this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024
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Checkmate, Chuck. πŸ‘‘

Edit: Given the number of downvotes I'm getting, I'm guessing a lot of people have just learned that they've been pronouncing St. John wrong. Don't beat yourselves up. It's not like it's a terribly common name.

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[–] Berttheduck@lemmy.ml 52 points 1 week ago (5 children)

We don't as far as I know. St John is usually pronounced Saint John. Though English is weird and you might have come across a local pronunciation. Do you know where abouts in the UK that one comes from?

[–] Preacher@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Roger Moore pronounced his alias St John Smythe as "Sinjun Smythe" in "A View To A Kill"

[–] sanguinepar@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

The definitive answer :-)

[–] sgibson5150@slrpnk.net 7 points 1 week ago

Perhaps not precisely "sinjin". Wikipedia gives the IPA as /ˈsΙͺndΚ’Ιͺn/ or /-Κ’Ι™n/ where the Κ’ is the g in beige or the s in pleasure so it's a bit more of a zh sound than a j sound: "sinzhin"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_(name) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English

[–] Railison@aussie.zone 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Though the English ~~is~~ are weird

Local names in Britain do my head in

[–] myself@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago

Oh no not in Utica

[–] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

It's an upper crust thing. A bit old-fashioned as well.

[–] makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not a single person in my insane number of years has ever said sinjin

[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 8 points 1 week ago (3 children)

You don't live in Britain where:

  • This is a name people have.
  • It's pronounced like that.
[–] makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 week ago

Lived there for years and years. Never heard it pronounced that way. Strange

[–] 13esq@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I live near a village called St John's Town of Dalry and no one says sinjin nor have I heard anyone's name referred to that way.

[–] sanguinepar@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Am in UK, and yeah, I've definitely heard it pronounced that way, sometimes combined with a second name, eg St John-Smith = Sinjin-Smith

I think it's a thing posh people use sometimes.

[–] Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 24 points 1 week ago

Ive never heard of Sinjin.

[–] breadsmasher@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I am english, in the UK. I have never heard someone say sinjin instead of saint john. The only thing I can imagine is a local accent? But id think its more like sint jin (sint jawn?)

[–] LiamMayfair@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

That's not how I've heard it pronounced. Not in the north at least. The T is mute. It's "sinjin" (rhymes with Ken).

[–] LiamMayfair@lemmy.sdf.org 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yup, Sinjin is definitely a thing.

Source: I know a St. John and he told me the right way to pronounce his name is indeed "Sinjin"

[–] RoquetteQueen@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Who has a first name of St John?

[–] stormio@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In Vancouver, Canada, we have a journalist named St. John Alexander who pronounces his first name as "Sinjin." I heard him say it on TV and it sounded weird. His profile even mentions it.

He's often asked about his name. St. John is originally British and is pronounced "Sinjin." His parents discovered it in Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre.

[–] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Pronounced Janer, I assume.

[–] oo1@lemmings.world 2 points 1 week ago
[–] sgibson5150@slrpnk.net 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

From Wikipedia St John Pettifor Catchpool (1890–1971), English Quaker relief worker St. John Ellis (1964–2005), British Rugby League player St John Ervine (1883-1971), Irish writer St John Groser (1890-1966), Anglican priest and Christian socialist St John Hornby (1867–1946), British businessman St John Horsfall (1910-1949), British motor racing driver St John Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton (1856–1942), British politician St John O'Neill (1741–1790), Irish MP for Randalstown Saint-John Perse, pseudonym of Alexis Leger (1887–1975), French poet and diplomat St John Philby (1885–1960), British civil servant and explorer in Arabia

Weird. I never would have guessed anyone was named that.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

can anyone please explain why this is getting downvoted to hell? this is the first time i hear "sinjin" but it seems to be a thing, from a quick search.

[–] sgibson5150@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 week ago

It's my "most people rejected His message" meme moment. πŸ˜†

I guess it's just like the neverending GIF argument. There's a right and wrong answer but people are people.

[–] SouthFresh@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

β€œ It can be pronounced…” is not the same as, β€œIs often pronounced”

[–] sgibson5150@slrpnk.net -4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I didn't really say either of those, at least in the post. What's your point?

[–] sanguinepar@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

No, but you said "why do the English pronounce" with no qualification that it's neither the only way nor the most common way.

You're right that it does happen, but your title implies it's the sole or dominant pronunciation.

[–] SouthFresh@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

My point was that it seemed to me as if you were assuming from limited information that the pronunciation was prevalent when the source material provided doesn’t state the prevelence.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 week ago

I grew up in Britain no one I knew says sinjin, but Sinclair,warrik (Warwick) etc were the norm

[–] socsa@piefed.social 6 points 1 week ago

I have literally never heard anyone say "sinjin" in my life.

[–] remi_pan@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago

There is also the wedding scene of Bernard and Lydia in the 1997 movie Four weddings and a funeral. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYzQFudZ70k

[–] morgan_423@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Imagine acting like everyone in England has the same accent. The only thing more ridiculous would be saying that everyone in the US does.

[–] saigot@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago

Funnily enough, Sinclair is a common name that came from Saint Clair.

[–] revanthetrueemperor@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

My best guess would be that saintclair's prononciation was influenced by french, as in french the "t" is pronounced while st john might be more "english", leading to the "t" being silent

[–] sgibson5150@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 week ago

Congratulations for being the only commenter who has actually tried to answer the question. That answer of course sounds perfectly reasonable. Please accept this gold star with thanks: ⭐

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In french the β€œt” isn’t pronounced.

[–] revanthetrueemperor@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not in modern french but it was in old french :)

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Misunderstood your reply at first sorry :/

Nope you were right, i forgot to add the old french part, thanks for the catch :)

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

It may be a case of laziness which has started creating a local dialect. This is one of the ways living languages change over time, people start sluring words and sounds together until there is almost nothing left of the original words and there is a new word in their place.

[–] BilboBargains@lemmy.world -2 points 1 week ago