Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate This Thread
Hop To
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3
#3942145 - 04/20/14 10:18 PM Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names  
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 3,814
Plainsman Offline
Senior Member
Plainsman  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 3,814
Vikings Season Ticket Holder
I'm talking about common names of businesses, not the usual differences say between Brits and Americans. I was in a department store in Sydney couple of months back looking for a baseball cap to keep the sun out of my eyes while I walked around Sydney between rainstorms. So I asked this young woman employee where I could find one. After scratching her head once or twice, she said "oh, if you go up one (level) you'll find Nike. Try Nike."

The problem is she pronounced Nike like "bike" or "hike" or "like." I've always called the athletic apparel company 'Ni-kee." In fact, I've been in Nike's headquarters in Oregon. It was a business trip. They pronounced their own company as 'Ni-kee' not 'Nike' as in 'bike.' I think they know how their own company name is supposed to be pronounced.

Still, I was thrown off by this young woman in Sydney. Twice I said to her "oh, you mean Ni-kee? Correct? You mean Ni-kee?" She replied again with the 'Nike." She thought I was crazy.

Paranoid about it, I asked my team members. I have an international team that works for me. A person in Singapore, a person in London, a person in Colombia, and other people in the USA. I asked my international team how they pronounced the company name. They all got it wrong.

Why do foreigners insist on calling Nike "Nike" instead of the correct "Ni-kee?"


Acer: XB 280HK 28" 3840 X 2160, 1ms, w/Nvidia GSync
Corsair: White Graphite 760T Full Tower
Corsair: 16GB Vengeance LPX 2800MHz RAM
Corsair: SP2500 2.1 Gaming Speaker System
INTEL: Six-Core, i7 5820K CPU @4.2Hz
ASUS RTX OC 2080
Logitech 920 Wheel and Pedal System with Wheel Stand Pro
Saitek Pro Flight Control System with Wheel Stand Pro
Saitek X55 HOTAS
XBOX One S
Track IR5

Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#3942148 - 04/20/14 10:23 PM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Plainsman]  
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 15,827
Mace71 Offline
Dread pirate Mace
Mace71  Offline
Dread pirate Mace
Veteran

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 15,827
Darlington, UK.
It is Nike here and always was Nike until some years back people started calling it Ni-kee. I will continue to say it correctly as Nike smile


Antec 902 | Intel i7 920 2.66Ghz OC'd to 3.40GHz | MSI GeForce GTX 660 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 | Corsair 6GB DDR3 | Coolermaster V8 CPU Cooler | W7 64

"There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing." Aristotle
#3942160 - 04/20/14 11:02 PM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Plainsman]  
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 192
Priceyplanecrasher Offline
Member
Priceyplanecrasher  Offline
Member

Joined: May 2011
Posts: 192
Netherlands
Actually Nike is named after the greek godess of victory, AFAIK it should be pronounced as nekay.

Funniest I found how Deus Ex is pronounced, douche ex. biggrin

#3942161 - 04/20/14 11:12 PM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Plainsman]  
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 862
mugwump Offline
Member
mugwump  Offline
Member

Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 862
Vancouver, Canuckistan
Dunno.

Why can't 'Muricans properly pronounce karaoke, pokemon,Hyundai, kilometer, or the letter Z?
Why can't Brits properly pronounce samurai, or massage?


S = k ln W
#3942166 - 04/20/14 11:25 PM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: mugwump]  
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 192
Priceyplanecrasher Offline
Member
Priceyplanecrasher  Offline
Member

Joined: May 2011
Posts: 192
Netherlands
Originally Posted By: mugwump
Dunno.

Why can't 'Muricans properly pronounce karaoke, pokemon,Hyundai, kilometer, or the letter Z?
Why can't Brits properly pronounce samurai, or massage?




biggrin

#3942169 - 04/20/14 11:48 PM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: mugwump]  
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 15,827
Mace71 Offline
Dread pirate Mace
Mace71  Offline
Dread pirate Mace
Veteran

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 15,827
Darlington, UK.
Originally Posted By: mugwump
Dunno.

Why can't 'Muricans properly pronounce karaoke, pokemon,Hyundai, kilometer, or the letter Z?
Why can't Brits properly pronounce samurai, or massage?


Sam-you-ry is how I pronounce it, never heard any different from anyone else. How do you pronounce it?


Antec 902 | Intel i7 920 2.66Ghz OC'd to 3.40GHz | MSI GeForce GTX 660 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 | Corsair 6GB DDR3 | Coolermaster V8 CPU Cooler | W7 64

"There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing." Aristotle
#3942171 - 04/21/14 12:00 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Plainsman]  
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 5,555
VF9_Longbow Offline
Hotshot
VF9_Longbow  Offline
Hotshot

Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 5,555
Tokyo, Japan
sa-moo-rye (rhymes with eye) is the correct way that japanese people pronounce the word

karaoke is ka-ra-oh-kay

pokemon is poh-kay-mawn

as for company names, the company and public at large determines how it should be pronounced in each region it's doing business in.

the entire world pronounces nikon incorrectly. (should be knee-kon. japanese company)

#3942175 - 04/21/14 12:23 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Plainsman]  
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,000
bonchie Offline
Member
bonchie  Offline
Member

Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,000
I get stuff like that a lot traveling.

My name is Anthony…not Antonio. Yet, when I'm in latin countries they call me that. My first name is George. Not "Hor-hey."

Since we don't generally do that in America, it's always seemed weird to me. Juan in America is still Juan. We don't just assume to change it to John.

Last edited by bonchie; 04/21/14 12:25 AM.
#3942177 - 04/21/14 12:30 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: bonchie]  
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 15,827
Mace71 Offline
Dread pirate Mace
Mace71  Offline
Dread pirate Mace
Veteran

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 15,827
Darlington, UK.
Originally Posted By: bonchie
I get stuff like that a lot traveling.

My name is Anthony…not Antonio. Yet, when I'm in latin countries they call me that. My first name is George. Not "Hor-hey."

Since we don't generally do that in America, it's always seemed weird to me. Juan in America is still Juan. We don't just assume to change it to John.


You have 2 names?


Antec 902 | Intel i7 920 2.66Ghz OC'd to 3.40GHz | MSI GeForce GTX 660 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 | Corsair 6GB DDR3 | Coolermaster V8 CPU Cooler | W7 64

"There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing." Aristotle
#3942179 - 04/21/14 12:37 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Priceyplanecrasher]  
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 6,968
Jayhawk Offline
Silastic Armorfiend
Jayhawk  Offline
Silastic Armorfiend
Hotshot

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 6,968
Docking Bay 94
Originally Posted By: Priceyplanecrasher
Actually Nike is named after the greek godess of victory, AFAIK it should be pronounced as nekay.

Funniest I found how Deus Ex is pronounced, douche ex. biggrin


Yes, Nike should be pronounced (roughly) like this: knee-ke ("ke" as in "ketchup")

"Deus ex" is latinized greek, from deus ex machina: day-us (as in "us", the plural of me) muck-ee-nah. wink







Why men throw their lives away attacking an armed Witcher... I'll never know. Something wrong with my face?
#3942181 - 04/21/14 12:44 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: VF9_Longbow]  
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 6,968
Jayhawk Offline
Silastic Armorfiend
Jayhawk  Offline
Silastic Armorfiend
Hotshot

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 6,968
Docking Bay 94
Originally Posted By: VF9_Longbow

the entire world pronounces nikon incorrectly. (should be knee-kon. japanese company)


The "entire world" here being Canada and the US, I suppose? wink Most of Western and Central Europe pronounces all of the above more or less correctly. Not exactly like a native Japanese speaker would, but close enough.


Why men throw their lives away attacking an armed Witcher... I'll never know. Something wrong with my face?
#3942184 - 04/21/14 12:46 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: bonchie]  
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 6,968
Jayhawk Offline
Silastic Armorfiend
Jayhawk  Offline
Silastic Armorfiend
Hotshot

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 6,968
Docking Bay 94
Originally Posted By: bonchie
I get stuff like that a lot traveling.

My name is Anthony…not Antonio. Yet, when I'm in latin countries they call me that. My first name is George. Not "Hor-hey."

Since we don't generally do that in America, it's always seemed weird to me. Juan in America is still Juan. We don't just assume to change it to John.


In my experience, most Americans I have met just didn't bother to even try to pronounce a foreign name correctly. So I'd say it goes both ways. smile


Why men throw their lives away attacking an armed Witcher... I'll never know. Something wrong with my face?
#3942189 - 04/21/14 12:54 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Plainsman]  
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
ColJamesD Offline
Senior Member
ColJamesD  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
USA
In the land of Oz, Thong means Sandals.

So if you say you are going to the beach and you don't want to forget your Thong, it doesn't mean G-String.

I was in Australia a couple of years ago and I emailed my friends in the U.S. and told them I was going to email them photos of me wearing a pair of Thongs.

LOL!


What's in the box? C'mon, what's in the boooox?
#3942190 - 04/21/14 12:56 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Mace71]  
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 6,968
Jayhawk Offline
Silastic Armorfiend
Jayhawk  Offline
Silastic Armorfiend
Hotshot

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 6,968
Docking Bay 94
Originally Posted By: MaceUK33
Originally Posted By: mugwump
Dunno.

Why can't 'Muricans properly pronounce karaoke, pokemon,Hyundai, kilometer, or the letter Z?
Why can't Brits properly pronounce samurai, or massage?


Sam-you-ry is how I pronounce it, never heard any different from anyone else. How do you pronounce it?





biggrin biggrin biggrin


Why men throw their lives away attacking an armed Witcher... I'll never know. Something wrong with my face?
#3942283 - 04/21/14 06:12 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Jayhawk]  
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,173
kadiir Offline
Member
kadiir  Offline
Member

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,173
Originally Posted By: Jayhawk
my experience, most Americans I have met just didn't bother to even try to pronounce a foreign name correctly. So I'd say it goes both ways. smile

This is very true of romance and Asian languages. I haven't heard other foreign words really so I don't know about the rest but I have no doubt.

#3942285 - 04/21/14 06:16 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: ColJamesD]  
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,173
kadiir Offline
Member
kadiir  Offline
Member

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,173
Originally Posted By: ColJamesD
In the land of Oz, Thong means Sandals.

So if you say you are going to the beach and you don't want to forget your Thong, it doesn't mean G-String.

I was in Australia a couple of years ago and I emailed my friends in the U.S. and told them I was going to email them photos of me wearing a pair of Thongs.

LOL!

I assume that you're talking about the footware that is a flat soul with 2 straps that come up to hold it to one's foot that
terminate in between the big toe and the 2nd toe.

I'm a native Californian and I've heard it as flip flops, thongs, and zorries but rather rarely sandals.

#3942295 - 04/21/14 07:54 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: kadiir]  
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
ColJamesD Offline
Senior Member
ColJamesD  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
USA
Originally Posted By: kadiir
Originally Posted By: ColJamesD
In the land of Oz, Thong means Sandals.

So if you say you are going to the beach and you don't want to forget your Thong, it doesn't mean G-String.

I was in Australia a couple of years ago and I emailed my friends in the U.S. and told them I was going to email them photos of me wearing a pair of Thongs.

LOL!

I assume that you're talking about the footware that is a flat soul with 2 straps that come up to hold it to one's foot that
terminate in between the big toe and the 2nd toe.

I'm a native Californian and I've heard it as flip flops, thongs, and zorries but rather rarely sandals.


That is correct: the footwear, which has been around since the Egyptians.

Not sure when the word was used for underwear and bikini bottoms.


What's in the box? C'mon, what's in the boooox?
#3942298 - 04/21/14 08:32 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Plainsman]  
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 8,771
Para_Bellum Offline
Oberkriegkaboomführer
Para_Bellum  Offline
Oberkriegkaboomführer
Hotshot

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 8,771
Germany
It's always fun watching english speakers try to correctly pronounce my given name, Jochen. They usually end up with either Yok-ken or Yo-han because english speakers often have problems with the ch sounds like in the scottish loch.


"...late afternoon the Air Tasking Order came in [and] we found the A-10 part and we said, "We are going where!? We are doing what!?"

Capt. Todd Sheehy, Hog pilot, on receiving orders during Operation Desert Storm

#3942307 - 04/21/14 09:16 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Para_Bellum]  
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 15,827
Mace71 Offline
Dread pirate Mace
Mace71  Offline
Dread pirate Mace
Veteran

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 15,827
Darlington, UK.
Originally Posted By: Para_Bellum
It's always fun watching english speakers try to correctly pronounce my given name, Jochen. They usually end up with either Yok-ken or Yo-han because english speakers often have problems with the ch sounds like in the scottish loch.



Wery good smile


Antec 902 | Intel i7 920 2.66Ghz OC'd to 3.40GHz | MSI GeForce GTX 660 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 | Corsair 6GB DDR3 | Coolermaster V8 CPU Cooler | W7 64

"There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing." Aristotle
#3942314 - 04/21/14 09:53 AM Re: Funny How People in Other Countries Pronounce Names [Re: Plainsman]  
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,790
Smokin_Hole Offline
Member
Smokin_Hole  Offline
Member

Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,790
Corporate names often vary from country to country because the corporation itself wants the most approachable local image possible. A funny example is Hyundai. I have no idea how one pronounces it in Korea. The company doesn't care if I know the Korean pronounciation. They only care that I know the official American pronounciation, "Hun-day". Sticking with cars, we have a really ugly sounding "Jaguar" in the US. Going completely against my theory above, the Brits keep teaching us through advertising how to say it properly. Yet most of us persist with jag-waar. Oh, and another one is Toyota. The name of the founder was Toyoda. But for whatever reason they thought the world would have an easier time chewing on "Toyota". Yet in America we still pronounce it "toy-YO-da" which isn't too far from the original surname.

Page 1 of 3 1 2 3

Moderated by  RacerGT 

Quick Search
Recent Articles
Support SimHQ

If you shop on Amazon use this Amazon link to support SimHQ
.
Social


Recent Topics
CD WOFF
by Britisheh. 03/28/24 08:05 PM
Carnival Cruise Ship Fire....... Again
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:58 PM
Baltimore Bridge Collapse
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:51 PM
The Oldest WWII Veterans
by F4UDash4. 03/24/24 09:21 PM
They got fired after this.
by Wigean. 03/20/24 08:19 PM
Grown ups joke time
by NoFlyBoy. 03/18/24 10:34 PM
Anyone Heard from Nimits?
by F4UDash4. 03/18/24 10:01 PM
RIP Gemini/Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford
by semmern. 03/18/24 02:14 PM
Copyright 1997-2016, SimHQ Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.0