Hmm did they release their April 1 joke too early by mistake?
You mean like jokeswagen? http://voltswagen.com/ is a parked domain, no pun intended, so I think it's all hype.
Voltswagen of America
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Re: Voltswagen of America
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you find it useful to bring up this trope which is only tangentially related to the post?
If WV's point is that they are emphasizing their they make electrical cars, and the assumption is that those are better for the environment than all other cars, then it's fair to question that assumption. If 90%+ of our power came from zero-carbon sources like nuclear then it would be a fair point but we're a LONG way from that.
> If 90%+ of our power came from zero-carbon sources like nuclear then it would be a fair point but we're a LONG way from that.
Energy production in EU-27 in 2020: 38% renewables (growing), 25% nuclear, 37% fossil fuels (decreasing). That's already 63% from zero-carbon sources.
Re: Voltswagen of America
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
Americans are pronouncing it perfectly correctly as most of us speak English and not German.
It is respectful to at least attempt to pronounce names from different cultures. In many cases, I totally understand it is difficult. In those cases, an attempt is great. In this case, the syllable F exists in Latin and I don't see why it. I must say, I have seen many many times a lack of interest to even attempt to pronounce of even write a name properly. One example which comes to my mind is Ghandi instead of Gandh…
This is an unreasonable expectation. People should try but if they don't, there is no malice here.
There are many languages around the world and it is impossible to remember every nuance of how to pronounce things. Ghandi is common pronounciation even in Germany. The Japanese might pronounce it something else.
Re: Voltswagen of America
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
"V" can be randomly soft or hard, "Volk" is pronounced like "Folk" but "Volt" like "Wolt". THere's no real equivalent sound in English, I think. But, yeah, I've owned several VWs and electrical wiring is usually faulty so I'll go with Faultswagen as well.
woltswagon? Is that the correction pronunciation now?
Yeah, that's very close. The German pronunciation would be halfway between the English F and W sound.
Re: Voltswagen of America
#155Hmm did they release their April 1 joke too early by mistake?
The joke is the cars will run on electric current during lab testing, and burn fuel during normal operation
Re: Voltswagen of America
#156High time, should've done that in 1945.
Re: Voltswagen of America
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
Americans are pronouncing it perfectly correctly as most of us speak English and not German.
Volkswagen is not an English word though
It has been adopted to a degree. Just like you don't need to say Paris as "Pari" in an imitation of the French pronunciation (which would probably sound rather affected and twee in English if you did)
Anyway, let's hope they make reliable electric vehicles (as their combustion engine cars have traditionally been) otherwise people may render it as Faultswagen
Re: Voltswagen of America
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe they grew tired of Americans pronouncing it wrong (most V are still pronounced as F, Vettel, Volkswagen etc.) ;-) Edit: This German apologizes for an attempt at a humorous / sarcastic comment and will revert to work-machine state at once. Beep boop.
Americans are pronouncing it perfectly correctly as most of us speak English and not German.
[deleted]
Re: Voltswagen of America
#159Ah right, those 72 hours where I don't give any mental energy to things on the internet.
Did we even do April Fools last year?
Re: Voltswagen of America
#160I wonder how much internal resistance there was to this shocking name change.
> I wonder how much internal resistance there was to this shocking name change. "Ohm-y!" And who was charged with leading this change?
The current marketing team has a great capacity for inductive thinking.