden Pyle on March 24, 2009 at 8:35 AM
Had it been GW, the MSM would have gone new-Q-lar!
sissywillis on March 24, 2009 at 8:35 AM
‘Proof’ was the wrong word.
progressoverpeace on March 24, 2009 at 8:35 AM
I love it. He’ll have to have to have TOTUS spell everything out phonetically like they used to do at Taco Bell- “Tahh-ko”, “Bah-ree-toe”, “Toe-stah-dah”.
Not showing my age or anything with that one!
anniekc on March 24, 2009 at 8:38 AM
This is getting so fun, I love it!!! Don’t you know this is the hip way to say it?
sweet92169 on March 24, 2009 at 8:39 AM
I wonder how he pronounces the Big Dipper. Then again, with all the money he’s spending maybe he is the big dipper.
backwoods conservative on March 24, 2009 at 8:40 AM
bloggless – On Monday’s Obamateurism of the Day it was pretty much determined, from all his inappropriate giggling, that Barry must have been high as a kite during the “60 Minutes” interview with Steve Kroft.
Maybe he wasn’t actually on drugs…maybe he’s just an idiot and can’t help himself.
Barb Dwyer on March 24, 2009 at 8:41 AM
http://baracksteleprompter.blogspot.com/2009/03/in-which-gibbsy-proposes-threesome.html
TOTUS discusses this new Obamateurism at his blog. It resulted in an emergency meeting in the Situation Room.
Mark1971 on March 24, 2009 at 8:44 AM
Wow Ed, I can’t believe you missed out on a two for one Obamateurism of the Day Special! Rewatch the clip and take notice of when he says the owner of the company’s name, asks if he said it right, and then asks is that him, indicating that he’d never met the guy before that he’s bragging about. That’s pretty bad when you’re heralding this guy’s company as the one to imitate, and yet you’re unsure of who’s heading it up.
ViperPilot on March 24, 2009 at 8:45 AM
That is what I meant. I wasn’t making any citizenship claims. My mistake. I meant “American, at heart”, at least for the hints from his odd grasp of English.
That’s a better way of putting it. I’m just surprised that this was never picked up on, since it’s been so obvious ever since he started opening his mouth.
It seems familiar to me because it’s likewise with some friends of mine, Israelis who spent their early years in the US but did their schooling in Israel. They have almost perfect American accents in their English and use most of the language correctly, but then you can start to hear weird things pop out every now and again, and they know so little about the US that you would normally expect from someone who grew up in America.
progressoverpeace on March 24, 2009 at 8:46 AM
Maybe he was thinking about Oreos. Those are some good cookies. Mmmmmm Oreos mmmmmmmmmmm.
DWSC on March 24, 2009 at 8:47 AM
Maybe BHO had the accusations of him being an “Oreo” on his mind.
jgapinoy on March 24, 2009 at 8:49 AM
Bush never used a teleprompter when he spoke in venues like that. Red State got it right, that thing is Obama’s binky.
jcheney on March 24, 2009 at 8:50 AM
Oops! Great minds think alike.
jgapinoy on March 24, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Good observation, but Chauncey Gardner did it without a teleprompter and didn’t offend the Special Olympians.
Disturb the Universe on March 24, 2009 at 8:52 AM
Who the hell can’t pronounce “Orion”?! It’s a constellation. It’s a Greek mythological figure. It’s a defunct movie studio. It’s where Roy Batty saw attack ships on fire. Everyone knows how to say that word.
Doughboy on March 24, 2009 at 8:52 AM
I’m from a town in SW Indiana where Orion built a factory. (Matter o’ fact, this one.) People I talked to who worked there or were associated with it tended to pronounce it “OAR-ee-on.” Used to catch me a little off guard, too, but in time I allowed that this was the proper pronounciation in this context. Most of these same people could show you Or-EYE-on’s Belt in the winter, so it’s not like they weren’t aware of the other pronounciation. Sometimes I wondered, given that the company was owned by Asians, if maybe OAR-ee-on was an attempt to pronounce it like the word “Orient.” Dunno.*
FWIW, I think (1) if this pronounciation had come out of Bush’s mouth, the meme would’ve made it a Bushism anyway, and (2) the current POTUS might’ve gotten away with it if he didn’t apologize for how he pronounced it — and the awkard sounding apology itself would make a good substitute Obamateurism if one allows for OAR-ee-on.
*Full disclosure: This town also had a poolhall tavern called the Elite. Most folks who went there called it the “E-light” without the slightest trace of humor. It’s not like my town had a lock on pronouncing things normally….
apostic on March 24, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Whats in a name,heres avideo,
Monty Python’s Life of Brian,
‘Bigus Dickus’!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPGb4STRfKw
canopfor on March 24, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Obama’s Nuke-U-ler moment.
nazarioj001 on March 24, 2009 at 8:54 AM
It’s a song on Master Of Puppets.
Mark1971 on March 24, 2009 at 8:54 AM
there is a town in the state of Georgia named Cairo, but pronounced “KAy-ro” like the syrup. They also have a town Vienna which is pronounced “VIE-anna” like the little sausages in a tin.
But Georgians are Americans. and its their state, after all.
kelley in virginia on March 24, 2009 at 8:58 AM
Heh, yeah, but that song’s no help for pronouncing it because the word doesn’t appear in the song, given how it’s an insturmental and all…..
apostic on March 24, 2009 at 8:59 AM
What I don’t get is why everyone is using the word “teleprompter” in the singular.
The dude’s standing between TWO freakin’ teleprompters and he still can’t get it right!
misslizzi on March 24, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Eh… pretty small beer. Maybe they’ll start using phonetic spelling on his brain…er, ah… teleprompter.
Sugar Land on March 24, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Bilateral teleprompters. heh.
bloggless on March 24, 2009 at 9:03 AM
This is Obama’s brain without TOTUS…UUUHHH. This is Obama’s brain with TOTUS…OAR-ee-on. Any Questions?
kingsjester on March 24, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Don’t want to be an American idiot
Don’t want a nation under the new mania
Can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind-f*** America.
Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alien nation
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay
Television dreams of tomorrow
We’re not the ones who’re meant to follow
For that’s enough to argue
rockmom on March 24, 2009 at 9:08 AM
And the press made fun of Dan Quayle, geez….
CP on March 24, 2009 at 9:11 AM
In all fairness, his teleprompter doesn’t have the enunciations written on it. ROFL
jeffn21 on March 24, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Mor-EYE-on?
Mazztek on March 24, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Took me less than a minute to go to the companies website and see various videos of company employees pronouncing the company name. Obama got it wrong. But the media doesn’t care.
Texas Rainmaker on March 24, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Isn’t that how the Muslims pronounce it?
EMD on March 24, 2009 at 9:16 AM
O-ree-yawn.
Say, isn’t that our 57th state?
Sweet_Thang on March 24, 2009 at 9:17 AM
“Sorry I was thinking about the Oar-ee-on that’s located in Puck-ee-staan”.
Caper29 on March 24, 2009 at 9:18 AM
“Obama mispronounced, the economy got trounced”?
venividivici on March 24, 2009 at 9:19 AM
You got it all wrong…..ObaMcCarthy is the wooden puppet on EmanuelBergen’s knee. The mispronunciation comes from the ventriloquist act.
Leave Oslime-a alone!
csdeven on March 24, 2009 at 9:20 AM
+10
that was great.
I have to wonder – how does Obama pronounce police? Is is PO-lice or police? That might be a clue.
Chris Muir rocks!
alilianstrom on March 24, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Obama just can’t miss an opportunity to KEEP his racist foot in his mouth. His pronunciation is a Freudian slip on Oreo cookies that faux pas the exposition of Obama’s own lack of higher learning, the fallacy of his private school and Ivy League education. No matter what he experienced, Obama is stuck in his own ignorant rut. And he’s determined to pull us all down there in the mud with him. Misery loves company.
maverick muse on March 24, 2009 at 9:26 AM
Dr. Zachary Smith’s favorite word, “boobityboob”, has a new life and purpose.
Shy Guy on March 24, 2009 at 9:27 AM
DWSC & jgapinoy
like minds…
maverick muse on March 24, 2009 at 9:29 AM
It’s like peeps here in Michigan saying they work at “Fords” and shop at “Meijers”. So wrong, but I don’t waste my breath correcting them.
Daft Punk on March 24, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Who’s that kid with the Oar-ee-on cookie?
RepubChica on March 24, 2009 at 9:32 AM
Or one that actually pronounces the words for him as he goes along, like the audio speaker on Webster’s.
Or one that actually reads off the speech.
Obama could just stand there and smile as the teleprompter reads the entire speech.
I like this new Obamateurism of the Day feature!
Alana on March 24, 2009 at 9:38 AM
My money’s on “Po-po”
Kowboy on March 24, 2009 at 9:42 AM
You write that President Obama was mispronouncing Orion Energy, OAR-ee-on. There is a well-known, Chicago-based agribusiness broadcaster, Orion Samuelson, who pronounces his first name in this way. Mr. Samuelson has been on the air for decades and currently has a television show, This Week in Agribusiness, with Max Armstrong. If you’re in Chicago, it’s impossible not to know of Mr. Samuelson. I wonder if, after 20 years in Chicago, President Obama was just pronouncing the word the way he’d heard it. I think it might just be a regionalism, like nu-cu-lar.
slknoerr on March 24, 2009 at 9:43 AM
I wonder how The One would do with “ask” and “four”???
Dire Straits on March 24, 2009 at 9:47 AM
It must be those big-city Chi-town lights–too bright to see the stars in Or-EYE-on’s belt.
The Orion people should have thanked him as Pres-EYE-dent OBAYma.
But our President will make up for this one, next time he’s in Or-EE-gon.
Steve Z on March 24, 2009 at 9:49 AM
Oh wow. That’s pretty unbelievable. My 8 year old knows the correct pronunciation and it’s origins.
Maybe TOTUS needs to start spelling “difficult” words phonetically.
Why do I always feel like I have a ringside seat at a circus?
PrincipledPilgrim on March 24, 2009 at 9:52 AM
and
it’sits origins.PrincipledPilgrim on March 24, 2009 at 9:52 AM
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