# How do you pronounce 'Toyota'?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 20, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012 "2009-08-20T00:20:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/1 "2009-08-20T00:20:40Z")
Do you say the _y_ as though it were part of the the _To_ (which I usually hear as _TOY-ota_) or as though it were part of the _ota_ (which I usually hear as _to-YODA_)?
Idle curiosity.
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### Author:  [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/2 "2009-08-20T00:23:01Z")
well, actually, _toy-OTA_.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/3 "2009-08-20T00:28:43Z")
toy-O-ta
> **[Toyota pronunciation: How to pronounce Toyota in Japanese, French, English,...](https://forvo.com/word/toyota/)**
>
> Pronunciation guide: Learn how to pronounce Toyota in Japanese, French, English, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Esperanto, Italian, Polish, Vietnamese, German, Swedish with native pronunciation. Toyota translation and audio pronunciation
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### Author:  [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/4 "2009-08-20T00:30:35Z")
If you’re asking how I think it should be pronounced, I’d say _toe-YO-ta_, but what I think I really say most of the time is _toy-O-ta_.
For some reason some people, including my father, say _tie-O-ta_, and it took some effort for me to say it differently on a consistent basis.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/5 "2009-08-20T00:30:52Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#):
>
> well, actually, _toy-OTA_.
Good catch. I’ve missed the edit window, but future posters, please be aware, this is what I meant to say.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/6 "2009-08-20T00:32:32Z")
Both. Or neither. I pronounce it the same as I would a little green Star Wars figurine. Toy Yoda.The official pronunciation seems to differ based on nationality. Mine seems to be the one used in the U.S. Your latter one is used in Japan. I’ve never heard your former one as distinct from the one I use.
(I tried YouTube to find an official pronunciation, but all I found was this really funny [ad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghANtP1JPPg).)
ETA: I also remember a radio give-away which hinged on the ambiguity in my preferred pronunciation.
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### Author:  [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/7 "2009-08-20T00:57:38Z")
Just thinking about this the other day. Grrr, I hate this. Here it is: Tie-oh-da.
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### Author:  [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/8 "2009-08-20T01:14:34Z")
There was also this: [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/05/09/toy-yoda.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/05/09/toy-yoda.htm)
Though the article implies that she was the foolish one, I remember news reports at the time making it pretty clear that the waitresses were deliberately being misled.
I say toy-O-ta.
Anybody remember those old “Oh, what a feeling to try! TOYota!” ads? With the people jumping up in the air? When I got my first Toyota, my dad made me jump up in the air next to it so he could take a picture of me. Oy.
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### Author:  [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/9 "2009-08-20T01:15:01Z")
Huh. It’s Japanese, right?
To - Yo - Ta.
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### Author:  [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/10 "2009-08-20T01:17:51Z")
Tie-OH-da.
But mine’s a GM family, so usually we just say “piece of crap.”
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### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/11 "2009-08-20T01:21:28Z")
A long time ago, in a journalistic world, far, far away, Mr. Toyoda appeared on the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, or whatever they called it back then. The second “t” in Toyota has a bit of a “d” sound to it. Mr. Toyota, while quite old, spoke very good English.
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### Author:  [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/12 "2009-08-20T01:34:52Z")
Actually, the family name is Toyo **d** a. It was changed to Toyo **t** a for the motor company. I’ve heard various different reasons given for the change.
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### Author:  [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/13 "2009-08-20T01:34:53Z")
> [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](#):
>
> Just thinking about this the other day. Grrr, I hate this. Here it is: Tie-oh-da.
Hoosier?
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### Author:  [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/14 "2009-08-20T02:46:50Z")
With two separate y sounds for some reason.
toy yota
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/15 "2009-08-20T02:53:37Z")
Toy-yoda
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/16 "2009-08-20T02:57:39Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#):
>
> Huh. It’s Japanese, right?
>
> To - Yo - Ta.
This way.
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### Author:  [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/17 "2009-08-20T03:39:33Z")
> [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](#):
>
> Just thinking about this the other day. Grrr, I hate this. Here it is: Tie-oh-da.
Bobby Hebert, the Cajun quarterback for the Saints and later the Falcons, did a commercial for a local Toyota dealership years ago. He pronounced it “TIE-oh-da” about a dozen times and then the owner of the dealership came on camera and told him it’s pronounced “toy-OH-da”.
ETA after reading about Mr. Toyoda: The early Toyota imports into the U.S. were actually called Toyopets. They come up on eBay once in a while. There’s also a Japanese tire company called Toyo. Not sure if it’s related to Mr. Toyoda though.
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### Author:  [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/18 "2009-08-20T12:56:14Z")
> [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#):
>
> Hoosier?
No. Actually, I should clarify. That’s how an acquaintance pronounces it. Me, I pronounce it the way it’s supposed to be pronounced. 🆒
Cheddarhead here.
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### Author:  [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/19 "2009-08-20T13:16:25Z")
I prefer to pronounce it in the Ernie Boch (Sr.) fashion:
TIE-YOH-ter
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### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-toyota/507012/20 "2009-08-20T13:33:16Z")
toy YO ta’
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