yes-- i have heard that about the little flower--

Herman Badillo-- who is PR, but hung out with italians can also "speak in two languages" and when he first ran for office in the Bronx "won" over large parts of the italian population by having his name intentionaly mispronounced as Ba dillo (to rhym with Brillo) and used italian gestures. Now his name is alway pronounced as ba deho which is as close as NYer's get to the spanish pronounciation.