A small step for Clayelle

Back in 2005 I blogged about being surprised that Clayelle Dalferes, the sultry-voiced WQXR weekend announcer, said over the air that she couldn't pronounce the names of religious holidays for which the NYC alternate-side parking regulations would be suspended. She replied in an e-mail (which I added as a comment to my post) that she was routinely criticized for her pronunciation of the Jewish holidays, so she just refrained.

But yesterday I heard her announce that the parking regulations would be suspended for Purim on Tuesday. She pronounced "Purim" just fine. So I sent off a little e-mail to congratulate her for her progress in holiday pronunciation.

Clayelle replied,

Hi -- thanks for the note and congratulations. "Purim" is about as easy to pronounce as religious holidays can get -- even so, I checked with Bill Jerome this morning! You've no idea how offended people can get -- my bad Hebrew has led to charges of anti-Semitism, or of poking fun at Religion in general. Since I can't be Kosher or Halel with pronunciation, I think I'd best stick to "religious holidays" for anything not translatable, don't you?

Thanks again for the note -- all the best for "Printemps qui commence" , and none too soon.

Clayelle

So I guess we can't look forward to hearing "Idul-Fitr" from her any time soon.