Now I do. Hahaha!
Always Wanted To Know How To Pronounce "Vernel"
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When it comes to brand names there seems to be no right or wrong of pronunciation, it`s whatever manufacturers decide to advertise their products in a country or region.
It can be a lot of fun though to hear what others call well known products.
First time in England when heard what the British call Nivea on TV I almost fell off the couch from laughing.
Another example is Colgate, in Germany it is pronounced like a German word whereas in Austria another German speaking country they pronounce it in English.
To add even more confusion T-Mobile in the USA sounds almost a bit German to my ears whereas in Germany I seem to hear an American accent.
It can be a lot of fun though to hear what others call well known products.
First time in England when heard what the British call Nivea on TV I almost fell off the couch from laughing.
Another example is Colgate, in Germany it is pronounced like a German word whereas in Austria another German speaking country they pronounce it in English.
To add even more confusion T-Mobile in the USA sounds almost a bit German to my ears whereas in Germany I seem to hear an American accent.
I second what MrBoilwash said above.
Global brands usually adapt the pronunciation according to the local markets.
Even "Ford" is pronounced different. Here the "d" almost disappears In Brazil, for example, it sounds almost like "fordjee"
Vita-mix, the "vita" is pronounced as in Italian "la dolce vita"
Xerox (with a z sound here, almost like "zee-rox") sounds like "tchê-rox" in Portuguese.
Knor = key-noor
All that because some nuances from one language simply cannot be pronounced by speakers in certain foreign languages.
For example, until today I couldn't find a single American that can pronounce "São Paulo" naturally as a native Portuguese speaker. No matter how hard they study, for decades, even if they're fluent, it's physically impossible for a native English speaker to pronounce "São", the closest they can get is using the Spanish "San".
Same for me, I'm fluent in English and I'll never, ever be able to pronounce that "English sauce".
Note to add: "A Tata taí? A Tata tá!" Is a dialogue any native Portuguese speaker will listen to that and instantly associate with a question followed by an answer. For an English speaker, the immediate association will be "gosh, they're trying to imitate the sound of a machine gun.
Wascator (pronounces almost like the country in spanish "Ecuador" plus a very strong "RRRRR" is so complicated for Americans to speak that it was adapted to Wasmomat here just because... well, it's easier.
FIAT (sounds like fieeet" here), when actually, in the original pronunciation is almost like "feea" + a T so faint that is almost inexistent.
Global brands usually adapt the pronunciation according to the local markets.
Even "Ford" is pronounced different. Here the "d" almost disappears In Brazil, for example, it sounds almost like "fordjee"
Vita-mix, the "vita" is pronounced as in Italian "la dolce vita"
Xerox (with a z sound here, almost like "zee-rox") sounds like "tchê-rox" in Portuguese.
Knor = key-noor
All that because some nuances from one language simply cannot be pronounced by speakers in certain foreign languages.
For example, until today I couldn't find a single American that can pronounce "São Paulo" naturally as a native Portuguese speaker. No matter how hard they study, for decades, even if they're fluent, it's physically impossible for a native English speaker to pronounce "São", the closest they can get is using the Spanish "San".
Same for me, I'm fluent in English and I'll never, ever be able to pronounce that "English sauce".
Note to add: "A Tata taí? A Tata tá!" Is a dialogue any native Portuguese speaker will listen to that and instantly associate with a question followed by an answer. For an English speaker, the immediate association will be "gosh, they're trying to imitate the sound of a machine gun.
Wascator (pronounces almost like the country in spanish "Ecuador" plus a very strong "RRRRR" is so complicated for Americans to speak that it was adapted to Wasmomat here just because... well, it's easier.
FIAT (sounds like fieeet" here), when actually, in the original pronunciation is almost like "feea" + a T so faint that is almost inexistent.
It took me almost two years living in Los Angeles to realize I always pronounced "Wilshire Blvd" and "Ximeno Avenue" horribly wrong. (Thanks Kevin for correcting me years ago)
Wilshire (and gosh, I lived in England for many years, shame on me) I was pronouncing like "Yorkshire". Btw, Google Maps and Waze need to learn it's pronounced "will-sher" because they also pronounce "will-shy-er"
And Ximeno... wow... it's "ZEE-meno" actually, that zee sound (ximeno, xerox) is a tongue twister for native Portuguese speakers.
Wilshire (and gosh, I lived in England for many years, shame on me) I was pronouncing like "Yorkshire". Btw, Google Maps and Waze need to learn it's pronounced "will-sher" because they also pronounce "will-shy-er"
And Ximeno... wow... it's "ZEE-meno" actually, that zee sound (ximeno, xerox) is a tongue twister for native Portuguese speakers.
Xiaomi
Huge debate at our store. How to pronounce it, etc.
Huge debate at our store. How to pronounce it, etc.
Mrboilwash
Although I remember one local vacuum cleaner guy always got people to pronounce Miele as “Miley” just so that way customers when they walk in they go “skews me do you have any Miley bags?” And it always crack up laughing with that not in front of a customer but like after they have serve that customer and said customer had left the store
Although I remember one local vacuum cleaner guy always got people to pronounce Miele as “Miley” just so that way customers when they walk in they go “skews me do you have any Miley bags?” And it always crack up laughing with that not in front of a customer but like after they have serve that customer and said customer had left the store
I recently had this video in my recommendations
I avoid the entire matter by
calling my very most favorite commercial sauce by its name, "Lea and Perrins!"
Easier than storebought pie.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
calling my very most favorite commercial sauce by its name, "Lea and Perrins!"
Easier than storebought pie.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
Xiaomi
That's super easy!
it's pronounced "Shaw-me" in Chinese. (the "shaw" pronounced as in "Robertshaw")
Although it means "Little Rice", the name is actually a prank with food names related to phones (Apple, Blackberry, Orange) + China and rice stereotype + the super impressive camera their phones have, intentionally to make it sound almost like "Show me" in English.
That's super easy!
it's pronounced "Shaw-me" in Chinese. (the "shaw" pronounced as in "Robertshaw")
Although it means "Little Rice", the name is actually a prank with food names related to phones (Apple, Blackberry, Orange) + China and rice stereotype + the super impressive camera their phones have, intentionally to make it sound almost like "Show me" in English.
warmsecondrinse
Well-known member
"Squirrel" is supposed to be an extremely difficult animal name to say for speakers of many languages.
I can't think of any English words ending in '-e' with the 'e' pronounced even vaguely close to the short 'e' of 'get'. So the 'e' in 'Miele' is extremely difficult because (IMO) the programming against it is so strong.
I totally cheat with some sounds in some languages by using approximations that are closer to the right sound than there is in English.
"São Paulo" I pronounce "Saą" as if it were a real word in Polish, except that I elide the 2 vowels more than one would in Polish.
Is it exactly right? No, but people are usually surprised to hear any nasal 'a'
Trilled 'r'? I totally use the Polish trilled 'r' which vibrates further back (to my ear) than in the Romance languages.
Back in the 90's there used to be a ton of websites to help language teachers teach their students to trill an 'r'. Don't know if there still are.
What's funny about this is that most Americans who have family members who speak a language that trills the 'r' CAN themselves trill an 'r' even if they only know a handful of words. They have no idea how they do it because they learned it as a baby so they have no idea how to teach their friends to do it.
Another weird thing is that I've met a lot of Deaf people from other countries and even if their speech is incomprehensible to native speakers they CAN trill an 'r' if the spoken language has it. And just to rub salt into the wound, more than a few have told that that the trilled 'r' is one of the few sounds they successfully mastered as kids. They're amazed when I tell them it's very difficult for hearing English speakers to say.
"FIAT (sounds like fieeet" here), when actually, in the original pronunciation is almost like "feea" + a T so faint that is almost inexistent."
It's really hard for many English speakers to end any word with a final '-d' or '-t' with the tongue still at the top of the mouth.
There's one word I never got even close to saying properly. The word for 'glass' (the substance) in the Abruzzese dialect of Italian.....
In regular Italian it's 'vetro'.... easy. In their dialect it's 'veutr' with 'eu' like the French word 'fleur' except that you have your tongue almost but not quite sticking out of your mouth WHILE you're saying that 'eu'. I cannot get my mouth to do it. Complete failure. When I try I sound like my mouth is having a seizure.
If you're wondering about the final '-tr', the 'r' is trilled and voiceLESS.
I can't think of any English words ending in '-e' with the 'e' pronounced even vaguely close to the short 'e' of 'get'. So the 'e' in 'Miele' is extremely difficult because (IMO) the programming against it is so strong.
I totally cheat with some sounds in some languages by using approximations that are closer to the right sound than there is in English.
"São Paulo" I pronounce "Saą" as if it were a real word in Polish, except that I elide the 2 vowels more than one would in Polish.
Is it exactly right? No, but people are usually surprised to hear any nasal 'a'
Trilled 'r'? I totally use the Polish trilled 'r' which vibrates further back (to my ear) than in the Romance languages.
Back in the 90's there used to be a ton of websites to help language teachers teach their students to trill an 'r'. Don't know if there still are.
What's funny about this is that most Americans who have family members who speak a language that trills the 'r' CAN themselves trill an 'r' even if they only know a handful of words. They have no idea how they do it because they learned it as a baby so they have no idea how to teach their friends to do it.
Another weird thing is that I've met a lot of Deaf people from other countries and even if their speech is incomprehensible to native speakers they CAN trill an 'r' if the spoken language has it. And just to rub salt into the wound, more than a few have told that that the trilled 'r' is one of the few sounds they successfully mastered as kids. They're amazed when I tell them it's very difficult for hearing English speakers to say.
"FIAT (sounds like fieeet" here), when actually, in the original pronunciation is almost like "feea" + a T so faint that is almost inexistent."
It's really hard for many English speakers to end any word with a final '-d' or '-t' with the tongue still at the top of the mouth.
There's one word I never got even close to saying properly. The word for 'glass' (the substance) in the Abruzzese dialect of Italian.....
In regular Italian it's 'vetro'.... easy. In their dialect it's 'veutr' with 'eu' like the French word 'fleur' except that you have your tongue almost but not quite sticking out of your mouth WHILE you're saying that 'eu'. I cannot get my mouth to do it. Complete failure. When I try I sound like my mouth is having a seizure.
If you're wondering about the final '-tr', the 'r' is trilled and voiceLESS.
Persil: I've always thought it's pronounced "PURR-suhl" (Purr as in the sound a cat makes). In the US adverts I've heard, they pronounce it Purr-SILL.
kenmoreguy89
Well-known member
Slightly different
