In connection with the upcoming delivery of our new silver "06 Prius, our salesman continues to refer to its parent company with a sharp pronounciation on the "T" in Toyota. He says, " 'T'ota, not 'Toy'ota" when speaking of the auto maker. Really!I mean, the guy sells other Toyota products too... and seemingly for a number of years. Should we just blow it off, gently correct him or (God forbid) have we been mispronouncing it all these years?
time to take some Japanese classes. I think we (Americans in general) are known for bastardizing a lot of foreign names, places etc. or simplify them however it suits us. I hear this a lot, so what's your name? My name is Bjorn. hmm, OK I'll call you Barney.
Indeed, as a Southern gal myself I've heard references to this "Tota" or that Tota" from time to time. Guess one just gets use to the vernacular when you're around it all the time. Ya'll have a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah or great Kwanzaa -- whichever applies...
Who knows? People always sound stupid when they mispronounce things. Either they aren't very observant or don't feel like putting forth the effort. Like George W. Bush, for example. Every time he stumbles over a word I'm embarrased. My neighbor loves her "t-AHH-da" as well. Nate
Here's a fun little linguistics quiz if you're up for it: http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/yankeetest.html
lmao! I do NOT say "tota"... I say Toyyyyyota! From the quiz: 73% (Dixie). Your neck must be at least pink! :lol:
Yep... To'ta or tow'ta... I could see that. I'm from Chicago, and lived in New Orleans for a while when I was a kid. I called it New-or-leens, but New Orleans natives called it N'or'lns. I live in Canada now, and they call it New-or-lee-ans... exactly as it's spelled.
I would think so! But then these customer service folks at Panasonic have this nasty habit of saying "Maht-soosh'-da". :huh:
Actually, that's a pretty good transliteration of the way it's pronounced in Japanese (the "i" in Matsushita is what's called a voiceless vowel). Joe
Seems to be Toyota with the emphasis on Toy...at least in northern Europe. Notice whether the salesman makes Prius rhyme with "See us" or "Try us" and then tell him you're puzzled as there is some controversy on this. Then lead the conversation generally into pronunciation and you can steer it into "Tota".
Interesting. Thanks for the explanation. I didn't really believe customer service reps would be mispronouncing the name of the company without being corrected by management.
