A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World

17 Famous Company Names You’re Actually Pronouncing All Wrong

Most businesses could not care less how you say their name as long as you spell your name correctly on the credit card slip. But in case you’re wondering, here are the incorrect and correct ways to say …

1 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Ikea

How we pronounce it: eye-key-ah
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: ih-key-yah

Are you mispronouncing these words that even smart people say wrong?

2 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Adidas

How we pronounce it: uh-deed-aas
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: aah-dee-das

3 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Zagat

How we pronounce it: za-get
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: za-GAT

You’ve probably been saying these 10 place names wrong, too.

4 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Nutella

How we pronounce it: nuh-tell-uh
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: new-tell-uh

5 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Porsche

How we pronounce it: porsh
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: por-sha

6 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Fage

How we pronounce it: fahj
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: fah-yay

7 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Hyundai

How we pronounce it: hi-un-dye
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: hun-day

Learn the fascinating origins of some of your favorite company names.

8 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Hoegaarden

How we pronounce it: ho-gar-den
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: who-gar-den

9 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Hermes

How we pronounce it: her-meez
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: air-mez

10 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Givenchy

How we pronounce it: Gah-vin-chee
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: zhee-von-she

11 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Volkswagen

How we pronounce it: volks wag-en
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: vo-ks var-gun

12 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Renault

How we pronounce it: ren-old
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: ren-oh

Here’s the right way to say some of the most mispronounced food words.

13 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Sega

How we pronounce it: say-ga
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: see-ga

14 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Louis Vuitton

How we pronounce it: loo-is vee-ton
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: loo-ee we-taahn

15 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Samsung

How we pronounce it: sam-sung
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: sam-song

16 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Bayer

How we pronounce it: bay-er
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: buy-er

We can’t say we blame you for messing up the hardest words to pronounce in the English language.

17 / 17
Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock/mattjeacock

Saucony

How we pronounce it: sow-cone-ee
How you’re supposed to pronounce it: SOCK-a-nee

Read on for 24 other phrases you’ve probably been saying wrong this whole time.

Reader's Digest
Originally Published in Reader's Digest

Andy Simmons
Andy is a longtime editor at Reader’s Digest, where he’s edited and reported on national interest, dramas and humor. He is the author of Now That’s Funny! featuring his most popular, funniest writings on all things America, some exclusive and all-new, some taken from the award-winning pages of Reader’s Digest. He also wrote That Reminds Me of a Joke ..., a collection of gags and hilarious true stories taken from the news. In a past life, Andy graduated from Kenyon College and was an editor at National Lampoon Magazine.