Why the crazy British pronunciation on car names?

[ryosuke]

we should create a thread in which we collect audiofiles of certain car models pronounced by native speakers to put an end to all discussions.

 

[ishigakisensei]

"Now many of you might have a hard time understanding me because of my accent. Well, technically, I don't have an accent.... this is just the way things are supposed to sound when pronounced properly."

The UK may be where English was invented....but America is where it was perfected.

I have noticed that Americans will more often than not pronunce words exactly as those i nthe country of origin will say them, however the British go to great lengths to change the pronunciation...in order to appear more sophisticated? Impreza is a perfect example and one I forgot. I guess it's a cultural idiosyncrosy.

 

[sandor_]

we should create a thread in which we collect audiofiles of certain car models pronounced by native speakers to put an end to all discussions.

i, for one, would consider that an excellent idea. i'll volunteer server space now. (apple idisk, so i have a huge pipe, only 1 GB of space, but wav or mp3 files should be tiny.)

 

[Mally Dangerous]

Also I wish Americans would say Jag-u-are not Jag-whar. That really annoys me.

so how do you feel about "jag-wire"?

Freakin' Steve Jobs :lol:

 

[ishigakisensei]

peter3hg2 wrote:
Also I wish Americans would say Jag-u-are not Jag-whar. That really annoys me.

I have to agree on that. It's not Jag-WIRE and I don't know why so many say it that way.

 

[No Boss]

Well..... I just see this thread going no where.

 

[un-dee]

As i see it, neither the British nor the Americans seem to be very interested in pronouncing the names right.

For example they pronounce most German and Italian names completely wrong. Clarkson seems to try being a bit accurate, but he fails miserably...

(Murcielago, Gallardo, Ferrari, Mercedes, Coup? (thats french, i know), Touareg, Wiesmann, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Brera, etc etc)

 

[teeb]

Just out of interest who pronounces Audi ow-dee and who pronounces it
or-dee.
And the same for Porsche as in Porsh or Porsh-a

I used to pronounce it Porsh and Aw-day respectively...which is now Poar-sche and Ow-dee, respectively. In a Glaswegian accent, though.

As i see it, neither the British nor the Americans seem to be very interested in pronouncing the names right.

For example they pronounce most German and Italian names completely wrong. Clarkson seems to try being a bit accurate, but he fails miserably...

(Murcielago, Gallardo, Ferrari, Mercedes, Coup? (thats french, i know), Touareg, Wiesmann, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Brera, etc etc)

We try our best, but sometimes it's just too hard, and sounds really unusual and wrong, to pronounce it as the original language intends. Especially if they pick a name like "Murcielago"

It happens the other way round too though - think of Germans pronouncing "w" as "v" [ve vill take over ze vorld!], or Russians pronouncing "v" as "w". [two wodkas please!]

 

[No Boss]

Think of Germans pronouncing "w" as "v" [ve vill take over ze vorld!],

or Russians pronouncing "v" as "w". [two wodkas please!]

HEY!...we do NOT tolerate stereotypes around here buster!

/ :lol:

 

[teeb]

Think of Germans pronouncing "w" as "v" [ve vill take over ze vorld!],

or Russians pronouncing "v" as "w". [two wodkas please!]

HEY!...we do NOT tolerate stereotypes around here buster!

/ :lol:

As far as I'm aware, I'm not stereotyping - or if I am, I'm sorry and am an ignorant English pigdog [schweinhunt is a great insult]. The first comes from a friend's account of a lecture at university, as regards German accents and pronunciation.

And the Russian one I hear every week from the native speaking language assistant.

Okay, so the examples were somewhat fatuous and stereotypical, but it least it wasn't "Wessel approaching, captain!". [/geek]

 

[No Boss]

Think of Germans pronouncing "w" as "v" [ve vill take over ze vorld!],

or Russians pronouncing "v" as "w". [two wodkas please!]

HEY!...we do NOT tolerate stereotypes around here buster!

/ :lol:

As far as I'm aware, I'm not stereotyping - or if I am, I'm sorry and am an ignorant English pigdog [schweinhunt is a great insult]. The first comes from a friend's account of a lecture at university, as regards German accents and pronunciation.

And the Russian one I hear every week from the native speaking language assistant.

Okay, so the examples were somewhat fatuous and stereotypical, but it least it wasn't "Wessel approaching, captain!". [/geek]

teeb, it was a joke . I thought it was funny how you said the German wanted to "take over ze vorld!" and the Russian wanted Vodka.

I still have to figure out how to express sarcasm through the internets.

 

[teeb]

Think of Germans pronouncing "w" as "v" [ve vill take over ze vorld!],

or Russians pronouncing "v" as "w". [two wodkas please!]

HEY!...we do NOT tolerate stereotypes around here buster!

/ :lol:

As far as I'm aware, I'm not stereotyping - or if I am, I'm sorry and am an ignorant English pigdog [schweinhunt is a great insult]. The first comes from a friend's account of a lecture at university, as regards German accents and pronunciation.

And the Russian one I hear every week from the native speaking language assistant.

Okay, so the examples were somewhat fatuous and stereotypical, but it least it wasn't "Wessel approaching, captain!". [/geek]

teeb, it was a joke . I thought it was funny how you said the German wanted to "take over ze vorld!" and the Russian wanted Vodka.

I still have to figure out how to express sarcasm through the internets.

Noes! I have shamed myself by not recognising sarcasm on the internet. I will now hang my head in shame.

Should've noticed, what with the large laughing smiley.

This is why drinking large volumes of 'wodka' last night was not the best of ideas.

 

[mautzel]

we should create a thread in which we collect audiofiles of certain car models pronounced by native speakers to put an end to all discussions.

I'm in

As i see it, neither the British nor the Americans seem to be very interested in pronouncing the names right.
Murcielago, Gallardo, Ferrari, Mercedes, Coup? (thats french, i know), Touareg, Wiesmann, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Brera, etc etc

In case of the Wiesmann you just have to change the spelling into Weasmann, and they'd name that company in a near perfect way - don't have any solution for the French and Italian ones unfortunately.

 

[watto]

I'm not quite sure why this argument even exists.

Different countries pronounce different words differently. Don't berate someone for not pronouncing how you think it should be pronounced. Get over it.

The end.

P.S. I like the audio file idea.

 

[geoff_a_pult]

"Now many of you might have a hard time understanding me because of my accent. Well, technically, I don't have an accent.... this is just the way things are supposed to sound when pronounced properly."

The UK may be where English was invented....but America is where it was perfected.

I have noticed that Americans will more often than not pronunce words exactly as those i nthe country of origin will say them, however the British go to great lengths to change the pronunciation...in order to appear more sophisticated? Impreza is a perfect example and one I forgot. I guess it's a cultural idiosyncrosy.

Also, I would point out this-
US population- 281,421,906 (2000 census)

UK population- 58,789,194 (2001 census)
Australian population - 18,972,350 (2001 census)
Canadian population- 30,007,094 (2001 census, and not all of you speak English)
Sum- 107,768,638 people.

You may win on number of countries, we nearly triple your speaking population.
And don't even get me started on how badly we beat you at speaking weight.

So while I agree with the pronunciation issues on Jaguar and other names that are acutally British, Zed is wrong. Besides, how many other letters end with a pronounced hard consonant like that?

 

[v0od0o]

F, H, L, M, N, R, S, X, and Zed

And I don't see any reason for the "us against you" argument here. This is not your run of the mill flame'em-while-you-can internet forum and I am sure everybody would appreciate a little less hostility.

 

[watto]

So while I agree with the pronunciation issues on Jaguar and other names that are acutally British, Zed is wrong. Besides, how many other letters end with a pronounced hard consonant like that?

Zed is wrong to the Yanks. Zee is wrong to the Poms, Aussies and .

Who cares how someone pronounces it. This is a useless argument that will go nowhere.

Get over the fact that people have different pronunciation the world over.

 

[No Boss]

You may win on number of countries, we nearly triple your speaking population.

It's still their language. We speak English not American.

So while I agree with the pronunciation issues on Jaguar and other names that are acutally British, Zed is wrong. Besides, how many other letters end with a pronounced hard consonant like that?

That's quite a ballsey statement concidering if it weren't for the Brits, we wouldn't be an English speaking country. Ergo, not having this conversation.

/En vez de eso, quiz? todos nosotros hablar?amos como esto

 

[3Colin]

You certainly can't lump Australia and Canada in with America. That's just asking for trouble.

I am a full supporter of the Queen's English. I just love words like "lieutenant" and "'borough" in their proper pronunciations =)

 

[TC]

You may win on number of countries, we nearly triple your speaking population.

It's still their language. We speak English not American.

Consider it evolution. Adapt.