Chinookered Again

A US Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan this week. We've heard it on the news, and its saddening to hear that more lives have been lost.

Newsreaders and talking heads are having trouble pronouncing Chinook. I've heard it pronounced CHIN-ook, SHIN-ook, CHIN-uck and SHIN-uck. Only one commentator has said "shin-OOK", which approaches the good 'ole Idaho way of saying it, referring to the fish, of course: "SHNOOK". Not to be confused with the Florida saltwater gamefish called "Snook", which I've also heard called "SHNOOK".

And while I'm on a pronunciation rant, I hear commentators mention my hometown BOY-zee, Idaho on a fairly regular basis. It follows that the name of the citizenry of Boise, Boiseans, is mangled as well.

Survey says: They're not from BOY-see [so don't believe a word they say].