Apple CEO Tim Cook Puts the 'Man' In Pokémon Whoops, he butchered a cultural phenomenon (that could make his employer $3 billion richer) and the internet won't let it go.

By Kim Lachance Shandrow • Jul 27, 2016

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled Pokémon. How would you like to hear Tim Cook cluck that tricky tongue twister twice fast, in his trademark southern drawl? We sure would, now that the world knows he says Pokémon "like a dad." As in completely wrong.

Here's a tip, Cook: Pokémon is pronounced purely phonetically. There is no "man" in Pokémon. I know -- I checked with my 15 year old, and, oh, my 13 year old and 11 year old. Repeat after me: Poh-kay-mon, OK, mon?

The 55-year-old Apple chief executive, who incidentally also dances like a dad, butchered the word "Pokémon" (and had the audacity to even pluralize it) during an Apple earnings call yesterday. He made the oops while raving about the global augmented reality sensation.

And now everyone and their brother won't let him forget it, including the newshounds at The Verge, who dutifully posted the "adorable" evidence of Cook's now-famous faux pas on SoundCloud, because JOURNALISM.

You bet your Jigglypuff we'd be talking up Pokémon Go, too -- and maybe even garbling its name because of the sheer excitement of it all -- if it could potentially make our company $3 billion richer in a couple of years.

But for now we'll ignore that we don't earn $2 million in base salary, plus $8 million in cash incentives. No, we'll distract ourselves by perusing people's touching reactions to Cook's wee verbal slip-up.

Jeez, everything the man does is up for scrutiny, right down to the syllable. Comes with the territory, or does it?

Oh no, @tim_cook called it "Pokeman"
— Jason Snell (@jsnell) July 26, 2016

Moderator: Next question comes from John Moltz

Me: Tim, what's the new AR game everyone is playing?

Cook: Pokayman.

Me: And the plural?
— Moltz (@Moltz) July 26, 2016

Tim Cook just said "Poké-man" during the Apple financial results call. DAD
— Sam Herbst (@mrsamherbst) July 26, 2016

Safe to say Pokemon didn't exist in Tim Cook's youth ... https://t.co/aCqAprwC9P
— Jeremy C. Owens (@jowens510) July 26, 2016

.@tim_cook calling Pokemon "Poke-E-man" reminds me of when @britneyspears called Ke$ha "KEY-sha."

A back-handed acknowledgement of others.
— David Montalvo (@montalvo_d) July 27, 2016

Kim Lachance Shandrow

Former West Coast Editor

Kim Lachance Shandrow is the former West Coast editor at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was a commerce columnist at Los Angeles CityBeat, a news producer at MSNBC and KNBC in Los Angeles and a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times. She has also written for Government Technology magazine, LA Yoga magazine, the Lowell Sun newspaper, HealthCentral.com, PsychCentral.com and the former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Coop. Follow her on Twitter at @Lashandrow. You can also follow her on Facebook here.

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