So, is everyone ready to have their minds blown?
Rihanna recently did a video for Vogue, and the first five seconds have shaken the internet.
No, nothing wild happened. In fact, all Riri did was say her own name. But that turned out to be a big deal .
Every part of Rihanna’s name is globally recognizable.
Whether it’s as “Rihanna,” which is the name we associate with her music, or as “Fenty,” her beauty and fashion line, Riri has a really iconic name.
And we’ve all been saying it wrong. At least, Americans have.
This is not the first time we’ve done it, either.
Remember the internet uproar that happened when we learned that we’d been pronouncing Chrissy Teigen’s last name wrong?
Like, to be fair, even Chrissy prefers the incorrect pronunciation. So it’s not entirely on us.
Chrissy’s last name is not pronounced “tee-gen.”
On a seemingly normal day on Twitter, Chrissy rolled in and blew up everyone’s preconceptions by revealing the stone-cold truth:
“I’m tired of living this lie. It’s tie-gen.”
Tie-gen ! And if you’re thinking, “But doesn’t Chrissy also pronounce it wrong?” Yes, yes she does.
Oh, and Ariana Grande’s name?
We messed that one up, too.
Many of us pronounce her last name “gron-day” and many of us are wrong.
In our defense, though, Ariana also pronounced her own last name wrong for most of her life.
It’s not pronounced like we’re used to.
Instead, her name is actually Ariana “Grand-ee.” I know. Shook.
Through her childhood, Ariana pronounced it incorrectly. It was her grandfather who revealed how their last name is really meant to be said.
So, what about Rihanna?
Well recently, Queen Riri did an interview with British Vogue to launch her fashion line.
Yup, the Fenty name is now in the fashion game. I said thank you, Riri.
She introduced herself in the Twitter video, and she pronounced her name in a way many of us probably have never ever thought to pronounce it.
Listen, Rihanna’s been in the game for almost 15 years now. Feel old yet?
We remember when she made her debut with “Pon de Replay” in the US back in 2005 and it really changed our iPod and dance floor game.
So what I’m saying is, her name has always been around.
There have been many talk show appearances and award shows and opportunities to hear her name.
Even in this Ellen clip , the talk show host calls the singer “Ri-Ah-Na,” which is perfectly fine and normal, right?
WRONG.
I know! I am with you on this!
Where have we been going wrong for almost fifteen years?!
The internet obviously lost their minds.
This is just a really surprising thing to learn after hearing her name pronounced incorrectly for years.
Some people were shocked. Others, however, were already in the know on how to pronounce her name.
So, I know you’ve been dying to know how her name is actually pronounced.
Well, in the video, she pronounced her name “Ree-Anna.”
Not “Ree-Ah-Nah” like most of us probably say.
Y’all.
Turns out it’s mostly Americans who have been pronouncing it wrong.
And maybe a few Canadians.
For those from the UK and beyond, “Re-anna” is the normal way that they pronounce Rihanna’s name.
On behalf of those of us who have been doing it wrong…our bad.
By far my favorite roast.
So succinct. So polite. So devastating.
Sorry that the rest of us are low-key a little slow. To be fair, everyone from the media to Rihanna herself has pronounced it “Ri-ah-na.” So…
I feel judged.
Listen. Yes. Maybe so.
Anyway, at this point, I’m just here for the memes, because I can’t believe Rihanna has been disrespected in this manner for years without flat-out saying something about it.
This is exactly it!
Now that we all know, this is going to be the next step.
My brain: Ree-anna. Me: Ree-ahna.
There’s gonna be an adjustment period, guys. But we’re gonna get through it together. For Rihanna.
BUT WAIT.
Some people began to pull up some of Rihanna’s past songs (Rihanna I know you’re busy taking over the beauty and fashion communities, but please make at least one more album) to compare.
What do you hear?
We’re here for this linguistics lesson.
I also followed what the “h” in her name dictated — or what I thought it dictated, anyway.
The better point here is that she really has put up with it being pronounced incorrectly like a total champ.
Here for the memes.
Alright, okay, we North Americans are a little slow on the uptake.
But we’ve got it now, okay? We’ve got this. We’re still probably going to pronounce it wrong, but we’re going to try.
But in the end…
This poll speaks for itself.
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Even though 62% now know how to pronounce it correctly, I’m a little baffled by the 38%.
Rihanna just told y’all how it’s said. What are you doing voting for the wrong one?