Hyundai - Hun-de or Hi-un-die?

[BeijingDave]

One of the problems is, of course, saying something in English with a 'foreign' pronunciation can sound ridiculous and affected. Particularly the case with French placenames, products and firms. So often firms will accept a local but different (inaccurate) pronunciation.

 

[AlterEgo]

Bombardier is a classic over here.

Many people call it “bom-ba-deer” - including some of the company’s own employees!

It’s a French name, pronounced “bom-bar-dee-ay”. In practice you cannot enforce pronunciation of words in your language by people who speak another.

 

[Mat17]

I always pronounce Hyundai Tucson as Hi-yun-die Tuk-son

Don't get me started on Pew-ghee-yot - Peugeot.

 

[tomuk]

Bombardier is a classic over here.

Many people call it “bom-ba-deer” - including some of the company’s own employees!

It’s a French name, pronounced “bom-bar-dee-ay”. In practice you cannot enforce pronunciation of words in your language by people who speak another.

But Bombardier pronounced

bom-ba-deer

has been a rank in the British military since the 16th century, more recently used to describe airforce bomb aimers and is the name of a popular ale.

 

[greyman42]

German is pronounced as it is written, so Audi and Aldi do have an A at the start, though I have heard "olldi" before, usually by older people.

I heard Karcher (power washers) pronounced something along the lines of Kurker in a documentary.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I heard Karcher (power washers) pronounced something along the lines of Kurker in a documentary.

The A is an A-umlaut (with the two little dots above it), which is pronounced with an E sound near enough the same as you'd say "ae" in English. So it's a bit like "Kercher", with the CH being guttural a bit like it would be in Scouse.

In German generally you can replace the Umlauted letters with an E after the letter, and the Eszett with SS. Then you say what you see

 

[AlterEgo]

But Bombardier pronounced

has been a rank in the British military since the 16th century, more recently used to describe airforce bomb aimers and is the name of a popular ale.

Yes, but it’s not the way the proper noun for the company is pronounced.

 

[tomuk]

Yes, but it’s not the way the proper noun for the company is pronounced.

I know that but surely that is one of the reasons for the confusion in pronunciation.

 

[m79900]

To everyone, for a very long time, it was high-un-dye, and I don’t think that’s changing anytime soon. I think that what they’re doing, is trying to reinvent their image in a desperate push upmarket.

 

[Speed43125]

I've noticed various late 90s and early 2000s television reviews refer to it as hyung-dai, which is closer to the Korean, but by the late 2000s seem to have all moved over to 'hi-un-dye'.

Richard Hammond review from 2002:

 

[greyman42]

To everyone, for a very long time, it was high-un-dye, and I don’t think that’s changing anytime soon. I think that what they’re doing, is trying to reinvent their image in a desperate push upmarket.

I am not sure why they would be "desperate". I get the impression that the brand is doing fine in the UK.

 

[m79900]

Yes, but they’re best known for budget cars. They want to be seen as more of a luxury manufacturer, like BMW or Jaguar

 

[greyman42]

Yes, but they’re best known for budget cars. They want to be seen as more of a luxury manufacturer, like BMW or Jaguar

I would say their cars are considered better than budget cars but i take your point.

 

[tomuk]

Yes, but they’re best known for budget cars. They want to be seen as more of a luxury manufacturer, like BMW or Jaguar

All manufacturers are trying to move upmarket as a justification for the now ridiculous car prices.

 

[m79900]

True. Crazy to think that the UKs cheapest car is now over £13k!

 

[BananaRepublic]

True. Crazy to think that the UKs cheapest car is now over £13k!

That’s way below the norm as well.
The likes of Ford Fiesta’s and VW Polo’s start from around £18k or £19k, with the most popular trim and engine models costing around the £21k to £23k mark
Both of those cars are going out of production very soon.

 

[m79900]

When's the Polo getting discontinued?! I hadn't heard that.