Merc?

[TEG]

BBCA's TG the other night had Hammond driving in a Lambo Merc and having a great time in it. Then he spent 4 minutes of the show trying to put the soft top on with some Italian locals. Ha Ha.

Oh, I don't like "Merc" as an abbreviation... Mercedes? Mercury?

Or did you mean to say "Murc" as is Murciélago?

 

[dpeilow]

vfx - did you mean this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHDlm_czDDk

I think the locals are Spanish. :wink:

 

[JRP3]

Oh, I don't like "Merc" as an abbreviation... Mercedes? Mercury?

Or did you mean to say "Murc" as is Muciélago?

I think you meant Murciélago, otherwise it would be a "Muc" :wink: For a while I'd get confused when people would refer to a Mercedes as a "Merc", since that's always meant Mercury to me.

 

[vfx]

Oh, I don't like "Merc" as an abbreviation... Mercedes? Mercury?

Or did you mean to say "Murc" as is Muciélago?

I think you meant Murciélago, otherwise it would be a "Muc" For a while I'd get confused when people would refer to a Mercedes as a "Merc", since that's always meant Mercury to me.

Obviously an egregious faux pas doing a late night opinion post and being too lazy to look up the spelling of an Italian bat.

 

[graham]

For a while I'd get confused when people would refer to a Mercedes as a "Merc", since that's always meant Mercury to me.

Yes, Mercedes is abbreviated as "Benz".

The YouTube video did not work for me, dpeilow :-(

 

[dpeilow]

Hmm, I must've jinxed it. Seems to be gone now. Can't find another copy either.

By the way, in the UK we do say 'Merc', I've never heard anyone say 'Benz'.

 

[graham]

By the way, in the UK we do say 'Merc', I've never heard anyone say 'Benz'.

Ah, well you know us Yanks: Drive on the other side of the road; Live on the other side of the Atlantic; Abbreviate the other side of the German car name...

 

[JRP3]

By the way, in the UK we do say 'Merc', I've never heard anyone say 'Benz'.

Yes, I think the first time I heard Merc for Mercedes was on TopGear.

 

[TEG]

For a while I'd get confused when people would refer to a Mercedes as a "Merc", since that's always meant Mercury to me.

Yes, exactly. I had a friend move to London and years later he told me he bought a "Merc", and I thought for a moment that he meant Mercury until Top Gear set me straight.

Yes, in the US it is Mercedes or Benz, or maybe even Daimler but not 'Merc'.

 

[dpeilow]

Ah - we don't have Mercurys over here, so that would explain the need to differentiate over there. :smile:

 

[TEG]

Then there was the short lived Merkur brand...

 

[graham]

Ah - we don't have Mercurys over here, so that would explain the need to differentiate over there. :smile:

Give us a little time. Chances are good we won't have Mercurys here either.

 

[JRP3]

Then there was the short lived Merkur brand...

Ah yes, the "Merk" :tongue:

 

[vfx]

By the way, in my mind I was pronouncing "Merc" as Merse (rhymes with "purse") short for the full "Murciélago"

At this time I just beg for Mercy.

Which would have been better shorthand in the first place!

 

[TEG]

Which is another reason why Brits throwing out "Merc" (pronounced "Murk") for "Mercedes" befuddles us "Yanks" -

We pronounce Mercury like "murk -your - eee"
but Mercedes like "Murse - aid - ease"

So when someone says "murk/merc" we assume Mercury.
If we had to do a nickname for Mercedes it would sound like "murse" not "murk"

Do Brits pronounces Mercedes like "Murk - said - eeze" rather than the US way of saying "Murse - aid - ease"?

 

[graham]

We pronounce Mercury like "murk -your - eee"
but Mercedes like "Murse - aid - ease"

I have heard many people in the American South pronounce Mercedes with the accent on the first syllable instead of the second: MUR-suh-dees. But everywhere else in the US it is usually accent on the second: mur-SAY-dees.

 

[TEG]

Some other commonly noticed differences:

US: Jag-whar
UK: Jag-you-are

US: Aloom-inum
UK: Al-youm-ini-um

 

[dpeilow]

US: Toe-may-toe
UK: Tom-ah-toe

:smile:

But the British pronunciation is "Murse-aid-ease" too.

 

[TEG]

But the British pronunciation is "Murse-aid-ease" too.

So how do you pronounce "Merc" as shorthand for "Murse-aid-ease"?

I think my friend who moved to London said "Murk" which doesn't make sense if the source word never had that sound.

 

[TEG]

US: Toe-may-toe
UK: Tom-ah-toe