“I don’t care what you say about me. Just be sure to spell my name wrong, ” Barbra Streisand has facetiously stated in the past. Apparently, the Google-operated program Siri didn’t get the joke, as the program has been pronouncing the second “s” in “Streisand” as a “z” for quite some time. The original Funny Girl, though, did not find this a laughing matter, and has recently reached out to help Siri see the light.
In an interview with NPR over the weekend, Streisand shared that upon learning of the mispronunciation, she had personally contacted Apple CEO Tim Cook with a request to program Siri to get it right.
“I called the head of Apple, Tim Cook, and he delightfully agreed to have Siri change the pronunciation of my name, ” said the celebrated artist, one of a handful to have won all four major entertainment awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. During their phone call, she told Cook that her name is “Streisand with a soft S, like sand on the beach. I’ve been saying this for my whole career.”
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
Streisand is excitedly expecting the change, as having her named recognized and pronounced correctly is understandably very important to her. The change should take effect on September 30, when the next Siri update is set to be be implemented.
Some say love, it is a river, that drowns the tender reed. Some say love, it is a razor, that leads your soul to bleed. Some say love, it is a hunger, and endless aching need. And some say love is a devoted fan who happens to run a multi-million dollar tech company and is willing to do what is necessary to ensure sure you get name recognition.
