to expect a musician to know how to pronounce Bowie?

[PLAYJAJADINGDONG]

Lighthearted disclaimer

Was sleepily making a brew this morning and heard Sharleen Spiteri on the work radio talking about someone called Barry (tbf it sounded more like Bawwy a la Elmer Funds which further confused me) and how much she admired him. I was stirring my tea thinking hmmm, Barry Gibb maybe.....Manilow, perhaps. I then heard her mention a specific song and realised she was saying Bow (down before royalty)-ie 😮.

It's Bow (as in row, row, row) ie!!! She's a guitar playing musician!

Unforgivable.

@PLAYJAJADINGDONG

Yes growing they're pronouncing it incorrectly, likely due to the association with the bowie knife/Jim Bowie.

Jizzle this thread isn't about your friend though? It's about David Bowie whose name is 100% pronounced as per the video. So Sharleen's pronunciation is wrong.

You can't just override the person whose name it actually is and decide to pronounce it entirely differently. Well you can of course but it would make you seem quite dim and/or rude.

As someone with a fairly simple but frequently butchered Irish name, once the person whose name it is tells you how to pronounce it, there is really no excuse for getting it wrong.

But i think it is relevant. If 1000 people have the same surname and one pronounces it slightly differently, that doesn't mean when i speak to that person i have to pronounce it exactly as they want, that would be bizarre.

If David Bowie says his name is, i don't know, pronounced Bow-ey-ee or something ridiculous, i don't think you could blame people for saying it their preferred way, or a way they may have pronounced a friend with the same name.

Everyone in real life that I know with the surname Bowie pronounces it Bow-to-rhyme-with-cow-ie

So while I do know that David is Bow-to-rhyme-with-toe-ie I always get it wrong when I say it out loud.

I'm also Scottish. It's entirely possible that she does know how he pronounces it but shock is human and doesn't always get things right.

Maybe im especially clever, but |I know who they mean with either pronounciation

Casual xenophobia is awesome!

Bowie the Scottish surname should be pronounced that way. Bow like a ship not bow like a ribbon.

David Bowie's real surname is Jones. He took his stage name from a bowie knife, pronounced boo E.

Lorraine Kelly also says Bowie that way. I believe its because his name was mainly seen in print from records at the time and read that way, therefore it's just collectively been said that way here.

Nobody cares except to enjoy the fun of having more than one way to pronounce his name. I pick whatever feels right on the day, and for me, that epitomises the spirit of BOWIE.

Go Spiteri! (pronounced Spy-Terry here, what about you lot?)

My friend has the surname Bowie, the whole family say Bow to rhyme with How so you’d be the one in the wrong. YABU

@PLAYJAJADINGDONG

Yes growing they're pronouncing it incorrectly, likely due to the association with the bowie knife/Jim Bowie.

Jizzle this thread isn't about your friend though? It's about David Bowie whose name is 100% pronounced as per the video. So Sharleen's pronunciation is wrong.

You can't just override the person whose name it actually is and decide to pronounce it entirely differently. Well you can of course but it would make you seem quite dim and/or rude.

As someone with a fairly simple but frequently butchered Irish name, once the person whose name it is tells you how to pronounce it, there is really no excuse for getting it wrong.

I also have an Irish name, it is pronounced 2 different ways even within Ireland, that's more like what's going on here with this surname. I don't get offended when people from anywhere outside of Munster pronounce the other way

You don't sound light-hearted!

There is a Scottish dj called George Bowie and his is "bow to the queen" ie.

Isn't he on record as saying he doesn't care how people pronounce it?

Wasn't his son called Zowie? I always presumed it was to rhyme with the surname. If pronounced the way DB pronounces it then it would have been Zoe?

It’s definitely a Scottish thing. Bow (to the Queen).
@MissFlite apparently it was pronounced “Zoe Bowie”......I always thought Zowie rhymed with Bowie too.

I am Scottish and pronounce Bowie the same as Sharleen does. She is right and you are wrong (to me).

@YoniAndGuy Spiteri is pronounced Spit-terry.

If it's Bow to rhyme with toe then why was his son named Zowie Bowie? That would mean his name was pronounced like Zoe if the two names rhyme (which I'm assuming was the point of calling him that).

@Pinkywoo

If it's Bow to rhyme with toe then why was his son named Zowie Bowie? That would mean his name was pronounced like Zoe if the two names rhyme (which I'm assuming was the point of calling him that).

That’s why he’s now called Duncan.

His name was Zowie to sound like Zoe.

His surname was Jones anyway so it’s kind of irrelevant.

David Bowie himself admitted that he wasn't 100% certain which way it was pronounced and that he was happy for people to use both versions. I really don't think this is an issue.

It has been pronounced both ways over time.

If you're made aware of the pronunciation of someone's name then you should try to get it right, regardless of whether there's another accepted way to say it for other people with the same name.

Sara Bareilles is pronounced like Sarah. Sara to me is a different name but I pronounce hers like Sarah because that's her name...

It's not an accent thing at all. The sound "bow" as in ribbon exists in Scotland too.

@Pinkywoo

If it's Bow to rhyme with toe then why was his son named Zowie Bowie? That would mean his name was pronounced like Zoe if the two names rhyme (which I'm assuming was the point of calling him that).

As his dad said on American telly... "It might help to remember it rhymes with Zowie, said Zoe"

Which is why Zowie is now Duncan

But yes, he did play with most things both ways - which is why he chose that as his stage name. After the Bowie knife - which legendarily cuts both ways!

I don't think it's got anything to do with Scottishness (or dimness or rudeness). Lots and lots of English people pronounce it with an 'ow' sound rather than an 'oh' sound, quite simply because they don't know it's supposed to be pronounced with an 'oh'. I said it that way until someone enlightened me, and I'm not the tiniest bit Scottish. I think the wrong way is probably as commonly used as the right way. Most people have probably never heard the man himself say it.

People pronounce all kinds of words and names incorrectly all the time, it's hardly unusual. Yes you might expect a musician to be more likely to get it right, but it's not really a big deal.

@CuriousaboutSamphire ah ok, poor old Duncan!

Even the great man himself wasn’t consistent in the pronunciation throughout his life, so I think it’s all down to however you want to pronounce it. David Baddiel and Tim Hinks have discussed this many times in their (ostensibly) Bowie themed podcast, Stalking Time for the Moon Boys.

Also - Zowie Bowie.