Sunday, March 9, 2008

How to pronounce "Thule"...the car rack company


Have you ever come across a word that you were not exactly sure how to pronounce it or just didn't even give it enough thought that you may be saying it wrong? Usually you end up pronouncing and say the word to the best of your abilities You also keep saying it the way you think it should be pronounced until someone corrects you and makes you feel like an illiterate fool. Well a year ago I bought a car rack for my Mazda 3 hatchback. I decided to go with the company Thule Racks and this started my relationship with this company and my long pondering of what is the correct way of pronounce the name.


By just looking at the name Thule looks like it should be pronounced like "tool" only with a "th" instead of a "t". But I thought I had heard it pronounced different and liked the other version of "too-lee". So for the last year I've been pronouncing it "too-lee", then just the other day I all of the sudden had a sickening fear that I had been pronouncing this name wrong and have been sound like a schmuck this whole time. So I took an informal pole with some co-workers of mine and quickly discovered that there was no clear answer, everybody had their own version. Well this started the ole' Google search to find an answer to my question. What I found out was both a relief and satisfaction that I had been saying the name correctly the whole time...well almost. I've at least been saying the dumbed down American version of "too-lee". I'm going to include some definitions below to also help clarify the origins of the name.


Dictionary.com

Thu·le /ˈθuli for 1, 2; ˈtuli for 3/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[thoo-lee for 1, 2; too-lee for 3] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.
the ancient Greek and Latin name for an island or region variously identified as one of the Shetland Islands, Iceland, or Norway: supposed to be the most northerly region of the world.
2.
ultima Thule.
3.
a settlement in NW Greenland: site of U.S. air base. 749.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is pronounced "too-luh" - I know this because I checked their corporate videos on Youtube! I always do this when I am unsure.

Just as Asics is pronounced "ass-icks" - just like they say on Youtube!