The Other McCain

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How Do You Pronounce ‘Andrzejewski’?

Posted on | January 25, 2010 | 21 Comments

That’s the question that popped up on Twitter after I posted this news at The American Spectator:

It’s not every day that a Nobel Prize winner becomes involved in a U.S. election, but Lech Walesa — famed for his Cold War leadership of the Solidarity movement in Poland — will be campaigning this week for a GOP gubernatorial candidate in Illinois.
The former Polish president will be the keynote speaker Friday at a Chicago luncheon fundraiser for Adam Andrzejewski, one of five Republican candidates for governor in Illinois.
“I applaud Mr. Andrzejewski’s commendable effort to bring real reform to politics,” Walesa wrote in a letter endorsing the 40-year-old businessman. “His insistence on transparency in public life are badly needed not only in the great state of Illinois, but in any democracy.” . . .

Read the rest. Andrzejewski just announced plans for a “money bomb” online fundraiser Wednesday, and released this video featuring the faces (but not names) of his opponents:

That’s the kind of anti-tax, anti-big-spending message we can expect to see more of this election year, thanks to the Tea Party movement.

After the question of how to pronounce the candidate’s name came up on Twitter — where Andrzejewski is @AdamForIllinois — I suggested his camapign needs to enlist famed “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak (who is a Republican) for a video: Man-on-the-street interviews with people trying to pronounce “Andrzejewski” until Sajak comes on and says, “Buy a vowel.” And then the slogan: “Andrzejewski: It’s How to Spell ‘Reform’ for Illinois.”

I’ve got all kinds of experience with this problem. My editor at the American Spectator is Wlady Pleszczynski. I can pronounce it, but I can never spell it. Thank God for the miracle of cut-and-paste technology.

Right now, I’m struggling with another difficult word: D-E-A-D-L-I-N-E.

UPDATE: A Chicago TV interview where he says, “With a name like ‘Andrzejewski’ you have to be good”:

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Category: Election, Illinois, Tea Party

Comments

  • http://kingshamus.wordpress.com KingShamus

    “How Do You Pronounce ‘Andrzejewski’?”

    This is just a rough translation, but I think-think-it’s pronounced ‘Pollock’. Just a guess, mind you.

    Seriously, any friend of the Tea Party is a friend of mine. I don’t care if this guy is from Alpha Centauri. If he’s for tax cuts, I’m there.

  • http://kingshamus.wordpress.com KingShamus

    “How Do You Pronounce ‘Andrzejewski’?”

    This is just a rough translation, but I think-think-it’s pronounced ‘Pollock’. Just a guess, mind you.

    Seriously, any friend of the Tea Party is a friend of mine. I don’t care if this guy is from Alpha Centauri. If he’s for tax cuts, I’m there.

  • http://wizbangblog.com Jay Tea

    I’m a little fuzzy about the details, but I think a Nobel Peace Prize alum was involved in some kind of race up in Massachusetts recently…

    Damn, if there was only someone who’d know a bit more about that election. It was about a week ago, I think…

    J.

  • http://wizbangblog.com Jay Tea

    I’m a little fuzzy about the details, but I think a Nobel Peace Prize alum was involved in some kind of race up in Massachusetts recently…

    Damn, if there was only someone who’d know a bit more about that election. It was about a week ago, I think…

    J.

  • http://theothermccain.com/ Robert Stacy McCain

    I don’t care if this guy is from Alpha Centauri. If he’s for tax cuts, I’m there.

    You speak for millions.

  • http://theothermccain.com/ Robert Stacy McCain

    I don’t care if this guy is from Alpha Centauri. If he’s for tax cuts, I’m there.

    You speak for millions.

  • West

    “How Do You Pronounce ‘Andrzejewski’?”

    Oh man, what a set-up.

    Answer:

    Just like it’s spelled.

  • West

    “How Do You Pronounce ‘Andrzejewski’?”

    Oh man, what a set-up.

    Answer:

    Just like it’s spelled.

  • Miss Sharon

    Facebooking for IL family. Hopefully Patrick Hughes will catch on for the Burris seat. I understand the vote is 65% undecided still, but GOP is behind RINO Kirk and the media. Go figure.

  • Miss Sharon

    Facebooking for IL family. Hopefully Patrick Hughes will catch on for the Burris seat. I understand the vote is 65% undecided still, but GOP is behind RINO Kirk and the media. Go figure.

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  • http://theothermccain.com smitty

    I’d go “an-dra-shev-skee” in a pinch.

  • http://theothermccain.com smitty

    I’d go “an-dra-shev-skee” in a pinch.

  • http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com Reaganite Republican

    “an-drzhay-yev-skee”

    This fine post linked at the (half-Polish) Reaganite Republican…

    http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/2010/01/lech-walesa-will-campaign-for-illinois.html

  • http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com Reaganite Republican

    “an-drzhay-yev-skee”

    This fine post linked at the (half-Polish) Reaganite Republican…

    http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/2010/01/lech-walesa-will-campaign-for-illinois.html

  • http://race42008.com Adam Brickley

    His website always puts pronunciation in parentheses (And-G-F-Skee). Or if you’re really phonetic – And-Gee-EFF-Skee

    Easiest way to remember it is that “drz” in Polish always translates as a J in English. A J in Polish is a Y in English. And a W in Polish is somewhere between a V and an F in English.

    So, if you’re Polish it’s actually easy to pronounce Andrzejewski phonetically – but if you’re American then the spelling doesn’t make sense.

  • http://race42008.com Adam Brickley

    His website always puts pronunciation in parentheses (And-G-F-Skee). Or if you’re really phonetic – And-Gee-EFF-Skee

    Easiest way to remember it is that “drz” in Polish always translates as a J in English. A J in Polish is a Y in English. And a W in Polish is somewhere between a V and an F in English.

    So, if you’re Polish it’s actually easy to pronounce Andrzejewski phonetically – but if you’re American then the spelling doesn’t make sense.

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