Is it "steel" "still" or "stile"

[066blaster]

I pronounce Stihl "steel" but an older guy i was talking to pronounced it "still"

does anybody else say it that way?

 

[nk14zp]

Steel.

 

[zogger]

I have read, but cannot confirm, in the actual German it is "schteel". But on their USA website IIRC it says "steel".

Someone who speaks German will chime in now and set this straight.

 

[JakeG]

Stihl has it on their website somewhere that it is pronounced "Steel".

 

[MasterBlaster]

Steal.

You guys are all wrong!

 

[nk14zp]

I have read, but cannot confirm, in the actual German it is "schteel". But on their USA website IIRC it says "steel".

Someone who speaks German will chime in now and set this straight.

After four years in Germany you are correct.

 

[redfin]

I'm sure someone will pronouce them as "garbage". But I say steel.

 

[sunfish]

I have a buddy that pronounces it 'Stall'...

I rarely pronounce it at all.

 

[mainewoods]

I believe it's pronounced squeal, and not as "with delight".

 

[Homelite410]

I pronounce it ''Junk''

 

[nmurph]

I have read, but cannot confirm, in the actual German it is "schteel". But on their USA website IIRC it says "steel".

Someone who speaks German will chime in now and set this straight.

I believe that also has to do with what dialect of German is being spoken.

The USA website says "bend-over, this will only hurt a little."

 

[066blaster]

I dont even want to get into all the ways i have heard Husqvarna pronounced

 

[nmurph]

I believe it's pronounced squeal, and not as "with delight".

I believe this is what you mean-

 

[o8f150]

you idiots,,, its pronounced huskvarna

 

[mainewoods]

Exactly what I meant.

 

[chadihman]

I pronounce it awesomeness

 

[066blaster]

i heard husk nara once husky var a

 

[wyk]

I believe that also has to do with what dialect of German is being spoken.

German does not have a hard "S" sound to begin words like English does. They only have it at the end of their words. Any German word that starts with an "S" sounds more like a "SH" or a "Z" etc. Same with the middle. "Also" would sound like "All Zoh"(a word with the same meaning in both languages). Their "Z" is like a "Ts", which is as close as it comes to beginning a word with the hard "S". Ztihl would sound more like "Steel" than "Stihl" does. Er...

Remember, sales are driven by marketing. If you were good at marketing, you would quickly realize that "Steel" sounds much cooler and easier for Americans to say than "Shteel". I told some guy here in Ireland I had a "Schteel" and he goes, "Ahhh, Dutch?". So, yeah.

 

[nmurph]

I was thinking it was you that posted this info previous.

For the newbs...this question comes up every few months.

 

[wyk]

I was thinking it was you that posted this info previous.

For the newbs...this question comes up every few months.

I may be a Reindeer, but my surname is German.

As an aside, modern English is an amalgam of multiple languages due to the Island having been conquered and rummaged about by 'foreigners, and via Royal marriages and crusades etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_language_influences_in_English

It is one of the few languages that does not have hard and fast rules that apply to about any part of it, especially spelling. Which is one of the reasons we are always curious how things are pronounced in other languages. We do not understand some of their simple rules since we almost have none.