During the current Olympics we are getting a thorough dose of mispronunciation of famous places in China. I have sent many e-mail messages to NBC and KXAN Television in Austin to tell them that saying “Beizhing” and “Tianamen” puts them in the same league with George W. Bush saying “nukyuler.”

The mainland Chinese created the pinyin romanization system with English in mind. The name of the capital city of China is spelled “Beijing” and not “Beizhing” because the second syllable begins with a sound that is similar to the “j” sound in English “jingle” (not exactly identical, but close enough).

The name of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, “Tiananmen,” is pronounced “Tian - an - men.” Perhaps “Tian - ahn - mun” is a better description of the correct pronunciation.

Join me in trying to stamp out the “Beizhing” and “Tianamen” disease. Michelle Valles at KXAN understood me, and so did some of her colleagues, but NBC continues to ignore the message. I’m going “nukyuler” listening to Tom Brokaw, Matt Lauer, and Bob Costas talking about “Beizhing” and “Tianamen.”