Say what?! Eskimo tongue-twisters explained

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It means “rejoice in prayer” and is the given name of defensive back Chester “Tuff” Harris. His is just one of many monikers on the Eskimo roster that cause a pause.

Patrick Kabongo and Nate Coehoorn‘s names tickle the tongue and saying Étienne Légaré brings back memories of grade ten French class. Jykine (Wah-keen) Bradley requires some concentration for pronunciation. And don’t forget JB and CT who play for EE.

Let’s not start on the Bauman/Bowman confusion.

Moving on to Ryan Grice-Mullen whose name is sounds a wee bit like he could be a villain in Twilight. Next is Fred Stamps. His name is hardly atypical, but interesting because he is the second of three Fred Stamps in his family and is the only sibling not to have “mar” or “ell” in his name.

The most unique names in the locker room, however, are likely Wopamo Osaisai, Prechae Rodriguez, Damaso Munoz and Greg Wojt or Grzagorz Wojt according to his birth certificate. It’s polish. More on that later.

Wopamo Osaisai (Woh-pom-oh Oh-sigh-sigh)
 
Common mispronunciations: “Womp-oh, Woo-pow, Whoa-pom-ah, Whomp-a-moe. For the last name, O-see-see, O-say-say. Sometimes they just look at it and they don’t say anything so I guess silence is mispronunciation also.”

Ever wanted to change your name? “Never. It’s awesome. I can’t change it.”

Nicknames: “They call me O-see, O-say, O or a lot of mispronunciations of my name. But, normally, Pamo and that’s about it.”

Fun fact: All of his siblings have “pamo” trailing their names. It’s Nigerian. Loosely translated pamo means “to bring out.”

Common mispronunciations: “Pre-she, Preacher, Preachy, Pre-shaw. It is what it is. I just say call me Pre or Pre Rod.”

Nicknames: Big Play Prechae, Pre Rod, Pre.

Fun fact: Prechae is the last name of a close family friend who lived to be 109-years-old.

Common mispronunciations: “They say Damn-is-so, Damato, all kinds of different things.”

Nicknames: Masso, Moss, Moon, Oos.

Fun fact: His dad, brother and grandfather also share his Panamanian name.

Nicknames: “Woo-gee, Gee-bo-jay-boo, Watch-tee, Woj. I probably got six or seven nicknames just around here with the different ways people like to pronounce my name.”

Fun fact: Born in Warsaw, Poland, Wojt moved to Canada when he was six-years-old. “I went by Gregory instead of Grzagorz and then it just got shortened down to Greg. It makes it easier on people.” Agreed.