REYKJAVIK - In a country filled with incomprehensible names, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano continues to haunt news readers.
Although finished disrupting European air travel for the moment, the impossible to pronounce "Eyjafjallajökull volcano" -- roughly translated as "the islandmountainglacier volcano" -- continues to haunt every foreign news reporter who covered the story, including ordinarily unflappable B.B.C. correspondents.
"It was a complete disaster," said senior B.B.C. science reporter Johnathan Handle. "Despite everything we tried, the [B.B.C.'s linguistic unit] just couldn't tell me how to pronounce that damn thing consistently! I looked a fool, for the entire week!"
Others in the press, although equally unable to pronounce or reference the volcano correctly, didn't take it quite as seriously. "Yeah, it was a hassle," said CNN foreign correspondent Sylvia Hardoo. "But you gotta roll with the punches on air, you know. You just try to do your best, and if you flub it, hell nobody really cares. Now I understand why the guys [covering foreign news for CNN] ignore Iceland: it's a total pain in the ass to cover."
The Icelandic language, which has always been incomprehensible to everyone outside Iceland, saw a very brief surge in interest, according to online search engines. As news of the volcano gained increased media attention, millions attempted to learn more about the volcano, the region, the people and language, but over 99.9% dropped off within minutes, confused and frustrated over the seemingly insurmountable language barrier.
"I just wanted to know how to pronounce the damn thing so I could talk about it loudly to the guys at work," said Jimmy Smith, a 32 year old LAN Tech at a major corporation. "But what the hell? Every site had a different pronunciation, and I don't care that much."
Icelanders, meanwhile, both appreciated the press focus and delighted in watching foreigners struggle to pronounce anything in their native tongue.
"After many, many years being ignored from scientific conferences and meetings, it was nice to finally be included, if only for a week," said Nordic Volcanological Center chief geologist Skógar Hvolsvöllur. "Although they still misspell my name and never say it correctly," he added sadly.
Photo: NASA image by Robert Simmon
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