Things Americans Mispronounce, Like IKEA and Bayer
When we discovered the correct pronunciation of Ikea, we have been surprised. Here are TK phrases Americans had been mispronouncing.
More than many languages, English has a tendency to fortunately take in phrases from other cultures, however every now and then those words get lost in translation — both through misinterpretation of that means or through mispronunciation. The same is true for international brands, as we learned most acutely when a Swedish football participant published to us we would been announcing IKEA fallacious for a pair a long time. Scroll via to learn all the tactics we have been butchering international words and manufacturers — and how they're intended to be said.
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1. IKEA
It's your favourite place for build-it-yourself furnishings and meatballs and you may have been announcing it this flawed all this time. Chances are, if you're from the U.K., Canada, or the U.S., you've gotten been announcing eye-KEY-uh. However, the Swedish corporate is pronounced very differently in Scandinavia. During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, L.A. Galaxy player Zlatan Ibrahimović, who is Swedish, alerted us all to the correct pronunciation. It's "ee-KAY-uh," via the way.
2. "Bokeh"
Not a emblem, however reasonably a time period for a photograph impact, it changed into more prevalent in American consciousness due to a recent iPhone ad promoting the Depth Control feature at the Photos app. Too dangerous that ad taught us the improper approach to say it!
In the advert, a mother will get disenchanted when her friend "bokehs" her child. "Bokeh" is the Anglicized form of a Japanese phrase for a blurred effect at the background of a photograph, drawing focal point on the object or particular person within the foreground. The girls within the ad say "BOH-KUH", but it's pronounced "boh-KAY" — closer to the phrase "bouquet" than the Spanish word for "mouth."
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3. Fage yogurt
Thanks to commercials, lots Americans know this Greek yogurt emblem is pronounced "Fa-yeh" (which is the Greek verb for "eat). But you'd be forgiven if you incorrectly pronounced it with a soft "g" or "j" sound so it rhymes with "mage." However, whatever you do, don't pronounce it with a hard "g"! If you need help remembering how to pronounce it, think of the "y" sound at the beginning of the word "gyro."
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4. Hyundai
How you're probably saying it: HUN-DYE. If you live in the U.K., you might say high-UUN-digh, which is just... baffling.
How it's supposed to be said: HUN-DAY (rhymes with "Sunday")
(The name comes from the Korean work for "modernity.")
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5. Zagat
The Zagat Guide is an American brand, yet the majority of people who refer to the restaurant guide are saying the name wrong. Named for creators Tim and Nina Zagat, it's pronounced zuh-GAHT, not ZA-gut, as many say it.
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6. Ellevest
For almost as long as I knew of this woman-centered investment platform, I figured, as you mght have, that it was pronounced EL-VEST (as in the letter L and the sleeveless garment). However, founder Sallie Krawcheck would know best, and she says "EL-uh-vest".
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7. Bayer
OK, this one isn't our fault. For years Bayer aspirin has been advertised to us with the pronunciation "BAY-er," but the German company has a completely different pronunciation in Deutschland. There, it sounds more like BUY-er. I have no plans to change how I say it, though. At this point, any non-Germans in earshot would just be confused.
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8. Cetaphil
People seem to be split 50-50 on the pronunciation of Cetaphil, so whos' right? If you're Team SET-uh-fill, sorry, but you're wrong. It's SEAT-uh-fill. The reason is the "Ceta" comes from cetyl alcohol, the main active ingredient in the cleanser.
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9. Nutella
For reasons nobody can explain, many Americans refer to this delicious chocolate hazelnut spread of the gods as NEW-tell-uh. I've done it, too. This drives Europeans absolutely batty, however. They've been enjoying the delicious spread from Italy for decades and rightly point out we don't call filberts "hazelnewts." It's NUT-el-uh, guys.
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10. Miele
This German appliance producer will get a ton of (mistaken) pronunciations. "Miley" (as in Cyrus), or "Meal" seem to be the most common ones. However, the correct pronunciation is MEE-LUH. It rhymes with Sheila (or Mila, as in Mila Kunis).
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11. Balmain
We could devote an entire post to French brands people say wrong, but perhaps the most common is Balmain. Americans have a tendency to say "BALL-MAIN" but it's pronounced 'Bahl-mahn" and the "n" is best very moderately pronounced in the back of the throat. See additionally Lanvin, which is pronounced "Lahn-vahn" with two swallowed Ns.
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12. Ralph Lauren
As much at Americans stumble over announcing French manufacturers, they also every now and then make American manufacturers unnecessarily foreign. Ralph Lauren is from the U.S. and adopted the last name Lauren in desire of his birth identify, Lifshitz. His followed title is pronounced just like the 2 common first names. People regularly say Ralph Lo-REN, kind of like Italian actress Sophia Loren. Of course, if you watched Friends, Rachel taught you find out how to say this one right.
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13. Adidas
This German shoe emblem doesn't stand for "All Day I Dream About Sex" up to Korn wanted you to assume so, and it is usually not pronounced "uh-DEE-duhs," both. It's "AH-dee-DAHS," because it's from a nickname for discovered Adolph "Adi" Dassler.
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14. Porsche
Whether you are saying "Porsh" (like "porch" with a "sh" sound) or "POR-SHUH," you might be hurting Germans' ears. It's extra like Poor-shay, with the R rolling at the back of the throat.
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15. Moschino
This a laugh Italian emblem is almost definitely the one who offers Americans essentially the most trouble, for the reason that letter C can get tremendous confusing on this Romance language. Many other folks say mo-SHEE-no or moss-CHEE-no. Neither is correct, as a result of a "ch" in Italian will get a difficult "k" sound. (the sound we write as "ch" comes from a double cc, like in cappuccino.) The right kind pronunciation of Moschino, due to this fact, is mo-SKI-no.
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