Yenny and Robert Holley warn non-native English speakers on mispronouncing ‘coke’ as ‘cock’

YennyofWonder Girlsand popular TV personalityRobert Holleyhad the set roaringinlaughter as they discussed the consequences of mispronouncing the soft drink ‘coke’.

The two were part of the guests on the recent episode of ‘Happy Together 3‘. Since the guests present were fluent in English, the MC panel talked about mistakes in pronouncing English words. It began as comedianKim Young Chulpointed out how it was hard to say names like ‘Gwyneth Paltrow’.

Yoo Jae Sukasked Yenny if she had a hard time at first with her English. She hesitated at first, saying, “I don’t know if this is suitable for broadcast..” But she continue on by saying, “In Korea, we call it ‘cola’, but in the U.S., they don’t call it ‘cola’. You have to say ‘coke’ when you’re asking for ‘cola’. But when Koreans first go to the U.S., they have a habit of  over pronouncing the ‘o’ sound that italmost soundskind of like an ‘ah’ sound.”

Yoo Jae Suk tried to properly say ‘coke’ himself, but like Yenny had warned in his eager attempt, he over pronounced the ‘o’ and it ended up sounding quite like another word!

Yenny burst into laughter and said, “If you say that, it’s really wrong. It’s not a good word.” Yoo Jae Suk attempted it again, but was stopped by Robert Holley, who warned, “Don’t say it!“, putting a stop to all the attempts.

The MCs wanted to know why, and Robert Holley explained, “It sounds like that thing that men have!“, referring to the word ‘cock’.

The revelation made the entire panel burst into laughter, and Yoo Jae Suk became flustered as he said, “I had no idea!”