# Weird British pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 24, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738 "2018-05-24T17:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/81 "2018-06-27T10:07:25Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > We also all used to pronounce Nike as Nikey, presumably until we heard it actually pronounced on a Nike ad. I always figured Nike = Νίκη. Nikey-rhymes-with-spiky is the Weird British Pronunciation of this name, consistent with the processes described in this thread, as well as what they call themselves in English. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/82 "2018-06-27T11:12:15Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > It’s Americans that mispronounce Jaguar as “jag-wah”. Everywhere else, it’s jag-you-ah. And if we’re talking big cats, I was completely mystified as to what a “poo-ma” was until I saw a picture and realised it’s what Americans call a puma. Which is correctly pronounced “pew-ma”, in case you’re wondering. heh. Try saying that somewhere they actually have pewmas. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/83 "2018-06-27T11:20:04Z")
Well, at least we aren’t trying to pronounce Irish. I would be happy to have the reason for Irish spelling explained to me. Was it in retaliation for centuries of oppression? ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/84 "2018-06-28T12:58:59Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I always figured Nike = Νίκη. Nikey-rhymes-with-spiky is the Weird British Pronunciation of this name, consistent with the processes described in this thread, as well as what they call themselves in English. I’m thoroughly American and have always pronounced “Nike” as rhyming with “spiky”. Is that not correct? Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/85 "2018-06-28T13:52:39Z")
> [@Powers](#): > > I’m thoroughly American and have always pronounced “Nike” as rhyming with “spiky”. Is that not correct? I think it is correct, but **SanVito** claims he heard it pronounced differently in an ad: > [@SanVito](#): > > We also all used to pronounce Nike as Nikey, presumably until we heard it actually pronounced on a Nike ad. It is, of course, possible that “Nike” was pronounced differently in some ads (Ni-cay rhymes-with-bay, perhaps?) This would be evidence of that. It’s not completely surprising that the Greek(?) name comes out in slightly different ways when different people try to say it in English. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/86 "2018-06-28T15:54:57Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > And why Beijing but not Munchen, Firenze or Paree? Perhaps the Chinese have more clout although it hasn’t seemed to work with other languages, most of which retain the traditional form. No idea about Munich/Munchen, but Florence is kind of odd, in that in Latin, Florence was “Florentia”, which evolved into the Italian “Firenze”. I suspect that the English name derives from the Latin or French and did so a long time ago prior to the standardization of Italian as a language, mostly because it’s “Florence” in French, “Florencia” in Spanish, and “Florenz” in German as well. Paris is easy- it’s just an Anglicization of the written spelling of “Paris”. Puma is “poo-ma” in Spanish, just like we Americans say it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/87 "2018-06-29T01:49:22Z")
I’m onto another audiobook now, John Keegan’s _The Face of Battle_, and the British narrator pronounces “combatants” as “COM ba tenz.” I, an American, have always heard it pronounced “com BAT tents.” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/88 "2018-06-29T14:10:38Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > How about the way the French pronounce Guy. “Gi” > I know you can pronounce your own name any way you want. But how anybody gets San San from Saint Saens I’ll never know. Blame the French. Saint drop the t and slightly alter the vowel. Saens drop the s and modify the vowel. Bingo. > [@DPRK](#): > > I always figured Nike = Νίκη. Nikey-rhymes-with-spiky is the Weird British Pronunciation of this name, consistent with the processes described in this thread, as well as what they call themselves in English. Can you help me with that? My IPA guide isn’t getting me there. Neeken? Nuking? Nih? As an American, I’ve always heard it Nikey rhymes with spikey. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/89 "2018-06-29T15:32:33Z")
The original ancient Greek pronunciation of Nike is “nee-keh”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/90 "2018-06-29T15:55:38Z")
> [@I just got my Cup tickets!!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-my-cup-tickets/109408/4): > > Can you help me with that? My IPA guide isn’t getting me there. That’s because it’s Greek, not IPA. That final letter is an eta, whose majuscule form looks like an H. Sometimes it’s called “long E” to distinguish it from epsilon (E). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/91 "2018-06-29T21:22:17Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > The Australian Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, pronounced his name “Men-zeez”. > > There’s an apocryphal story to the effect that, one one occasion when he was visiting the UK, the UK Prime Minister, Alec Douglas-Home (pronounced “hume”), told him that his name was correctly pronounced “Mingiss”. “Really?” he is sait to have replied. “I must remember that when I get hume.” > [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > Douglas-Home would probably have been right, though. When the letter “ȝ” was abolished for the crime of not existing in Latin, England generally substituted “y” or “gh”, but Scotland went according to the glyph similarity, and used “z”. > > —John W. Kennedy, descendant of the lords of Culzean Castle (pronounced “Culane”) in Ayrshire. In literate societies, the spelling often drives pronunciation change, which is how “Menzies” got its “men-zees” version in addition to the original “Minn-yis”. In some cases, the z-pronunciation completely abolishes the older form, as in the name “Mackenzie” ; the 17th c. jurist George Mackenzie earned himself the nickname “Bluidy Mackingie” for his persecution of Covenanters. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/92 "2018-06-29T22:37:38Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > —John W. Kennedy, descendant of the lords of Culzean Castle (pronounced “Culane”) in Ayrshire. In so far as it comes up in everyday conversation, I suspect the pronunciation in the west of Scotland splits 50:50 these days: half going with the apparently obvious z-version and the rest with “Culane”. Caught cold, I’d probably resort to the first myself. **bonzer** - who knows my ancestral roots are in Ayrshire and who vaguely remembers that there may have been a distant, utterly tenuous link to Culzean. Via the Crawfords? (The solidly documented roots are back to peasants basically digging coal out of a hole in the ground, more or less with their bare hands.) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738/93 "2018-06-30T18:23:48Z")
Re. Nike, if you think about it, a lot of classical names have Weird British Pronunciations, e.g., Ὅμηρος -\> Homer, Horātius -\> Horace, though maybe those are reasonable examples of dropping foreign case endings. With Nike we definitely observe the English disdain for pure vowels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-pronunciation/814738.md?page=4)