According To You: Favorite Automotive Mispronunciations

I felt like I might be going on a limb when asking this question last week, but Hagerty Media readers came through with answers worthy of a medal. I thank you all for participating, because we had pages and pages of great feedback! Reading everyone’s responses suggests that while words have meaning, pronunciations have passion.

And passion is truly what makes the automotive world so interesting, so I thank you sincerely for what you are about to read!

Jag-Wire?

BLAINE M: My favorite is “Jag-Wire” for Jag-u-ar.

Oldish: JAGWAR instead of JAG-U-AR

Eric: Don’t forget the tried-and-true Jag-Wire!

Les H: I also heard that “Jag-wire” by one of the stars, on a TV car show, no less.

MrMCar: I follow my Brit friends: Jag-u-are, with a respectful English accent. Have heard often: Jag Wire, Jag War

Kyr: Makes my blood boil when someone says Jag-wire!

Lan-cha?

Spandak: Lancia, lan-see-ya is what I hear. Launch-a is the correct pronunciation that no one seems to know.

RBM: An Italian friend directed me to call it Lan Chee Ah

SJMorgan: Lancia? Lan See Ah? No… Lancha…

Saline?

Andrew: One is Saleen, as in Steve Saleen and his cars. Sa leen (with a soft a), not Say Leen.

Bob V: As a 1986 Saleen owner, I’m 100% with you. Suh-leen. Not SAY-leen. Also, it’s Roush (rhymes with ouch), not Ruusch (with a long U)

Sajeev Mehta: Sometimes I get “salty” and tell people it’s not a Saline.

Like Sunday

Adam B: I am baffled that no one pronounces Hyundai’s EV family as anything but “eye-ON-ik” but half the people I meet (including veteran auto journalists) get tripped up by “Lyriq”. Yes, the spelling is goofy but the pronunciation is straightforward: “lyric”, not “leer-EEK.”

DUB6: Other than Porsche, I think Hyundai is the most mispronounced.

Jim M: This one is partly Hyundai’s fault, at least up where I live. When the brand was being introduced, they had TV ads(apparently unvetted) that pronounced it high-UN-di. At the same time, their print ads were breaking down the proper pronunciation phonetically.

Villeneuve97: Remember the Hyundai commercial that addressed that years ago? “It’s Hyundai, like Sunday.”

Mike: I remember when Hyundai started selling cars in the U.S. Most people struggled and pronounced it HY OOON DEY.

Sajeev Mehta: Speaking of the early days of Hyundai in the U.S., a local dealer made a series of TV spots calling their cars Hon-day. It really felt like they were trying to make people think they were saying Honda.

What’chu Talking About Willys?

Mike M: Willys!

Stefan Lombard: Willys Jeeps. It was only this year that I heard it pronounced “Willis” for the first time, so I sought confirmation as to how it actually should be pronounced. I was shocked. SHOCKED! All these years I’d been saying it wrong. “Willees” is widely accepted, of course, but it turns out it’s not correct.

GPSter: Yeah, next time you hear someone say “Willy’s,” ask them who Willy was. Was his name John North Willys (pronounced Willis)?

Tom: If anyone ever questions you on it, tell them to search for “Willys commercial” on YouTube. There, one will find footage of ads pronouncing it correctly.

William H: I agree with you. Willis might be correct, but good luck to those who say Willis when 99.9% of the population has said Willies for 80 years.

Es-stew-si-on?

SHELDON R: “Escutcheon” is what they call the trim piece that goes between the window crank & door panel – it’s a plumbing term

studenorton: From heraldry originally, I reckon. A little cover plate in a suit of armor.

Jackson: Escutcheon, you know, the part that goes on the door panel behind the Lee-ver.

O Romeo!

Steven: For someone who’s had an Alfa Romeo, it absolutely kills me when people call it an “Alfa Romero”! Sometimes even people that have one themselves!

Bart S: O, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

Grab Bag

anderson: Maybach! Not may-back. but my-bach (like the composer)

hyperv6: MiliDoen for me Milodon oil pans.

Arthur R: Phaeton! At Hershey, hearing the spectator describe the “Beautiful Cadillac 1928 “Fuh tawn.” He was close, but I’ve always thought the correct pronunciation is “FAY a Tonn.
Tonneau is another…Tonn Oh, Tone Oh, Tuh NO. ????


GMCGuy: I pronounce it tawn O cover

Dan P: Remember the Mazda Millenia? I chose to pronounce it as it was spelled: muh-leen-ee-ya.

Robert W: “Dzus” as in the fastener in racing. Either you know how to say it, or you butcher it so bad no one knows what you are talking about.

Lex: I prefer to say Folksvagen. Call me a purist, I know.

Villeneuve97: Another good one is Bizzarrini. The double-z is properly pronounced as a “T” in Italian. Bits-arr-ini.

Tony: Excellent, reminds me of MOTO GOO-ZEE instead of MOTO GUTSY

Doug G: French cars were good for mispronouncing when I was a kid. Renault was “Ren-ALT,” and Peugeot was “Pudge-it.”

69 Road Runner: Or a PEW-Got

MrKnowItAll: Reh-nawlt Dauphine. They were advertised over here as that (not “Reh-no”)—by Renault! To me they’re still Reh-nawlts”.

RBM: Every time somebody says Coop instead of Coopay for coupe, it’s like fingernails on a blackboard to me. And Sterling instead of Stirling (Moss). I will see myself out now…

Stephen H: Lam-bor-ri-ni is the Italian pronunciation for what Americans call “Lam-bor-gi-ni”

KEN F: A friend of mine was working at an auto parts store when a customer came in requesting a part for his “Goosley.” Not understanding, my friend asked if the car was parked outside. Indeed it was, and when looking at the car, it was determined it was a Pontiac 6000SLE.

weh: Rzeppa joint—still not sure. Re-sheppa?

Ed: Chassis. I stick with chass-ee, not chass-iss.

Jon D: How about the Pontiac Grand Prix mispronunciation? Grand pricks.

Norman W: I can’t tell you how many times while working a parts counter for 24 years, I’ve had customers ask me for a silly-noid… wanting a solenoid.

Larry D: I’ve also heard stole-anoid

hyperv6: Bro Ham for Brougham.

Desmond G: I lived in Texas, so I enjoy pronouncing Chevrolet as “Shivolay.”

DanC: These days people are constantly calling my ’78 Firebird Esprit an “Ee-Spirit;” I say “Ss-Pree”! Back in the day I had a 1969 Mustang Grande which was pronounced by some as “gran-dee” instead of “gron-day.”

Dave C: I don’t know if this is relevant, but I’ve heard my car has a center council between the seats.

D: Had a coworker who worked for Ford who pronounced Chevy with the “ch” as in Chevy Chase. I don’t know if he did it to be humorous or because Chevy is the archenemy of Ferd (my pronunciation).

RadioFrance: Guibo or giubo? Gwee-Bo or Joo-Bo? And why are they such a pain to change?

Dan C: My first job selling cars was at the “MARSAYDEEZ BINZ” dealership. I must have heard that 1000 times.

Kent F: Quarter jet instead of Quadrajet.

Robert W: How about Biarritz? What is the correct pronunciation?

Sajeev Mehta: Bee-A-Reets, I think.

Doug M: Bilstein. I’ve pronounced it bill-steen, until I called them about a warranty issue and they answered, ”Thank you for calling Bill-styne.”

MACE: It irks me more than it should when people who should know better call a damper a “dampener.” I suppose if your shock seals are blown, it could be a “dampener.”

Eelko B: I worked with a guy that raced dirt oval; he told me his rear axle had a watch linkage [should be Watts link].

Dr. Corvette: How about Moto Guzzi? Always mispronounced.

Marvin: How about Merkur? Most people pronounce it Mer-ker instead of Mere-koor.

Mike L: Why do people call a BMW a “Bimmer” instead of a “Beemer?” Is the letter “B” pronounced “bih”?

Ellis: I don’t know how it got there, but from what every single person with more than a year in the BMWCCA has told me, Bimmers are cars; Beemers are motorcycles. Sounds good to me; I always disliked “Beamer.”

Bob M: For a BMW… A Bimmer has four wheels and a Beamer has two wheels.

Julie: Ok, now how do you pronounce Abarth? I have been told Abart. Still confused after owning it for ten years….

S C: Moog. Everybody says moo-g, while the proper pronunciation is Moag.

hyperv6: I recall Richard Petty saying he blew a Tar on his car. Not mocking the South. My family is from there, and I use many of their terms too.

Tony L: Years ago I heard a Cadillac salesman refer to a Cabriolet Roof as a “Cabaret Roof.”

Gary M: Citroën gets pronounced ‘citron’ very often. I counter by saying it’s not a lemon…

Rick S: I knew a guy who didn’t have a battery; his car had a bat tree. And I know a British Lotus mechanic that pronounces the Europa with an r at the end; it’s a Europer.

Alan G: I didn’t read all the comments, but “stoichiometric” seems to lose a lot of folks (me too, sometimes). Maybe that’s a bit too technical. I also have heard Cam-Ray many times for a Toyota Camry.

Matt: I’ve heard DeLorean as Dee-lore-ann instead of De-lore-e-en.

Brett: Hurst instead of hearse. Cadillac converter instead of catalytic.