Serious question: Why do old people call Mario "Merry-o"?

[Devsman]

I legit can't figure out where this came from.

[MinionJoe]

Because the SNES his the U.S. market during the holiday season in the late 80s.

And part of the advertising at the time was Mario saying, "It's'a me, Happy Merry-o Christmas!"

[Enterprofilenamehere]

If someone had never heard it said before I could see them pronouncing it that way. They would then say it to others that'd never heard it before and they'd start saying it like that as well.

[Devsman]

Originally posted by Enterprofilenamehere:

If someone had never heard it said before I could see them pronouncing it that way. They would then say it to others that'd never heard it before and they'd start saying it like that as well.

Is it that uncommon of a name? I mean, you don't hear old people going around calling people named "Sean" "Seen."

[Kamiyama]

YouTube™ Video: LEGACY Super Mario Bros. - Commercial (1985) 

Views: 333,097

Originally uploaded around 2006-2007. Managed to source this from a since-abandoned website which managed to fly under the radar enough to upload this.

[Electric Cupcake]

Other than Pat Contri's early videos, I don't remember anyone pronouncing it like that.

Though speaking of old people, his last NES Punk video was a kick in the gut.

[Devsman]

Originally posted by Kamiyama:

YouTube™ Video: LEGACY Super Mario Bros. - Commercial (1985) 

Views: 333,097

Originally uploaded around 2006-2007. Managed to source this from a since-abandoned website which managed to fly under the radar enough to upload this.

Oh man. I was too young for these commercials I guess.

A lot changed between the commercial and the actual release, huh? BTW, I love the added sound effects lol.

[Enterprofilenamehere]

Originally posted by Devsman:

Originally posted by Enterprofilenamehere:

If someone had never heard it said before I could see them pronouncing it that way. They would then say it to others that'd never heard it before and they'd start saying it like that as well.

Is it that uncommon of a name? I mean, you don't hear old people going around calling people named "Sean" "Seen."

I actually have heard people mispronounce Sean that way.

I don't think I've ever even actually heard someone go by the name 'Mario' outside of maybe a couple characters in movies and whatnot. It seems common to anyone who's into Nintendo games obviously but for real life people's names it isn't at all common. It might have even fallen out of fashion partially because of the existence of Super Mario Bros.

[Dewiltse]

Originally posted by Devsman:

Originally posted by Enterprofilenamehere:

If someone had never heard it said before I could see them pronouncing it that way. They would then say it to others that'd never heard it before and they'd start saying it like that as well.

Is it that uncommon of a name? I mean, you don't hear old people going around calling people named "Sean" "Seen."

This makes me think of Jimmy Neutron where his friend is pronounced Sheen.

[Devsman]

Originally posted by Enterprofilenamehere:

Originally posted by Devsman:

Is it that uncommon of a name? I mean, you don't hear old people going around calling people named "Sean" "Seen."

I actually have heard people mispronounce Sean that way.

I don't think I've ever even actually heard someone go by the name 'Mario' outside of maybe a couple characters in movies and whatnot. It seems common to anyone who's into Nintendo games obviously but for real life people's names it isn't at all common. It might have even fallen out of fashion partially because of the existence of Super Mario Bros.

I've known two. So I guess it's not a list topper or anything.

[Kamiyama]

Originally posted by Enterprofilenamehere:

Originally posted by Devsman:

Is it that uncommon of a name? I mean, you don't hear old people going around calling people named "Sean" "Seen."

I actually have heard people mispronounce Sean that way.

I don't think I've ever even actually heard someone go by the name 'Mario' outside of maybe a couple characters in movies and whatnot. It seems common to anyone who's into Nintendo games obviously but for real life people's names it isn't at all common. It might have even fallen out of fashion partially because of the existence of Super Mario Bros.

I would argue it's technically the correct way to pronounce Sean. If Sean wanted a h in his name he should spell it with an h.

There's silent letters, sure. Like Wednesday. Nobody pronounces the d. But everyone just agreeing on a invisible "h" in Sean is different.

It's just insanity. What clown world is this where everyone just goes along with this crazyness?

[Enterprofilenamehere]

Originally posted by Kamiyama:

Originally posted by Enterprofilenamehere:

I actually have heard people mispronounce Sean that way.

I don't think I've ever even actually heard someone go by the name 'Mario' outside of maybe a couple characters in movies and whatnot. It seems common to anyone who's into Nintendo games obviously but for real life people's names it isn't at all common. It might have even fallen out of fashion partially because of the existence of Super Mario Bros.

I would argue it's technically the correct way to pronounce Sean. If Sean wanted a h in his name he should spell it with an h.

There's silent letters, sure.

But pronouncing a letter that's not in the name is just insanity. What clown world is this where everyone just goes along with this crazyness?

You could argue it should actually be spelled 'Shawn".

[Stranger]

I hearda coupla britpires joking behind closed doors about how to market it wrong, similar to how they marketed every other nintendo import incorrectly.

a significantly more famous and influential mortal commedian thought it would be funny to popularize their idea and essentially steal it from them, which worked and upset them for a while so they tried to take it back.

This turned into a huge scandal that exposed how poorly they were handling their responsiblities towards international business relations.

Originally posted by Kamiyama:

Originally posted by Enterprofilenamehere:

I actually have heard people mispronounce Sean that way.

I don't think I've ever even actually heard someone go by the name 'Mario' outside of maybe a couple characters in movies and whatnot. It seems common to anyone who's into Nintendo games obviously but for real life people's names it isn't at all common. It might have even fallen out of fashion partially because of the existence of Super Mario Bros.

I would argue it's technically the correct way to pronounce Sean. If Sean wanted a h in his name he should spell it with an h.

There's silent letters, sure. Like Wednesday. Nobody pronounces the d. But everyone just agreeing on a invisible "h" in Sean is different.

It's just insanity. What clown world is this where everyone just goes along with this crazyness?

gaelic and similar languages were purposefully mistranslated and misromanized as a part of the British Empire's conquests of the regions.

[Good Night Owl]

Or Pokemon "Poke-E-Mans"

[crunchyfrog]

Maybe a regional thing?

People tend to pick up on how adverts phrase things, so I wouldn't be surprised if it sources from how adverts phrased it back then.

Can't comment myself as I'm British.

[Swarmfly]

Vowel raising.