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He Wasn't the Dictator of FranceHow to pronounce Augusto Pinochet.

By Andy BowersPosted Monday, Nov. 28, 2005, at 5:22 PM ET

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet celebrated his 90^th birthday on Friday under house arrest in his Santiago mansion. If one wanted to wish the brutal strongman many happy returns, one would certainly try to pronounce his name correctly. How is it said in the region?

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Name: Gen. Augusto Pinochet*

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OK, so we didn't get it quite right the last time we tried to answer this question, in 1998.

Title: Former Chilean Dictator

Last Name Pronounced: "pin-oh-CHET"

Note: If Pinochet had been a French dictator, his name might be pronounced "pee-noh-SHAY." But in South American Spanish, the last syllable is pronounced like the English name Chet.

Tape: Click here to play a montage of announcers on the Chilean television station TeleTrece saying Pinochet's name, and click here to play native Peruvian Leo del Aguila pronouncing it more slowly.

Previous pronunciations:
Abu Ghraib (link to piece)
Bernanke, Dr. Ben S. (link to piece)
Clement, Judge Edith Brown (link to piece)
Miers, Harriet Ellan (link to piece)
Niger (link to piece)
Padilla, Jose (link to piece)
Qatar (link to piece)
Villaraigosa, Mayor Antonio (link to piece)

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Correction, Nov. 29: The original version of this article incorrectly gave Pinochet the title "Generalissimo." The correct title is "General." (Return to the corrected sentence.)