Education lesson for the day

[Johnny Mac]

I often hear many people mispronounce The brand name Tesla. It’s especially embarrassing when people that own the car don’t know the name. The brand is named after the man, who pronounced his last name “TEZLA.” It’s not “Tess-la.” In similar fashion it bugs me to death when people call it a poorsshhhh. It’s a poor-sha

 

[T.F.S.]

It’s a Serbian name and it’s pronounced Tesla with an S, not a Z, that’s an American thing.

Source, went to Serbia..

 

[ofcorona]

I often hear many people mispronounce The brand name Tesla. It’s especially embarrassing when people that own the car don’t know the name. The brand is named after the man, who pronounced his last name “TEZLA.” It’s not “Tess-la.” In similar fashion it bugs me to death when people call it a poorsshhhh. It’s a poor-sha

Put it this perspective.
Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia.
Tesla is American brand.

Same thing goes with Porshe.

Pronunciations are different in two different regions.

 

[T.F.S.]

But both Serbians and Croatians pronounce it with an S, where do Americans get Z from?

Even then they do not follow their own weird rule of pronouncing Z “zee” so shouldn’t they be calling it Tezeela???

 

[Birdman325]

If you don't own one, it is pronounced "porsh"; as soon as you own one, it is pronounced "porsha".

 

[Wyomingtim]

You might want to tell Elon he's saying it wrong.

 

[T.F.S.]

You got his number?

 

[eCharcoal]

Understood where the Tezla vs Tesla, and porsh vs Por-sha came from. Someone please tell me why Hyundai is pronounced “hun-day” and not Hy-yun-die”?

 

[T.F.S.]

My gripe is Impreza, almost all English people pronounce it ImpreTza and nobody seems to know why.

 

[Puddles]

Slightly related: The rage that boiled up when I heard the "professional" local radio announcer pronounce "etc." ED-CEDDRA

Repeatedly.

 

[PoitNarf]

Nikola Tesla - Wikipedia

Tesla - /ˈtɛslə/

Help:IPA/English - Wikipedia

t (tie, sty, cat, latter)
ɛ (dress, prestige)
s (sigh, mass)
l (lie, sly, gal)
ə (comma, about)

tes-luh

 

[Jdlee34]

Hyundai is a korean company. And in korea, it's pronounced Hyun-dae. And that's the correct way. But just like Porsche and other foreign companies, they wanted to make easier to pronounce and remember for english speakers.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Try teaching someone to say Murcielago they way it was intended by Lamborghini!

The funny part is when you say it correctly to them, they almost always try to correct you with the incorrect American pronunciation.

 

[CharleyBC]

Understood where the Tezla vs Tesla, and porsh vs Por-sha came from. Someone please tell me why Hyundai is pronounced “hun-day” and not Hy-yun-die”?

Because Hy-yun-die sounds too much like "high and dry," which is what you hope your car won't leave you.

 

[CharleyBC]

I work in a winery. Don't get me going on the abuse people do to Viognier, Tempranillo or Aglianico.

But back on track, it's Serbian. See post #11 above.

 

[run-the-joules]

Since we're gonna turn this into a pronunciation pedant thread, where I feel at home, I'll throw these out there:

Adidas: "Ah-dee-dass". Founder's name was Adi Dassler, from which he made a portmanteau.

Dr Seuss: "Soyce", rhyming with "rejoice". Not rhyming with "caboose".

Neanderthal: "Nee-ann-der-tall". The h is silent.

 

[arcus]

But both Serbians and Croatians pronounce it with an S, where do Americans get Z from?

From Elon and Teslanomics

 

[run-the-joules]

From Elon and Teslanomics

Anyone who would copy Ben Sullins needs a lobotomy.

 

[DMLou]

As a long time fan of Nikola Tesla (and having a bit of a thing for Tesla coils since high school, as my avatar shows), I've always pronounced it as "Tess-lah." I cringe very slightly whenever I hear someone use the "z" sound with it.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

If you don't own one, it is pronounced "porsh"; as soon as you own one, it is pronounced "porsha".

As soon as you learn some German, it's pronounced Porsche.