Why Can’t People Say
Zo h r an Ma m da n i’s
Name Correctly? Friends and foes keep getting it wrong. Mr. Mamdani says, “It’s pretty phonetic honestly.”
It was more than an hour into last week’s critical three-way debate for mayor of New York City, and somehow, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had yet to say the name of the race’s front-runner.
He called him “the assemblyman” and a miniature version of former Mayor Bill de Blasio. But he shied away from saying a name that he had repeatedly butchered on the campaign trail.
“ M r . M a n d a n i ” Andrew Cuomo in a campaign video.
And on the debate stage.
“ M r . M a n d a m i ” Andrew Cuomo during a Democratic primary debate in June.
His pronunciation was so notably off that, during a Democratic primary debate in June, the assemblyman himself, Zohran Mamdani, called him out on it.
“ M - A - M - D - A - N - I ” Zohran Mamdani during the same debate.
Mr. Cuomo is not alone.
For various reasons, legitimate and perhaps otherwise, Mr. Mamdani’s first and last name have become the subject of rather adventurous, even creative, displays of linguistic fumbling.
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, struggled with his name at the first debate of the general election last week, calling him Zor-han.
“ Z o r h a n M a n d a m i ”
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