“Who’s Ayyyveeyannt?”
When I saw that 200 Delaware would now be referred to as “Avant” I thought, oh thats slightly pretentious but whatever…” And then I saw that the building will say “Avant” in big letters facing the thruway…Buffalonians, not necessarially known for pronouncing French words correctly ( I mean, we turned ‘Beau Fleuve’ into ‘Buffalo’) would be doomed to embarrass themselves for years to come upon trying to pronounce it.
But apparently the issue has been addressed…
When Avant took the lead in the name game, there was some concern that Buffalonians would have a tough time pronouncing it.
“There was some worry that the Buffalo “flat A” would overtake the softer “Ah-vahnt,” said Uniland spokeswoman Judi Griggs.
To dispel concerns Crowley Webb hit Main Street and asked passers-by to pronounce Avant, along with two other possible building names. When results yielded a 90 percent success rate for Avant’s soft A’s, the choice became final.
June 24th, 2008 at 9:27 am
i saw the story on the news, and i had to chuckle…is that ’s’ on our forehead showing up again??? we better find a way to cover up that ’s’ with, let’s say…an ‘a’???
seriously though, as my friend colin always says, reputations are earned…i suppose the commonfolk in this region have a reputation of being ‘dumb’ (see appalachia remarks a few years ago…) or that awful ‘buffalo’ accent (see nancy naples videos…)…i tried to see both sides of this in a positive manner…first, maybe this is an opportunity for those who view common buffalo society in a lower standard that we’re probably a little smarter and big cityish than we appear, and for those truly ‘dumb’ buffalonians who fuel the perception, an opportunity to take a small step forward in buffalo’s place in the world as we move forward through the 21st century to pronounce worldly names properly (for instance ah-vant)…you too can be just a little smarter tha you think you are….thanks to our new building helping us move forward both literally and figuratively…
June 24th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
A lot can be read into a simple quote without the benefit of context…the point was that Avant was the clear choice - for reasons that will become more apparent as the building is complete - of the majority of those involved with the project. There were a small number of people who had the pronounciation concern … not intelligence concerns… in that there IS a signature flat A in our area and extending to Ohio.
Rather than walk away from a very good idea - we tested it … and proved that those with doubts were wrong.
The way it occured was an affirmation of a positive.
Your interpretation is entirely your right.
But as a former East Lovejoy girl who has lived and worked in large (Houston) and exclusive (Sea Island, Ga) areas- I can say unequivocally that I have never been embarassed to be a Buffalonian… and always figured we were smarter than the rest…
June 24th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Les personnes du Beau Fleuve sont très intelligentes.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Judi-thanks for the feedback. I’ve lived in France and DC and I too can say i’ve never been embarrassed to be a Buffalonian; I’ve just happened to always get blown away by that strong Buffalo accent.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:20 am
aaah judy, i’m sure you know that my statement was partially opinion, partially tongue-in-cheek…but in true buffalo fashion, you took my statement a bit personally, just as i took your initial statement a bit personally (not necessarily out of context), so, touche’..(that’s french too)…i suppose my point was that we have lost so many in the brain drain (such as yourself in your texas and georgia days), that i really think we are kind of always looking a bit over our shoulders for those looking to imply we’re not as (insert your own word here as to not further offend my fellow beau fleuvians) as other areas of the country. i know we have the guns and horses to rival any community in the country socially, intellectually, historically,etc…but does the rest of the country know that? …i love that your company has chosen this name, it is bold, and speaks well of the many legions of people in our community looking to embrace progress both aesthetically and in image, but for some reason, held back by the old school mentality…i can’t wait for your next project at gates circle to begin, and i am delighted that people like you loved the community enough to come back home…
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:53 pm
[…] “Who’s Ayyyveeyannt?” To dispel concerns Crowley Webb hit Main Street and asked passers-by to pronounce Avant, along with two other possible building names. When results yielded a 90 percent success rate for Avant’s soft A’s, the choice became final. […]