'Saoirse' rhymes with 'inertia' – your pronunciation guide to awards season

The Wrap
December 12, 2015 at 4:25PM
Dennis Quaid mispronounced the name of Saoirse Ronan, inset, when he announced the Golden Globe nominations earlier this week.
Dennis Quaid mispronounced the name of Saoirse Ronan, inset, when he announced the Golden Globe nominations earlier this week. (Randy Salas/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Dennis Quaid kicked up a Twitter storm when he mispronounced Saoirse Ronan's name while announcing the Golden Globe nominations on Thursday morning. Rather than add to the negative backlash online, TheWrap decided to address the issue head-on and make a helpful video guide to tricky Hollywood names such as the "Brooklyn" star's.

Be honest, when you see Saoirse Ronan's name in print, your brain can hardly comprehend all those vowels in a row. You may know how to spell her name, but you have no idea how to say it. That's where TheWrap comes in.

At the risk of his own linguistic reputation, film reporter Jeff Sneider put himself on tape to explain how to pronounce Ronan's name as well as several other 2016 awards nominees so that you don't embarrass yourself at cocktail parties.

Watch the video below to learn the proper way to say Paul Dano's name and why "Hateful Eight" composer Ennio Morricone has more in common with macaroni than a snow cone.

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