Okay, we did this once before and we all had fun, so it’s back. Let’s review some brand names that are often mispronounced.
Don’t Embarrass Yourself!
This time we’re focusing on brand names that are in foreign languages and how to navigate the “asshole line” when pronouncing them.
This video originally appeared in LinkedIn
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey guys, it’s Rebeca with BrandTrue, and I want to help you not embarrass yourself by talking about some brand names that are often mispronounced. So we’ve done this before and people liked it a lot, and just like sometimes when you’re really stressed out, you want to watch an episode of “Friends” because it’s familiar, I felt like this is familiar. This is, hey, let’s not get this wrong anymore.
So the thing I want to say, though, is that sometimes the correct pronunciation when it’s a foreign name actually makes you sound like an asshole. So we’re trying to find the sweet spot between sounding like an asshole because you didn’t know how to pronounce it and sounding like an asshole because you’re saying something like Christian Louboutins about the shoes instead of saying they’re Louboutins. Now, if you say they’re Le Bootin’s, that’s wrong on the ignorance end. But if you say they’re Louboutins that’s wrong on the pretension end.
So with that in mind, we’re going to talk about some brand names, like there’s a watch brand called Tag Heuer that is often mispronounced. People say, “ower,” people say “hoor.” I don’t know. So the watches are Tag Heuer. Don’t embarrass yourself. There’s a designer that’s spelled Moschino but it’s pronounced MosKino. Kind of like my husband always calls the appetizer “brewshetta” but it’s “bruce sketta”. We’re right on the line of the asshole there. I’ve decided not to correct him because I was afraid of crossing that line.
There’s an automobile brand that I think most people get right, Porsche, but if you say Porsh, no, don’t do it anymore. Don’t embarrass yourself. Let’s see, what else? Aveda, don’t call it Aveeeeda. It’s Aveda. And Adidas, it’s Adidahss. I don’t know. I think I prefer Adidas. I prefer to be wrong in that case because of that asshole line I was talking about.
Oh, Hyundai in the United States is “hundai” and I think you SHOULD say “hundai” because most people do. But just so you know, in Europe they say Hy-unn-dai or something, they make it more syllables. They make it three syllables and we make it two. I don’t know what to do with that one. So anyway, oh, Adobe. Don’t call it Adob, for the love of God. Don’t call it Adob!
I think that’s about it. Did I forget any that are important? Oh yeah, just want to come back to, on the asshole end of the spectrum, there are some times when you look up how to pronounce things correctly, people say that you should call the German car brands, BMW, “beh emm vay,” and Volkswagen, “folksvagen” and I say, that’s on the asshole end, don’t do it. Call ’em BMW and Volkswagen. That’s it, that’s what I had for you. Let me know if you have any good examples of that one. I would love to hear them. Thanks. Bye!
