‘Ayrault’ leaves Arab media red-faced

Paris: It is not France’s new president but Prime Minister Jean Marc Ayrault who is creating waves in the Arab world. And it is because of his name.

When newly elected French President Francois Hollande named Ayrault as his premier, Arab media faced some “technical confusion” regarding the spelling of his name.

What triggered the confusion is that his surname sounds like the word “penis” in Arabic. Editors and news chiefs in major Arab media outlets spent two days deciding how to spell his name in Arabic to avoid embarrassment, especially for anchors having to pronounce it.

A Lebanese television anchor had such difficulties reading aloud the French premier's name the day he was elected that she could not stop laughing as she read the bulletin.

Not everyone is taking it as a joke though.

To avoid future embarrassment, several compromises were made. Some decided to call him by his first name while others decided to spell his name "Aro," "Hairo" or "Airolt" instead of "Airo," which is the correct pronunciation of the premier's last name.
The French foreign ministry is offering help.

It has suggested that the Arab media pronounce all the letters, unlike in French pronunciation, or that Arab media use the prime minister’s initials JMA.
The report said France faced a similar situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin because his surname sounds like “putain” – the French word for prostitute.