It’s one thing to mispronounce your neighbor’s name, and a whole other to actually go to a store looking for NAIK shoes only to realize not a single store assistant is taking you seriously. Or telling your friends how much you like that posh Italian fashion brand Versaakay. Or showing off your brand new Uhdeedass tracksuit.
Some people clearly won’t raise a brow and will totally get you. Others, though, will burst out laughing because, let’s face it, this is defo not how you pronounce these popular brand names. So in order to save us all from eye-rolls and unnecessary giggles, the list of the top most common faux pas and the correct way to pronounce your fave brand names is in down below.
You see, knowledge is power, and the more of it you have, the more you can go out into the world and become a brat who knows-it-all-and-doesn’t-miss-a-chance-to-correct-others: something we all secretly wanna be, but would never dare to admit.
(h/t: Scoopwhoop.com)
Update: some of the pronunciations have been corrected after the post was published.
This post may include affiliate links.
To find out more about the confusing world of pronunciations, Bored Panda spoke to Max, a professional English language teacher with over ten years of experience who runs a successful YouTube channel “English With Max.”
Max told us that when it comes to right and wrong pronunciations, there’s really no straightforward answer. “What's considered wrong in one language won't necessarily be considered wrong in another language.”
As a result, “Most foreign names have one or two common and accepted pronunciations in a different language—normally they'll resemble the original, but they won't be exactly the same.” Max gave us an example: “the way German speakers pronounce Mercedes-Benz when they're speaking German is different to how it is most commonly said in English. The anglicised version(s) isn't wrong, it's just different to how it's said in German.”
all wrong. I am french and this is pronounced " EVE SAIN (like PAIN) LORAN (like FRANC without the C)
The English teacher explained that “If you try to stick too closely to how it's said in the original language when you're speaking a different language, there's a chance that people won't understand you, or you'll just sound ridiculous and pretentious.”
According to Max, the same thing applies to the names of well-known places. “Some people try to pronounce place names the way locals say them, but I think most would agree that pronouncing 'Paris' the way the French say it ('Puhree' with a rolled R in the back of the throat) would sound very strange in English (and in many other languages).”
Moreover, Max said that there are also names, especially English ones, that often don’t follow common pronunciation rules and as a result, even native speakers won’t always know how to pronounce them just by looking at them.
It actually depends on the region. In Eastern Europe it is pronouncer NEE-KAY, which is very close to the Greek pronunciation, from which the word actually originates (Greek Goddess NIKE).
Actually the Nike chairman cleared this up. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/nike-pronounced-nikey-confirms-guy-who-ought-know-9470111.html
Load More Replies...
Is there really anyone on earth who doesn't know how to pronounce Nike?
Yes cause not everybody is an English native speaker. French people have their own way to pronounce it!
Load More Replies...
i ask to pronounce MIKE. They say 'MAIK' When there writes NIKE they say NAIKEY. How do you say MIKE TYSON? MAIKEY TYSON or MAIK TYSON?
I think it's more "nigh-key" where I'm from... Imma smack someone if I hear it pronounced naik one more time
But...but...we don't say "I'm going to go ride my by-key", do we? Or "I'm going on a hy-key", right? 🤨 (I don't ly-key English very much right now... 🙄😒 )
They’re from Oregon. It’s Nai-Key. It’s how they intended it to be pronounced. You can say it however you like, but it’s wrong. 😉
Every italian like me and actually we are also completely aware it's wrong lol
Load More Replies...
Well, since it's the name of the ancient Greek goddess of victory it should actually be pronounced "nee-ka"
No, this is the name of a company. Inspired by a Greek goddess or not, we’re discussing the name of an Oregonian company, independent of the Greek goddess.
Load More Replies...
Among some brand names that native English speakers sometimes struggle with are Chevrolet, Renault, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Citroën, and Hoegaarden. “These all have anglicised versions, but if they've never heard them before, an English speaker would probably have no idea how to pronounce these. Adobe (an American brand) also causes some confusion,” Max said.
She advises everyone who’s not sure how to pronounce one thing or another to look up a commercial on YouTube (in the language that you speak or are trying to learn) and see how it's said in that ad.
Not according to all the TV commercials. You do realize the company doesn't use the German pronunciation outside of the German speaking region, right?
Trying to read either the wrong or correct pronunciation both sound horribly wrong in most of these. If only there was a standardized alphabet, tailored to explaining sounds...
You mean like some kind of international phonetic alphabet? Too bad it hasn't been invented yet :(
Load More Replies...
Ohh, this post is soooo wrong! 100points for the confidence, and a big fat ZERO for being such a know-it-all and misleading people. Do your research first and let the grammatics lesson to the professionals...mmmokay? Thx
Also Germans, Canadians, and Russians, in my personal experience. Unless they took four years of French in school in some cases.
Load More Replies...
I've never spoke none of these wrong.... I thing Portuguese is one of the most versatile languages with so many phonemes and sounds, and the São Paulo city accent is one of the hardest - but we can mimic others easier...
All of this is wrong, either use phonetic symbols or link a correct pronunciation audio clip.
Well, even the audio clips can be any old bod having a go so you need to pick with care. Though this chap would like to share his frustration 🤣 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG7GBGcABYQ
Load More Replies...
Well, this sucked. This article is a true embarrassment to Bored Panda and its editors.
Some of these are so well known, how do people even mispronounce them? Like who doesn't know it's "Nie-kee?" Not impressed with this list.
This 'how to pronounce it' way is a bit confusing tbh, since there is no transcription in IPA. At least for not native English speakers :/
Yeah they should have used IPA. Even in English it is the wrong pronunciation. Like 'tawn' in 'Benetton' is not right phonetically, 'th' in Vuitton etc... is the incorrect phonetics. Valiant effort but unfortunately the authors aren't strong in phonetics in general, either english or otherwise. Thats why IPA exists.
Load More Replies...
I thought the incorrect pronunciations in this were just anti-American stereotypes. Are you telling me they're real ?
Try Ukraine-Lithuania-Belarus for these mispronunciations. Even in Poland they do better at French.
Load More Replies...
All this time and I have been sayingVOLKS-WAGON and not VOLKS-VAH-GUN!??! dang...
Should have contained Hyundai too, which sounds totally different in Korean (Hyun-de).
Really? People are so r******d these days they can't be bothered to use a brand's name properly?
One of the worst BP articles I've ever seen. Still it's enough to make me get back to work.
You can find all pronunciations on Wikipedia in IPA... And we're not interested in luxury brands either. ;-)
While we're at it, the jing in Beijing is pronounced like jingle, not zhzhzhing.
Okay smart arses, how to YOU pronounce the Brand "ASOS"? clock is ticking.
The way I see it, if I'm paying for it I'll pronounce it the way I think it should be.
It's spelled Porsche. So, y'know... Would help right there.
Load More Replies...
at least one of these are BS. though, I'm not one to police anyone who said a foreign brand name wrong. if you don't speak the language, of course you're going to say it as how are educated to pronounce it in your own language.
It's good to be aware of how to pronounce things though, even just to educate ourselves. As someone whos first name was constantly anglicized, people not even trying to pronounce things from my culture felt lazy and disrespectful at times. That said, lots of brand names have just evolved in pronunciation because that's what language does. Still, its good to know how you're supposed to say words or brand names etc. Unfortunately, all the Italian ones are not quite right, and many of the French ones too, thus all this article is doing is spreading more misinformation, etc.
Load More Replies...
The person(s) who put this together needs to first learn how to pronounce these brands themselves! A lot of the “incorrect” pronunciations I’ve never heard anyone say...ever. Most of the “correct” pronunciations are wrong!
I always cannot imagine ppl posting things unless they're absolutely sure. #-/ Obviously they do.
Load More Replies...
Why would bored panda even post this? Has anyone ever had trouble pronouncing Nike?
Tbh can you imagine how pretentious someone would sound if they had like a plain (I mean plain as in not super strong) American accent but said some of these the way they're "supposed" to be pronounced? It would be like those people who go to a Mexican restaurant and try and say the food items with an exaggerated accent.
Don't know Asus and would have got Hermes wrong (heard of, but don't know what they sell), but the rest (with the exception of Volkswagen, which I disagree with) are well known. At least I thought so.
Trying to read either the wrong or correct pronunciation both sound horribly wrong in most of these. If only there was a standardized alphabet, tailored to explaining sounds...
You mean like some kind of international phonetic alphabet? Too bad it hasn't been invented yet :(
Load More Replies... Ohh, this post is soooo wrong! 100points for the confidence, and a big fat ZERO for being such a know-it-all and misleading people. Do your research first and let the grammatics lesson to the professionals...mmmokay? Thx
Also Germans, Canadians, and Russians, in my personal experience. Unless they took four years of French in school in some cases.
Load More Replies... I've never spoke none of these wrong.... I thing Portuguese is one of the most versatile languages with so many phonemes and sounds, and the São Paulo city accent is one of the hardest - but we can mimic others easier...
All of this is wrong, either use phonetic symbols or link a correct pronunciation audio clip.
Well, even the audio clips can be any old bod having a go so you need to pick with care. Though this chap would like to share his frustration 🤣 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG7GBGcABYQ
Load More Replies... Well, this sucked. This article is a true embarrassment to Bored Panda and its editors.
Some of these are so well known, how do people even mispronounce them? Like who doesn't know it's "Nie-kee?" Not impressed with this list.
This 'how to pronounce it' way is a bit confusing tbh, since there is no transcription in IPA. At least for not native English speakers :/
Yeah they should have used IPA. Even in English it is the wrong pronunciation. Like 'tawn' in 'Benetton' is not right phonetically, 'th' in Vuitton etc... is the incorrect phonetics. Valiant effort but unfortunately the authors aren't strong in phonetics in general, either english or otherwise. Thats why IPA exists.
Load More Replies... I thought the incorrect pronunciations in this were just anti-American stereotypes. Are you telling me they're real ?
Try Ukraine-Lithuania-Belarus for these mispronunciations. Even in Poland they do better at French.
Load More Replies... All this time and I have been sayingVOLKS-WAGON and not VOLKS-VAH-GUN!??! dang...
Should have contained Hyundai too, which sounds totally different in Korean (Hyun-de).
Really? People are so r******d these days they can't be bothered to use a brand's name properly?
One of the worst BP articles I've ever seen. Still it's enough to make me get back to work.
You can find all pronunciations on Wikipedia in IPA... And we're not interested in luxury brands either. ;-)
While we're at it, the jing in Beijing is pronounced like jingle, not zhzhzhing.
Okay smart arses, how to YOU pronounce the Brand "ASOS"? clock is ticking.
The way I see it, if I'm paying for it I'll pronounce it the way I think it should be.
It's spelled Porsche. So, y'know... Would help right there.
Load More Replies... at least one of these are BS. though, I'm not one to police anyone who said a foreign brand name wrong. if you don't speak the language, of course you're going to say it as how are educated to pronounce it in your own language.
It's good to be aware of how to pronounce things though, even just to educate ourselves. As someone whos first name was constantly anglicized, people not even trying to pronounce things from my culture felt lazy and disrespectful at times. That said, lots of brand names have just evolved in pronunciation because that's what language does. Still, its good to know how you're supposed to say words or brand names etc. Unfortunately, all the Italian ones are not quite right, and many of the French ones too, thus all this article is doing is spreading more misinformation, etc.
Load More Replies... The person(s) who put this together needs to first learn how to pronounce these brands themselves! A lot of the “incorrect” pronunciations I’ve never heard anyone say...ever. Most of the “correct” pronunciations are wrong!
I always cannot imagine ppl posting things unless they're absolutely sure. #-/ Obviously they do.
Load More Replies... Why would bored panda even post this? Has anyone ever had trouble pronouncing Nike?
Tbh can you imagine how pretentious someone would sound if they had like a plain (I mean plain as in not super strong) American accent but said some of these the way they're "supposed" to be pronounced? It would be like those people who go to a Mexican restaurant and try and say the food items with an exaggerated accent.
Don't know Asus and would have got Hermes wrong (heard of, but don't know what they sell), but the rest (with the exception of Volkswagen, which I disagree with) are well known. At least I thought so.
