Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

First they came for IKEA

330 replies

viques · 07/01/2023 17:30

Then they came for Hyundai………

AIBU to think if you want our money tell us who you are from the start.

OP posts:
EagerReader · 09/01/2023 05:01

Although everyone I know pronounces nest-lee, not lay.

AnyMucca · 09/01/2023 05:15

If a brand has to explain itself it's been badly done.

Catspyjamas17 · 09/01/2023 05:25

I've heard people talk about Bahk and Batch in a musical context until I realised they meant (Johann Sebastian) Bach

But this illustrates neatly why people shouldn't be sniffy about other people's mispronunciation. If you are an auto-didact you often read about things without it being spoken about by those around you, so you may get pronunciations wrong.

HelterSkelter224 · 09/01/2023 06:16

"Not really , I am more annoyed at the assumption made that I am unable to pronounce something properly in the first place."

YABU. They assumed right if you have been pronouncing it wrong. It's not that big a deal, just keep pronouncing it like you have, they won't test you on the way in. Or don't go.

Gigglechop · 09/01/2023 06:32

Not really , I am more annoyed at the assumption made that I am unable to pronounce something properly in the first place.

well in my case…. They were bang on the money with their assumption!

Dahliasandtea · 09/01/2023 07:08

Hate to break it to you but this is also the marketing team saying….. oh let’s do some brand marketing of our name. We change the way they pronounce the name (because there is opportunity) and then everyone goes nuts talking about it, and all those people who haven’t seen the ad go online and search for it and watch it… and then link it on Facebook Twitter and Instagram and all their friends click on it and watch it… and do the same and our brand awareness goes through the roof and law of averages means the number of people who buy Hyundai next time they buy a car goes up……

you might be annoyed about their ad but you’ve just done some unpaid advertising for them….. I’m sure they are very grateful.

JudgeRudy · 09/01/2023 07:36

That's how my ex MIL pronounced it. She was Austrian and spoke German.

saraclara · 09/01/2023 09:27

Who cares how these companies want their name pronounced, this is England and we'll pronounce them in a manner which fits our requirements, not theirs

Good grief. I'm not sure why you think we have "requirements" about how to pronounce a name.

You remind me of a teacher I worked with who refused to pronounced children's names properly. We had quite a few children from Pakistan and Bangladesh and she'd deliberately pronounce the names of those on her class wrongly 'because it's easier, and who cares?'

EyesOnThePies · 09/01/2023 09:28

Notjustanymum · 08/01/2023 08:35

I agree - it’s like someone (some organisation like the BBC) suddenly deciding to refer to Munich as München in news reports: absurd when most UK residents have always referred to Munich!

And the French call our Capital Londres.

Which offends no one.

But then many languages have completely different names for countries. Germany / l’ Allemagne for Deutschland.

And Mumbai and Kolkata have been rehabilitated but Roma is still Rome.

EyesOnThePies · 09/01/2023 09:33

This reply has been deleted

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

Nope. It hasn’t.

And people have posted the ad that proves it.

Catspyjamas17 · 09/01/2023 09:34

saraclara · 09/01/2023 09:27

Who cares how these companies want their name pronounced, this is England and we'll pronounce them in a manner which fits our requirements, not theirs

Good grief. I'm not sure why you think we have "requirements" about how to pronounce a name.

You remind me of a teacher I worked with who refused to pronounced children's names properly. We had quite a few children from Pakistan and Bangladesh and she'd deliberately pronounce the names of those on her class wrongly 'because it's easier, and who cares?'

Completely false allegory. To not bother to learn how to pronounce a person's name is lazy and rude. With massive corporate entities - who gives a fuck how they want to to pronounce their brand name?

HelterSkelter224 · 09/01/2023 09:47

AnyMucca · 09/01/2023 05:15

If a brand has to explain itself it's been badly done.

Yea Ikea's terrible at branding, hardly anyone has heard of them 🙄

HelterSkelter224 · 09/01/2023 09:48

What the fuck is this thread all about

DappledThings · 09/01/2023 09:50

HelterSkelter224 · 09/01/2023 09:48

What the fuck is this thread all about

People falling for an ad campaign then getting cross that they have done and doubling down on their claim that it's genuinely annoying that there is a new advert with a different pronunciation rather than admit they've been had. That's what I think it's about!

HelterSkelter224 · 09/01/2023 09:52

Tygger · 08/01/2023 23:30

Who cares how these companies want their name pronounced, this is England and we'll pronounce them in a manner which fits our requirements, not theirs, if they don't like it then my advice to them is don't try and sell us your s**t products, IKEA in particular, its all junk.
One of my favourite anglicised words is Wipers, which is what our brave soldiers called the Belgium Town of Ypres, you won't find any Belgians complaining about that, especially in Ypres where they play the Last Post every evening, to honour our dead from WWI.

Oh it's about xenophobia, I get it now

"These foreign companies coming here forcing us to speak their language. They'd all speak German if it wasn't for us"

Gigglechop · 09/01/2023 09:56

DappledThings · 09/01/2023 09:50

People falling for an ad campaign then getting cross that they have done and doubling down on their claim that it's genuinely annoying that there is a new advert with a different pronunciation rather than admit they've been had. That's what I think it's about!

Show quote history

Bored posters with far far far too much time to navel gaze and always on the pursuit of something, anything, to be offended about

TeenDivided · 09/01/2023 10:12

I think it is interesting.

Originally why did the companies anglicise their pronunciation for advertising in the UK? Was it because the British wouldn't/couldn't cope/accept foreign names, or was it because they assumed we wouldn't? Remember back in the 70s 'the public' weren't as well travelled and 'aware' of other cultures as now.

But we could say Nescafe correctly in the 70s, so presumably we could have also said Nestle? We could say cafe after all. (all accents omitted as I don't know how to do them).

Why are they now changing? Is it because the British public have changed sufficiently, or as a marketing stunt? Or is it as the Hyundai commercial implies because speech recognition stuff doesn't accept incorrect pronunciation?

Gigglechop · 09/01/2023 10:17

TeenDivided · 09/01/2023 10:12

I think it is interesting.

Originally why did the companies anglicise their pronunciation for advertising in the UK? Was it because the British wouldn't/couldn't cope/accept foreign names, or was it because they assumed we wouldn't? Remember back in the 70s 'the public' weren't as well travelled and 'aware' of other cultures as now.

But we could say Nescafe correctly in the 70s, so presumably we could have also said Nestle? We could say cafe after all. (all accents omitted as I don't know how to do them).

Why are they now changing? Is it because the British public have changed sufficiently, or as a marketing stunt? Or is it as the Hyundai commercial implies because speech recognition stuff doesn't accept incorrect pronunciation?

And do any of those scenarios “annoy” or offend you as they do for some posters on this thread?

TeenDivided · 09/01/2023 10:20

No of course they don't.
But many posters pretend to be more annoyed about things than they really are for emphasis or fun. I don't get all annoyed about that either. Smile

Fraine · 09/01/2023 10:22

Spanielsarepainless · 07/01/2023 18:06

I remember when Marseilles was pronounced Marsails not Marsay.

By who? It’s never been pronounced ‘Marsails’ in France 😂 Or anywhere.

Gigglechop · 09/01/2023 10:24

TeenDivided · 09/01/2023 10:20

No of course they don't.
But many posters pretend to be more annoyed about things than they really are for emphasis or fun. I don't get all annoyed about that either. Smile

I think many sadly really are annoyed about it. Baffling!

Tygger · 09/01/2023 10:54

🤣🤣🤣 helter-skelter you're so funny, stupid, but funny. You'll like this, when in Rome do as the Romans do, or if that's not pushing your buttons, then how about the French government minister who complained about a famous London railway station being named after a famous French defeat, you may need to Google that 🤣.
The response from many Brits was if you don't like that name, then there's a long list of French defeats that we could name it after.
The point that your 2 brain cells don't seem to be able to grasp is that there's a very long list of foreign language words in the British dichotomy which have been adapted to suit our language.
What really annoys me is the failure of anyone born north of London, to pronounce Castle correctly.🤬😉🤣

Gigglechop · 09/01/2023 11:11

Tygger · 09/01/2023 10:54

🤣🤣🤣 helter-skelter you're so funny, stupid, but funny. You'll like this, when in Rome do as the Romans do, or if that's not pushing your buttons, then how about the French government minister who complained about a famous London railway station being named after a famous French defeat, you may need to Google that 🤣.
The response from many Brits was if you don't like that name, then there's a long list of French defeats that we could name it after.
The point that your 2 brain cells don't seem to be able to grasp is that there's a very long list of foreign language words in the British dichotomy which have been adapted to suit our language.
What really annoys me is the failure of anyone born north of London, to pronounce Castle correctly.🤬😉🤣

Tricky morning?

Emotionalsupportviper · 09/01/2023 11:52

BitOutOfPractice · 08/01/2023 22:12

I know, bloody foreigners, trying to say we shouldn’t anglicise their names 🙄

Sill want us to buy their cars though . . . .

Emotionalsupportviper · 09/01/2023 11:54

Tygger · 08/01/2023 23:30

Who cares how these companies want their name pronounced, this is England and we'll pronounce them in a manner which fits our requirements, not theirs, if they don't like it then my advice to them is don't try and sell us your s**t products, IKEA in particular, its all junk.
One of my favourite anglicised words is Wipers, which is what our brave soldiers called the Belgium Town of Ypres, you won't find any Belgians complaining about that, especially in Ypres where they play the Last Post every evening, to honour our dead from WWI.

Well . . .that escalated quickly . . . 😶

<edges out>