# How do you pronounce Londis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520 "2020-11-13T16:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wabsnazsm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@wabsnazsm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wabsnazsm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/1 "2020-11-13T16:51:32Z")
Some say Londis whilst others say Lundis. I have asked in store and I have received both answers. What’s going on here? Give me the slightly disappointing truth. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/2 "2020-11-13T17:31:08Z")
Give us some context. From your use of the word “store”, I’m guessing that it’s not a family name or a place name, but could be a brand name, technical term, or some other kind of word. ---
**Author:** ![wabsnazsm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@wabsnazsm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wabsnazsm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/3 "2020-11-13T17:51:15Z")
It’s a UK based chain of local shops. A franchise, I imagine but anyway…I am wondering how it is pronounced because nobody seems to be able to give me the definitive answer. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/4 "2020-11-13T18:50:59Z")
It never occurred to me to pronounce the first syllable as in “London”, but now I see it, that totally makes sense. I’ll continue to pronounce it “Lonn-diss” (short o, short i) though. Don’t know what the ‘official’ pronunciation is but that how I’ve always heard it. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/5 "2020-11-13T18:55:12Z")
Same for me too. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/6 "2020-11-13T19:03:00Z")
I see Wikipedia says the name was originally meant as a contraction from “London District Stores”, but that was long ago and several takeovers ago. AFAIK general usage went with Lonn-diss quite some time ago, not that they’re that frequently a subject of conversation. ---
**Author:** ![wabsnazsm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@wabsnazsm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wabsnazsm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/7 "2020-11-13T19:09:22Z")
It sort of doesn’t really matter but I just needed a bit of clarity on this subject. I called it LUNdiss for ages and then I heard the other version and…I just don’t know anymore! ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/8 "2020-11-13T19:28:19Z")
I would suggest calling their corporate offices and ask, but I won’t suggest it because it wouldn’t be conclusive: I’ve seen some Toyota commercial where it is pronounced “toy-ota” and other that say “toe-yota”. Ditto for Santander Bank, which once handled my auto loan. Sometimes I would call them and they would use an American- style pronunciation (similar to “sand-tinder”, but “a” instead of “i”), and other times it was more foreign (“sahn-tahn-dare”). And I’m not talking about the random humans who happened to be doing customer service when I called; I’m referring to somewhat-official recordings of the “Press 1 for whatever” genre. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/9 "2020-11-14T07:36:58Z")
Well, having seen the derivation helpfully found by PatrickLondon above, I’ve gone the other way! I think I’ll stick with how I’ve always said it though. I’ve just remembered there is/was a mining operation called Lonmin (I had an unhappy investment in their shares for a while) which I always heard in my head as lonn-minn despite its origin being “London Mining” - don’t think I’ve ever heard it said out loud though. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-londis/925520/10 "2020-11-14T12:49:52Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Ditto for Santander Bank, which once handled my auto loan. Over here it’s always Sant-an-dare because it derives from the Spanish city (=Saint Andrew).