Why do people have such a hard time pronouncing cycle brand

[tarmackev]

I work in a bike shop and every day I hear ridiculous pronunciations.
Cervelo always gets me as you'd think people would have picked the name up when the Cervelo team was around.

S-Ram?... Why can't people just say SRAM?

Working in Derbyshire UK I've had Trek Mondeo, Specialized our les.
Wilier is generally butchered.
Scott Soo la che. Scott So-lace... Scott solace.
Giant Defi and many more.

The joke at work is we deliberately butcher and mispronounce every cycle brand. Dura ace is now Duratche, ultegra ultigraaah and so on.
Anyone else heard any classics?


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[djm]

Jamis, pronounced as if it was French.

(Which of course might be the origin of that name.. but as any French word, it is butchered by the Americans)

[fromtrektocolnago]

Cervelo picked their name to sound Italian even though theirs nothing even remotely Italian about the brand.
I can also recall how heart broken a friend was a few years ago when I told him his Serotta wasn't Italian, but Jewish.
They're just names.

[prendrefeu]

Cervelo picked their name to sound Italian even though theirs nothing even remotely Italian about the brand.

Wut?
Cérvelo. The company is originally Canadian. The name is more French in origin than Italian (hence the accent on the e which is part of their branding!!) The title is a pun/play on words in French: Cér comes from 'cérvelle' which is the brain. Vélo should be obvious - bicycle.
Cérvelo was founded by engineers (brains!) who love bicycles! Cérvelle + Vélo = Cérvelo

I can also recall how heart broken a friend was a few years ago when I told him his Serotta wasn't Italian, but Jewish.

Ummm... but being Jewish* is a religious (and often cultural) association, not a national one. So really a person/brand can be Italian and Jewish (nation + religion).

Did you mean that Serotta was an American brand, perhaps?


That said: TIME. In English it may be obvious, but in French (which is where the brand originates and most components are made), it is pronounced like "teem" and per the brand's guidelines the name is in all capitals - so it may be an acronym? It is unclear where the brand name originates.

They're just names.

True, but how would you feel if people continually butchered the pronunciation of your name even though you've attempted to correct them, many times, before and they continue to butcher your name intentionally?

You may need to correct yourself as well before correcting others on the origins of brands.

*No, I am not Jewish, I'm just pointing out the obvious here. Religion is not directly correlated with nationality.

[fromtrektocolnago]

there's always someone with a comment like that....

In this case its an Ashkenazik sir name. no other way to say it. He thought he bought something made by Italian craftsman or purchased an Italian brand like Colnago. Perhaps I could have said brand of someone with Eastern European origin but that's way too obscure.
I guess he was confused because the name ended in a vowel.

[GT56]

it is not just 'people' and cycle brands

was thinking of TV commentators (mainly the English speaking) and rider's names

listening to them makes my toes curl in my shoes

[djm]

There is a fella commentating cyclocross for the UCI YouTube-channel, who really doesn't even try to pronounce the riders' names properly.. just says them in plain English - listening is painful

[prendrefeu]

there's always someone with a comment like that....

???
The point of this thread is to hopefully counter ignorance.
What do you mean "a comment like that" ?
You already displayed ignorance by stating an American brand with an "Italian" sounding name was Jewish (still doesn't make sense, religion is not a nationality), and that Cérvelo was named to try and sound Italian (again, this does not make any sense).

In this case its an Ashkenazik sir name. no other way to say it. He thought he bought something made by Italian craftsman or purchased an Italian brand like Colnago. Perhaps I could have said brand of someone with Eastern European origin but that's way too obscure.
I guess he was confused because the name ended in a vowel.

Seriously? What are you talking about?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotta

Serotta was an American bicycle builder located in Saratoga Springs, New York. Named after founder Ben Serotta, the company was founded in 1972.

That brand is American. A country full of immigrants and founded by immigrants! Do you really want to claim each brand/person's name by their family heritage and not their living/current nationality?

[tymon_tm]

Serotta wasn't Italian, but Jewish.

comment of the year

[fromtrektocolnago]

doesn't mean Serottas aren't great bikes by the way. It just goes to how people are overly brand conscious and assign properties to corporate names that don't exist.

[GT56]

I find it irreverent to not even try and hit the right pronounciation

by the way, it is Cervélo

[liam7020]

there's always someone with a comment like that....

In this case its an Ashkenazik sir name. no other way to say it. He thought he bought something made by Italian craftsman or purchased an Italian brand like Colnago. Perhaps I could have said brand of someone with Eastern European origin but that's way too obscure.
I guess he was confused because the name ended in a vowel.

Yeah, but he's right... Cervelo has nowt to do with Italy! Canada is a bi-lingual country so hence the "velo", I'm assuming. And I can't begin to fathom how a discussion on bike brand names wandered into the subject of religion.

[fromtrektocolnago]

I can't seem to verify this but this is what the cervelo site says.

"Cervélo is a combination of the Italian word for brain "cervello" and the french word for bike,

[Beverly]

I chalk it up to people reading most info online or in magazines, and therefore never hearing it pronounced or even said out loud.

I'm guilty of it. I was at my LBS job, talking to one of the other mechanics about the "Faggin" frame I just picked up. The QBP rep was quick to correct that one in a shop full of customers.

[tarmackev]

Rider names, there's another.
To me he'll always be Petazagan


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