It’s all subjective, I suppose.
Do Renault and Peugeot advertise in the US? I don’t think they sell cars there.
And “citron” means “lemon” in French. 
I don’t get the occasion to talk about Citroën cars often (we don’t see them in North America) but when I do, I sometimes drop the ‘ë’ just for kicks.
When I was little (70s) I remember everyone pronounced it Ah-DEE-ads. Then sometime in the 80s we switched the stress to the first syllable. Must have been in response to a TV ad campaign by the company. Same thing with Nike - at one point us Brits pronounced it like ‘like’ until Nike started bombarding us with ads.
I were wee in the 70s too and we never did the Ah-DEE-das. Maybe it was regional.
Loads of Brits still pronounce Nike to rhyme with ‘bike’. I feel like too much of a tit pronouncing it ‘properly’ due to years of pronouncing it ‘incorrectly’.
I am of course Irish, so the comments about Great Britain do not apply to me.
This was not intended as a jeer at American pronunciation. As I have said before, I value the differences which exist between English speakers, and I hate to hear a neutered voice which has had accent and dialect removed by “elocution”. We speak Hiberno-English here in our lovely Irish accents when the rest of you have gone home.
I was genuinely curious about the reason for this mode of pronunciation. It seems to occur mainly in the USA. When I have met it elsewhere, it has been from people who learned English from Americans. I wondered where it came from. I have not yet seen any satisfactory ancswer to the query.
It does not seem to be linked to any US state. That implies that it derives from some central source, possibly in the education system if it is not from a local French-speaking accent.
I haven’t looked lately but they certainly used to. Their catchphrase (in the US, at least) “Get to know Renault” works with the US pronunciation; not so much the UK one.
While we’re on the subject, *forte *(loud) in music is pronounced for-TAY, but when referring to your area of expertise (“tap dancing is my forte”), it’s pronounced *FORT *(one syllable).
Because, as I’m sure you know, the former is Italian and the latter is French.
Can someone explain this one for me? I’m confused?
I think this is silly and I’ll keep pronouncing both as “for-tay”. Sure, this is the borrowing of the French word in the latter sense being influenced by the prior borrowing of the Italian word in the former sense, but so what? We’re free to allow that influence; we don’t have to stick slavishly to the French pronunciation. (The French don’t pronounce the /t/ either!). Hell, even the spelling already reflects this influence; the French word is spelt “fort”.
I think he’s trying to suggest that in the U.S., “Renault” is generally pronounced “Re-NAULT.” In Britain, it’s generally pronounced “REN-ault.”
So, the U.S. slogan:
Get to KNOW
Re-NAULT
Works out rhythmically with the American pronunciation, but not with the British.
FWIW, rosbifs, the Americans probably have an inferiority complex, and prefer to approximate the sounds of the original language. The French are also notorious linguistic imperialists, perhaps even moreso than the Brits.
Read Ciceron at Majorca? Before a junta meets, of course. On the way to Florence, sure!
Are you happy with posting a statement like that in General Questions, where there’s some expectation that you’ll make some attempt to be factual?
It’s correct that both British and French inter alii appropriate pronunciations to suit their own native tongues. Without dispute. Ask anyone.
It was my hypothesis that Americans, the younger brethren of all Europeans, for example, might make some attempt to conform their tongue to the ways of foreigners, having few traditions of their own. Vide, the pronunciation of French words with ultimate accent, which is without question in the French manner.
ETA, I think it’s wrong that there’s an ultimate “accent” on a given French word pronounced in isolation. I tried saying to myself “Renault” and “cliche” (with sharp accent on the final ‘e’).
I think it’s a matter of intonation (pitches rising and falling), so I was wrong in that respect. I don’t live in France anymore, so anyone who does can please correct me. I think that’s right, though.
As a Brit, believe me when I say that it works when spoken in a British manner as well.
I didn’t say he was right.
Exactly so, due to the metricality of it. You get the “to KNOW Re-NAULT” mirroring. It’s a little thing.
Honestly, it’s not like I wrote it or anything; it’s just a passing observation.
You’ll be wrong, but go ahead. Defying convention in trivial, low-impact ways like deliberately mispronouncing words is a sign of character. Or something.
My father (of blessed memory) was stubborn like this. He pronounced words the way they were written, not the way people commonly pronounced them. For example, he pronounced “ancient”: AN (rhymes with CAN)-chent.
It identified him clearly as a high school grad-you-ate from the backwoods of depression-era East Texas who would be danged if he would be told how to do anything by anyone.
While I am awareof the “correct” pronunciation of “forte” meaning strength I’d never use it because everyone else would think I’m mispronouncing it.
True.