Ok is it Bay-toe or Bet-to? Nt

[raccoon]

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. I've always pronounced it Bee-Toe

[Meadowoak]

2. I say Bay-toe, but maybe I'm wrong.

[W_HAMILTON]

7. You're wrong. It's pronounced Bet-O.

[agingdem]

9. No it's not

Beto and my son were on the same Little League team..I know the family..it's not Bay-toe..or Bee-toe..it"s Bet-toe...and Beto is a Spanish nickname..Roberto/Robert...

[W_HAMILTON]

12. Yep.

Bet-O or Bet-Toe (both sound the same to me, but it depends on how someone enunciates it, I guess).

[hamsterjill]

45. Thank you.

And from this Texan, it is also NOT Beddo. I hear that on cable news all the time. Ugh!!

[GreenWave]

37. I regret to inform you

that Spanish does not really permit the same sound twice and NO hanging unto consonants!.

To wit, to woo:

Hasta luego is pronounced

Ahss tahl way go

[agingdem]

39. and automovil is caro in border Spanish

and Robert O'Rourke is Beto...

[GreenWave]

40. and boy are the ever caros for those folks.

[DenaliDemocrat]

43. Italian uses the double constonent

For example it is rih-coat-tah. Not -ri-caw-tah. It’s bi-scoat-tee NOT bih-scott-eee

Jesus people kill those words. Including Iron Chefs

[LAS14]

41. Thank you! Sounds like you have creds! nt

[LAS14]

3. Watching this thread closely. DU is such a great place to get at the facts.... nt

[Treefrog]

13. Lol, you missed a fact free thread just a few hours ago.

Be careful what (and whom) you believe.

[TexasTowelie]

4. Since the nick name is supposed to be a Spanish diminutive,

I believe the first option is the correct response.

[Treefrog]

5. Not a drop of Spanish blood in him though.

Guess he can say it however.

[Hekate]

20. See post 11 further along

[W_HAMILTON]

6. It's Bet-O.

Or Bet-Toe, depending on how you enunciate it.

[Jim__]

8. He says bet oh - video example

[tirebiter]

10. Try Guvnuh

Keep it simple and local.

[FakeNoose]

22. Guv'nah Bet-to

[Hekate]

34. Sounds good

[magicarpet]

11. Beto the Hispanic twist to Robert....(Beto).

What is Beto O Rourke's ethnicity?

He is a fourth-generation Irish American. In his infancy, his family gave him the nickname "Beto", a common Spanish-Portuguese nickname for first names ending in "-berto", initially to distinguish him from his namesake grandfather.

+++++++++

Added later:

His legal name is;

Robert Francis O'Rourke,.. likely the next Camelot to occupy the White House.

[Treefrog]

14. But his first name doesn't end in "berto."

[sdfernando]

16. In Spanish his name would be Roberto

That’s where Beto comes from.

In Spanish pretty much every vowel has only 1 sound, not many like in English.

[Treefrog]

18. I speak Spanish.

His name is Robert.

[sdfernando]

21. Of course I know his given name is Robert

He goes by Beto and I see no issue with that.

[Treefrog]

24. Me either.

It's just that his name is not Roberto.

[Hekate]

25. You remind me of my mother's insistence that all names had one right pronunciation....

And of course, hers was the right one.

In Hawai’i the gardener for my apartment complex was Pilipino (yes) and when I asked him his name he said Pilipi. In a letter to Mom I told her how he gave me friendly advice on my planter-garden that I kept going on my ground floor lanai, and her response was that “of course, his name is Felipe.”

No, actually, the man’s name was Pilipi. He told me so.



Edit — apologies. I think Mom actually wrote Felipe, 40+ years back, because …

[TexasBushwhacker]

17. Roberto is Robert in Spanish

Beto is a common nickname for Roberto. He's been called that since he was a kid.

[magicarpet]

19. Spanish/Hispanic..... Roberto Robert

Roberto is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian given name which originated from old Germanic Robert.

×××××××

His grandfather's name was Robert too. So rather than call the name Robert and having the grandfather and grandson come running and/or responding. They nicknamed the younger one "Beto" so the two could be distinguished from one another, thus avoiding a situation of them being constantly mixed up and confused.

[Treefrog]

23. I understand that.

In my family, also Irish, the Roberts were sorted into Robs, Robbies, and even a Bob.

[Hekate]

26. But is your family Texan?

[Treefrog]

27. No.

Thank all that is holy.

[Hekate]

28. Well there you have it

[Just A Box Of Rain]

30. So?

Beto's family settled into using a different diminutive/nickname from the time he was a child.

[magicarpet]

32. Beto O'Rourake grew up on a very Hispanic area of Texas right near the Mexican border.

When Beto was growing up his playmates were likely mostly Hispanic. In the Hispanic culture it is common to nickname some one named Alberto or Robert/Roberto as the nickname Beto. The nickname Beto in the O'Rourke household likely took hold - because Beto's grandfather was named Robert too. So the nickname Beto avoided confusion when summoning them.

[bobandrileysmom]

15. El Pasoan here. It's pronounced BetO,

But put your tongue to the back of your upper teeth lightly, so that there’s an ever so slight TH sound to the o. Lots of guys of every color named Roberto, Alberto, and even Robert, are called Beto here.

[ALBliberal]

29. Bet' O

Accent on first syllable

[Celerity]

31. +1

[magicarpet]

33. Maybe we could get him to change his name to,...

..... Shawne, that has a nice Irish thing going on.

Oh wait,.. should it be Sean,... or is it Shawn.

Oh just forget it. BAD IDEA.

[ananda]

35. I pronounce it Bay-toe

However, a lot of people around here say Betto.

[GreenWave]

36. First one but do not aspirate the "t"

[jcgoldie]

38. Its spanish

Hard vowels the e is pronounced like a long A in English.

[Bobstandard]

42. Easy answer: Yes! n/t

[Lucinda]

44. bet-oh

[Rstrstx]

46. BEH-toh

The toh needs to be quick and sharp, like the “to” sound in tobacco

[OBrien]

47. We Texans say Bet-To.