07
Jun 2012
How do you pronounce Porsche?
How do you pronounce Abarth? That's a question regularly asked in the MotorTorque office. We usually agree to disagree.
Similarly it tends to say something about car types whether they say 'porsh' or 'por-sher' - primarily whether you abide by what you understand to be the technically correct pronunciation or say to hell with technicalities and embrace the colloquial (either that or you don't know).
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As in many things in life, there are areas on which people disagree, sometimes viciously.
Does it really matter is you say Pa-garn-ee or Par-ho-nee? Should you go all Spanish with your Zs, Ls and Cs with Murcielago and Gallardo? Does it matter if you pronounce a car name incorrectly if you do it with authority.
For what it's wrth - and though I expect fierce disagreement - here are my takes on how you pronounce car names, related in a way that's not really phonetically accurate - or possibly accurate at all.
Feel free to suggest your own or take me to task over my interpretations. It's all water off a duck's Mayback after all...
How do you pronounce...
Abarth - eh-bart or Ah'-bart or 'Ay-barth
Agila - Agg-ee-la
Aveo - Av-ay-oh
Audi- Ow-dee
Countach- Coon-tach
Cee'd - Seed
Eos - ay-oss
Evoque - evoke
Exeo - ex-ay-oh
Exige - ex-eej
Gallardo- Ga-yard-o
Giulietta - Julie-etta
Hyundai - Hai-un-die
Juke - jook
Koenigsegg- Ker-nigs-egg
Kuga - Koo-ga
Lamborghini - Lam-bor-ghee-nee
Maserati - Mas-er-ah-t-ee
Maybach - My-back
Mercedes - Mer-say-dees (but probably Mer-thay-dees to be technical)
Murcielago- Mur-chiel-ago
Pagani - Pa-han-ee
Peugeot - Per-jo (with a soft 'j')
Phaeton - Fay-ton
Porsche - Por-sh or Por-sher (the latter is technically correct)
Prius - Pree-us
Qashqai - kash-kai
Renault- Ren-o
Saab - Sarb
Scirocco - sir-ock-oh
Sportage - Sport - arj (with a soft 'j')
Spyker - Spey-keur
Tiguan - Ti-gwa-an
Touareg- Twah-regg (I once attended a lecture on the Touareg tribe so am convinced about this one)
Virage - Vih-raj
Ypsilon - Ip-sil-on