I previously owned a VW, but swore on my life that I'd never buy another one after the emissions cheating scandal. There are plenty of reasons why a VW likely wont be my next choice, but I'm softening my stance a bit. What they did was absolutely reprehensible, but I later learned that the more accurate story is that they bore the brunt of media attention for something that nearly every auto manufacturer was later fo…
> they bore the brunt of media attention for something that nearly every auto manufacturer was later found to be doing I find the same happens with performance enhancing drugs in sports. Everyone in the game knows that everyone is doing it. But someone gets caught, and people go full offense on them as though they're pure evil. Ben Johnson and later Lance Armstrong come to mind.
Voltswagen of America
531–540 of 632 posts
Re: Voltswagen of America
#532Earlier quoted context omitted.
In practice, if a name has a common pronunciation within English, you show respect by using that pronunciation when speaking to native English speakers. Otherwise you just cause confusion. The adapted names have their own history. If you insist on saying København and not Copenhagen, you get to have a little pretentious discussion explaining what you meant to every person you talk to. Ditto for Folks-vagen.
> In practice, if a name has a common pronunciation within English, you show respect by using that pronunciation when speaking to native English speakers. Here's how I read this. "We as an English speaking group will continue to not make an attempt to pronounce it right even if we can. Once we don't we will have a common pronunciation that doesn't fit the original one. Once it becomes common, we will get offended if…
Re: Voltswagen of America
#533Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also bought a VW Golf GTD and ended up having to sell it right as the scandal was heating up. Apart from the ~$10k I lost and the betrayal by VW executives, I was also upset that the car I bought to try and be a little bit eco-friendly was decidedly not. I received a paltry payout from the class-action lawsuit, which helped. However I will never buy a VW-group car again. It has also forever jaded me about the lack…
Are you also going to move your money from all major banks? Same pieces of thieving shits, same lack of accountability and punishments. USA only went after VW to put political pressure on Germany for their export surplus. It's literally the only reason why suddenly one of the hundreds of large corporations in the West needs to be held accountable for something while dozens of others - European and American - continue…
I keep no money in major banks, not just because they are largely morally bankrupt though. :)
Re: Voltswagen of America
#534Re: Voltswagen of America
#535Earlier quoted context omitted.
last time I drove a corolla was several years ago, probably a 2017 model. it wasn't an awful car, but to me, it felt like a step down in driving dynamics over the tdi I was forced to get rid of. I believe that model made about the same peak power as my old tdi, but obviously at a much higher rpm. the steering felt vague, etc. I was also cross-shopping a gti (whose price was very depressed at the time), so it wasn't e…
2019 was the release of their first performance model. With the hybrid option there's no turbo lag (that gti's are notorious for) and the steering is very sharp in sports mode (can also create custom profiles to adapt steering, suspension and dampners to your own likings). The hybrid model is better compared against the gte which has very similar specs to the gti. The gte when I tested seemed heavy and the brakes wer…
Re: Voltswagen of America
#536Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In practice, if a name has a common pronunciation within English, you show respect by using that pronunciation when speaking to native English speakers. Here's how I read this. "We as an English speaking group will continue to not make an attempt to pronounce it right even if we can. Once we don't we will have a common pronunciation that doesn't fit the original one. Once it becomes common, we will get offended if…
> If the original speakers insist, we will call them pretentious." Way to overreach way beyond what I originally said. If I was speaking to someone I knew was Dutch, of course I would (try to) say "København." Then they'd probably laugh at me and we'd agree to call it Copenhagen. :P Or if I want to read your view in the worst possible way-- similar to how you've read mine-- "People who use the established pronunciati…
1.0 (me) : "It is respectful to attempt pronunciation if possible".
1.1 (you) : "There is a common English pronunciation. It's pretentious if you don't use the common pronunciation. Show respect to the English speaker!"
1.2 (me) : "The common pronunciation exists because of the lack of attempt in the first place. It's not pretentious. "
1.3 (you) : "It is established, we should use common pronunciation"
You turned the initial conversation about making an attempt to be kind and respectful towards non-English speakers into something else. Almost feels like victim blaming to me. Once again, to be clear - we should make an attempt. Just because there's an established pronunciation (or spelling) doesn't mean it is right. Overtime, established pronunciation can move towards the original pronunciation. The right pronunciation is what the speaker wants to have. You, me or the English society don't have any say in it. It doesn't matter if it is established or not. Going the extra mile in kindness helps; calling others pretentious because they ask you to empathise doesn't.
Re: Voltswagen of America
#537Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is still quite likely he won't be repeating the mistake though. Prison is something else than just money.
Is the rest of the world as harsh as the U.S. in that a prison sentence is basically the end of your career? Would this guy have a shot at being an executive again?
Re: Voltswagen of America
#538Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In practice, if a name has a common pronunciation within English, you show respect by using that pronunciation when speaking to native English speakers. Here's how I read this. "We as an English speaking group will continue to not make an attempt to pronounce it right even if we can. Once we don't we will have a common pronunciation that doesn't fit the original one. Once it becomes common, we will get offended if…
I know persons who are doing this in times. A example is a person I am knowing who say "Mexico" with Spanish accent. A first problem is this person is not a speaker of Spanish and so it is bothering on me for bad pronounsing and no interests in improvement and not in learning more Spanish. A second problem is it disruptes conversation when a person is slipping into different accent without reasoning. A third problem…
Re: Voltswagen of America
#539Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are letting them off too easy. It’s probably a game of stag hunting. I don’t think this blacklisting applies either. You are ignoring the fact that whistleblowers can operate anonymously. These companies chose to then a blind eye on themselves and each other.
I'm not saying they're doing the right thing - just that the game theory is what it is. I'm trying to give an explanation, not an excuse. Anonymous only works in a small spectrum of possible whistle blowing - where the issue and the players are large enough to matter, but small enough that it won't be trivial to guess who the anonymous tip came from.
Re: Voltswagen of America
#540Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If the original speakers insist, we will call them pretentious." Way to overreach way beyond what I originally said. If I was speaking to someone I knew was Dutch, of course I would (try to) say "København." Then they'd probably laugh at me and we'd agree to call it Copenhagen. :P Or if I want to read your view in the worst possible way-- similar to how you've read mine-- "People who use the established pronunciati…
I'd like to take a stock of how this conversation went. 1.0 (me) : "It is respectful to attempt pronunciation if possible". 1.1 (you) : "There is a common English pronunciation. It's pretentious if you don't use the common pronunciation. Show respect to the English speaker!" 1.2 (me) : "The common pronunciation exists because of the lack of attempt in the first place. It's not pretentious. " 1.3 (you) : "It is establ…
> you show respect by using that pronunciation when speaking TO NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS.
or
> If I was speaking to someone I knew was Dutch, of course I would (try to) say "København."
Because what you're accusing me of-- and the words you're putting in my mouth "There is a common English pronunciation. It's pretentious if you don't use the common pronunciation. Show respect to the English speaker!"-- make no sense in that context.
German is full of exonyms. All languages are full of exonyms and weird pronunciations of foreign words. It is OK.