If you’re reading this then chances are you pronounce Blink-182‘s band name correctly. I’m basing this assumption on the fact that I’ve been watching the BroBible web traffic for years and know that while we have plenty of overseas readers the majority of our readership comes from North America.
How you pronounce the band’s name depends on where you live and a Twitter user unexpectedly went viral after discovering that everyone outside of North America is pronouncing Blink-182 like a serial killer.
We know that the true pronunciation is ‘blink one eighty-two’ because the band’s been a part of American culture for decades now and many of us have seen them live in concert. What we don’t know is why these Britons are sticking to their guns on the mispronunciation despite knowing that it’s ultimately up to how the band themselves pronounce it which is ‘blink one eighty-two.’
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpPySjiHLde/
There’s a Twitter Moments thread devoted to this war of pronunciations and while it’s obvious the Brits don’t stand a chance here I appreciate their feistiness in defending their perceived proper pronunciation. Still, I’m confused as to how Blink-182 wasn’t all over the BBC’s version of Total Request Live in the late 90s and early 00s, whatever that show would’ve been called It’s not like they haven’t heard the band’s name said aloud until now, is it?
Boom, roasted.
https://twitter.com/IanKarmel/status/1064307305267683328
Several people chiming in wondering what we call them stateside.
This is a sweeping generalisation. (But tell me what you guys call it for reference.)
— Cleo (@CleoTallulah) November 19, 2018
What?! What do you lot call them?
— Perch (@ed_perch) November 19, 2018
This, my dudes, is the proper pronunciation.
https://twitter.com/IanKarmel/status/1064308794555920384
No, you are.
You’re wrong
— James Longman (@longers1) November 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/IanKarmel/status/1064309820725985280
If it’s a number it’s one hundred and eighty two, if it’s figures it’s one eight two.
One eighty two just doesn’t exist as an entity in the English language, fam.
— Perch (@ed_perch) November 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/jedijared182/status/1064421985424273408
I appreciate the effort in trying to rationalize why they’ve been saying it wrong all these years but they still need to admit that they’re wrong. It’s one eighty-two.
https://twitter.com/j_oeyg/status/1064424369072599046
Of course, this jabroni got involved. No matter how loudly they say it, they’re still wrong.
Don’t start this. I admit we are wrong on this. America calls them Blink One eighty two. Which is also wrong. They technically should be called Blink one hundred and eighty two. Don’t take some moral high ground here. https://t.co/zm2Gpb6xtT
— James Corden (@JKCorden) November 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/markhoppus/status/1064613547458551808
I’ve always known them as Blink square root of 33,124
— Elon sucks ass (@sufferfest) November 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/Coliemta/status/1064326125780959232
Bradley’s out here asking the real questions.
https://twitter.com/YELDARBfield/status/1064405748304789504
Again, this is very odd to me because I have to assume that a lot of people in the UK have heard at least one of the band members refer to the band as Blink One Eighty-Two before. Or they’ve heard the name said on TV at some point.
This is so much worse than the O.A.R. vs. OAR pronunciation wars of the 00’s when the band got sick and tired of everyone calling them OAR so they pivoted hard to being Of A Revolution or O-A-R. Blink 182 is BLINK ONE EIGHTY-TWO and nothing else. It’s always been this way.