# "Correct" pronounciations that people have given up on
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 11, 2015, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246 "2015-10-11T07:34:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/1 "2015-10-11T07:34:14Z")
There’s a German supermarket chain called Lidl that has steadily increased its UK presence. Pretty much every Brit I’ve heard pronounces it “Liddle”. Before I knew how to pronounce it I went with “Lye-doul”. After they started doing adverts though, the advert narrators were clearly instructed to use the presumably correct “Lee-doul” The adverts didn’t change the pronounciation habits though, Brits still pretty much all still say “Liddle”, and the newer adverts have given up and they also say “Liddle” What other cases are there of people changing their own pronounciation of themselves to fit in with everyone else?
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### Author:  [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/2 "2015-10-11T10:45:20Z")
in Holland we say Liddle as well…in fact, I think that’s what the Germans say as well. Strange to go for a different pronunciation in the UK.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/3 "2015-10-11T12:06:45Z")
Not quite the same thing, but close:
The American aerospace company “Lockheed” was started by the Loughead brothers who were originally from Scotland. They eventually tired of everybody in the USA mispronouncing their and their company’s name as “Luff-head”.
So they changed the spelling to match the correct pronunciation. Which correct pronunciation the public then rapidly adopted. Problem solved.
> **[Lockheed Corporation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Corporation)**
>
> The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and merged in 1995 with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but otherwise-unrelated Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company, which was operational from 1912 to 1920.
> Allan Loughead and his brother Malcolm Loughead had operated an earlier aircraft company, Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company, which was operational from 1912...
I remember humorous ads for both Hyundai and Isuzu where they tried to teach Americans how to pronounce the names correctly. They mostly worked.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/4 "2015-10-11T12:35:45Z")
The German bakery manufacturer, Bimbo, is trying to convince Americans to pronounce their name “beem-bo.”
It ain’t gonna work.
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### Author:  [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/5 "2015-10-11T12:41:25Z")
No, that one we’re pretty determined to enjoy for forever if we can.
Sometimes you just have to.
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/6 "2015-10-11T12:59:12Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#):
>
> There’s a German supermarket chain called Lidl that has steadily increased its UK presence. Pretty much every Brit I’ve heard pronounces it “Liddle”. Before I knew how to pronounce it I went with “Lye-doul”. After they started doing adverts though, the advert narrators were clearly instructed to use the presumably correct “Lee-doul” The adverts didn’t change the pronounciation habits though, Brits still pretty much all still say “Liddle”, and the newer adverts have given up and they also say “Liddle” What other cases are there of people changing their own pronounciation of themselves to fit in with everyone else?
to take it to an extreme example, the fact that we in the English speaking world call it “Germany” and not “Bundesrepublik Deutschland.”
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/7 "2015-10-11T13:02:45Z")
Forte as “strength” would typically be pronounced “Fort” from the French, not “For-TAY” like the Italian. Never mind.
Niche is prefereably pronounced “nitch” but “neesh” gets used more often. So it goes.
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### Author:  [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/8 "2015-10-11T13:07:55Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#):
>
> in Holland we say Liddle as well…in fact, I think that’s what the Germans say as well. Strange to go for a different pronunciation in the UK.
OK, that’s surprising. I never really saw how you could get a soft D, and just assumed that those early adverts were saying it right.
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### Author:  [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/9 "2015-10-11T13:09:30Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> The German bakery manufacturer, Bimbo, is trying to convince Americans to pronounce their name “beem-bo.”
>
> It ain’t gonna work.
German? It’s a Mexican company. I think getting English speakers to pronounce it beem-bo is not going to happen.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/10 "2015-10-11T13:14:36Z")
I’m still not sure how to correctly pronounce Adidas, Subaru, and Asus.
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/11 "2015-10-11T13:22:03Z")
Dick Cheney’s last name [was supposed to rhyme with genie](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-03-11/news/chi-10-things-dick-cheney_1_mary-cheney-vice-president-dick-cheney-wyoming).
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/12 "2015-10-11T13:26:06Z")
I don’t believe that “correct” applies in this case as it’s more a regional thing but you’ll get frowns in this part of the USA if you pronounce JORDAN as anything other than JURD’N.
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### Author:  [@BrightSunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightSunshine)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/13 "2015-10-11T13:32:25Z")
I’ve been trying to pronounce gouda “ggghau-da” cheese properly and getting nowhere with Americans (especially at deli counters) until I give up and say “gooo-da”.
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/14 "2015-10-11T13:42:40Z")
In Joliet (Jo-lee-et) Il, there is a highway sign on Interstate 80 above the Des Plaines (dez planes) river that indicates Des Moines (deh moin) Iowa is ahead.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/15 "2015-10-11T13:55:53Z")
Zagat, as in Zagat Guides. I heard Tim Zagat on the radio years ago. He was being fed a question about how his name was supposed to be pronounced and he said it’s actually zeGAT (not ZAget) and jokingly added in “but I sell x million books a year so people can say it however they want”.
How people said his name really seemed to be the least of his concerns. But since he was clearly being fed the question he either wanted it out there or really wanted to make that joke.
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### Author:  [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/16 "2015-10-11T13:58:35Z")
> [@bobot](#):
>
> In Joliet (Jo-lee-et) Il, there is a highway sign on Interstate 80 above the Des Plaines (dez planes) river that indicates Des Moines (deh moin) Iowa is ahead.
The correct pronunciation of a place name is always that of the people who live there.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/17 "2015-10-11T14:03:15Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#):
>
> The correct pronunciation of a place name is always that of the people who live there.
The same applies to an individual’s names (both given name and surname.)
See **La-a** pronounced Ladasha. 🙂
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/18 "2015-10-11T14:06:19Z")
> [@WordMan](#):
>
> Forte as “strength” would typically be pronounced “Fort” from the French, not “For-TAY” like the Italian. Never mind.
Came to post this. Definitely a case where pronouncing it correctly impedes communication.
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### Author:  [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/19 "2015-10-11T14:08:48Z")
I don’t even try to say “forte” correctly since everyone feels the need to “correct” the correct pronunciation.
“Scone” drives me mental. In the UK, it can be “skOne” (like cone) or “skawn” (like con). I think there are regional differences. Anyway, I learned “skawn” as I first encountered the lovely little items when in school there. People feel the need to correct that, too. :mad:
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/20 "2015-10-11T14:09:01Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> Zagat, as in Zagat Guides. I heard Tim Zagat on the radio years ago. He was being fed a question about how his name was supposed to be pronounced and he said it’s actually zeGAT (not ZAget) and jokingly added in “but I sell x million books a year so people can say it however they want”.
> How people said his name really seemed to be the least of his concerns. But since he was clearly being fed the question he either wanted it out there or really wanted to make that joke.
In my mind I pronounce it zah-GAHT which seems slightly different from zeGAT, but I’ve never heard anyone say it out loud (or maybe they did and I assumed they meant something else?)
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