Mispronunciation of car make/model

[MTech535]

The one that bugs me is the Tour de France.

Usually pronounced as tor de frorns.

[MTech535]

Where the Americans go wrong I'd pronouncing a as ar.

Nissan = nee san = nee sarn in American
FIAT = fee at = fee art in American.

[otolith]

MTech535 said:

Pronounce it as We are gay using generic German accent.

AMG, VAG, it's like the Judy Garland fan club in the German motor industry.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Winston Churchill said:

It is the inalienable right of every Englishman to pronounce foreign words exactly as he pleases

...and I'm happy to go with that. After all if I'm visiting the largest city in Scotland I don't say that I'm off to 'Glazzgee'.

[Yiliterate]

mellowman said:

Phaeton is usually pronounced fate'n, when apparently it should be fight'n

Watch it pal, that's fight'n talk...

[lucido grigio]

colin_p said:

Mondeo Vignale to any self respecting Catchphrase watching Englishmen of a certain age is;

Mon-dee-o Vig-nail or if you are from Yorkshire Vig'n-ale

not

Mon-day-o Vig-narl-ay

Vin yar lay.

And Barchetta is not Barch etta ,it's Bark etta....

[Hugo a Gogo]

Shakermaker said:

If we are going to argue about this, then can we ask someone who knows:

If it is meant to be pronounced a certain way, then do the manufacturers sign off on the pronounciation used in the TV and Radio advertising where it is spoken out loud?

Therefore, is Dacia actually to be pronounched Dachia, because that's how Ralph Ineson says it, or is he saying it wrong, but nobody bothered to correct him when he did his voiceover?

Datcha is how the Romanians say it, much like Lantcha is how the Ey-ties say Lancia

wiki says the Roman name of Dacia was pronounced Day-she-a, how they know that, I dunno

[Hugo a Gogo]

mellowman said:

Phaeton is usually pronounced fate'n, when apparently it should be fight'n

not sure about this one either, various things more like fa-ay-ton, or fay-ton depening on how Greek you want to go, but never fye

a Phaeton was originally a very lightweight carriage, nothing like the VW Phat one

[anonymous-user]

otolith said:

Spumfry said:

No idea how to pronounce 'Pajero', which means sadly I can never own a Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution.

padger-oh?
pa-hair-oh?
pa-jeero?

There's audio here;

http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/pajero

Blimey! I definitely wasn't expecting the Spanish definition.

[Mound Dawg]

Agent XXX said:

Camoradi said:

Alfa "Romeo" As in Juliette's geezer

Yes. And they're probably the same bell ends that spell it Alpha.

We get a lot (and Alfa dealers probably do now too):-

"Gweelier".

[Hellboy1980]

DeLorean

I have always say it as De Lore re an but I have heard it as De lah rian

Not sure what is right now

[Hugo a Gogo]

Spumfry said:

Blimey! I definitely wasn't expecting the Spanish definition.

Nobody expects the Spanish Definition!

[vikingaero]

When talking to friends of certain cars I will throw in some mispronunciations to annoy them:

"Your Porch looks quite nice in white"

"I got a Toyota Priapus like yours at Dublin Airport..."

[Sunnysider]

I'd feel like a right knobhead if I referred to either my 911 or Boxster as a Porscha.

My cars, I'll call them what I want.

[vikingaero]

Sunnysider said:

I'd feel like a right knobhead if I referred to either my 911 or Boxster as a Porscha.

My cars, I'll call them what I want.

I agree and don't see anything wrong with regional variations. It's very Daily Mail to want to constantly lord it over others. Quinoa?

[shielsy]

Used to know a lad who would pronounce (Honda) Integra as innt-ur-grah

Boiled my piss

[VladD]

vikingaero said:

Sunnysider said:

I'd feel like a right knobhead if I referred to either my 911 or Boxster as a Porscha.

My cars, I'll call them what I want.

I agree and don't see anything wrong with regional variations. It's very Daily Mail to want to constantly lord it over others. Quinoa?

I have to disagree a bit with Sunnysider. You may own an individual car, but you don't own the whole brand or company. However Mr. Porsche pronounced his name is surely how the car should also be pronounced shouldn't it?

[Hugo a Gogo]

shielsy said:

Used to know a lad who would pronounce (Honda) Integra as innt-ur-grah

Boiled my piss

I think I do that like 'integrated' but stopping with an 'uh' after the R
how should it be pronounced? like Int EGG ra?

[VladD]

Hugo a Gogo said:

shielsy said:

Used to know a lad who would pronounce (Honda) Integra as innt-ur-grah

Boiled my piss

I think I do that like 'integrated' but stopping with an 'uh' after the R
how should it be pronounced? like Int EGG ra?

I'd pronounce integrated as int-egg-rated.

[Bennet]

VladD said:

I have to disagree a bit. You may own an individual car, but you don't own the whole brand or company. However Mr. Porsche pronounced his name is surely how the car should also be pronounced shouldn't it?

I think there should be a generally agreed rendering of foreign names using English language sounds, as close as we can reasonably get to the original without putting on an accent. Once that's established, there's no need for anyone to go around saying "Well in the original German it sounds like ..." with the implication that we ought to change how everyone says it. And definitely no one outside of a classroom should be putting on a foreign accent for the purpose of saying a single foreign word.

"Porsha" would have been fine, and it's now coming in to the mainstream which is also fine, although it still sounds a bit put-on in some circumstances. IMO "Porsh" is still perfectly acceptable in everyday speech and is less likely to make you sound like a ponce.