Brands 101

One of my pet peeves is when people pronounce brand names in a different way. Some people either pronounce it as how they see it while some, just OVER pronounce it which really throws me off. I just find it funny because some people who belong to the sosy and the sosy kuno set over pronounce brands just because that's how the Americans do it. That's plainly stupid of them sorry to say. Americans have this native twang so it's hard for them to speak another language. So when they pronounce French brands and other non-American brands, it sounds more maarte because nga of that twang. Sad to say, some Filipinos imitate them. Ugh. So here are some of the common mispronounced brand names and their acceptable pronunciations.

Ralph Lauren - /ralf-lo-ren/
Some people pronounce it as /ralf-lo-ran/ which is so wrong. I just hate it when people say it that way! Ralph Lauren is an American brand not a French brand so no nasal-ish pronounciation needed.

Burberry - /BUR-bur-ri/
Emphasis on the first syllable.

Miu Miu - /mee-you-mee-you/

Yves Saint Laurent - /eve-sahn-loh-rohn/
Nasal on the n.

Dolce and Gabbanna - /dol-che-and-ga-ba-na/
Again, some people pronounce Dolce as /dol-chee/ when it's just as plain and simple as /dol-che/.

Cartier - /car-tee-yay/

Versace - /ver-sah-che/
It's not /ver-sah-chee/ nor /ver-sah-chey/.

Hermes - /er-mes/
Silent h. It's not /her-mays/ nor / er-mays/.

Façconable - /fa-soh-nab/

Comme des Garçons - /comm-day-gar-sohn/

Lacoste - /la-cost/

Nokia - /NOK-ya/
It's not /no-kee-ya/.

Beckham - /be-kam/

Esprit - /es-pree/

Guy Larosh - /gi-la-rosh/
Apparently, it's not pronounced as guy, it's /gi/.

Clinique - /kli-neek/

Lanvin - /lan-van/

Anna Sui - /a-na-swee/
It's not /a-na-suy/

Godiva - /go-day-va/
/day/ as in how Victoria Beckham pronounces her husband's name. /day-vid/ haha!

Patek Philippe - /pa-tek-fee-leap/
It's not /pah-tey/. That's just so crazy haha!

X.O.X.O - /eks-ow-eks-ow/
It's not /sok-so/ nor /so-so/.

Kerastase - /ke-ras-tas/
It's not /ke-ras-teys/

Khiels - /khils/
It's not /ki-yels/.

Balenciaga - /bah-len-see-yah-gah/
It's not /bah-len-sha-gah/.

Christian Louboutin - /kris-tee-yan-loo-boo-tahn/

Givenchy - /jee-von-she/
I swear this is the trickiest of all.

Moschino - /mos-kee-no/

Louis Vuitton - /loo-wee-vee-ton/
Nasal on the n.