Newsreaders mispronounce ‘Dunedin’ after airport hug rule goes viral

After Dunedin Airport made global headlines, newsreaders are attempting to say its name - and not all of them are getting it right. Photo / @dunedinairport

Mispronouncing place names happens to the best of us, but when it happens on air it’s somehow extra funny. And extra cringe.

A quick Google on “commonly mispronounced place names in New Zealand” provides a selection of place names, such as Remuera, Taupō and Tauranga - likely mispronounced by locals just as often as they are by tourists, knowingly or not.

South Island city Dunedin - whose name comes from the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh in Scotland, Dùn Èideann - is also no stranger to people getting its name very wrong. This time the faux pas is one rarely made by locals.

Earlier this week news anchor Marcia MacMillan, of CTV News, a Canadian network, reported on Dunedin Airport’s 3-minute viral hug rule, which it introduced to improve traffic flow around its terminal.

Live on television, she said: “Dun-din”.

This morning, CBS News took a stab. They got closer.

France 24 was pretty much bang on.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press opted to take the zero risks and took the words straight from the horse’s mouth with a video of Dunedin’s Airport chief executive Dan De Bono.

Dan De Bono told the Associated Press the announcement was about safety and creating more space for others.

“A three-minute hug ... that’s a long hug,” he said.

“20 seconds is all you need.”

Like anything, you’re going to create a bit of debate but I don’t see this as inhumane at all. And actually, it’s really, really important that we are having a bit of fun with it.

“We don’t have hug police - not yet anyway,” De Bono added.