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Pronunciation of Wilier

georgeegeorgee Posts: 537
edited April 2008 in The bottom bracket
Will – ee – er?

Vill – ee – er?

Wile – ee – er?

Vill – ee – ay?

Or any other combination,

Any Italians here know?

Posts

  • heavymentalheavymental Posts: 2,025
    I prounce it the first way. But a girl I know, who owns one, prounounces it the second way. Sounds German to me that way though.
  • Gary DGary D Posts: 431
    I was told it was the second way (or is it vay?) as well.

    I was also corrected when I pronounced Bianchi for the first time as Bee-an-chee :oops: :oops:

    It is Bee-an-kee apparently.

    Gary.
    Fungus The Muffin MAn wrote:
    Oh and I feel like I've been raped by an Orangutan :shock: And I've got legs like Girders :lol:
  • pedylanpedylan Posts: 768
    Try this sound clip for a range of Italian bike pronunciation.

    Unfortunately it doesn't have Wilier (unless it's very wierd!). Sorry.

    http://www.mappel.de/sound/bike_brands.mp3
    Where the neon madmen climb
  • ChrisBowersChrisBowers Posts: 31
    I have a Wilier and was told by the LBS that it's pronounced "Vi i i l ier" I think It's more of German pronounciation.

    The factory is not far from Sud Tyrol in Dolomites which I have visited and hardly anyone speaks Itallian there even though it's in Italy.
  • HungryColHungryCol Posts: 532
    I always called it "wile - ee - er" and I heard Phil Ligget (sp?) say Bianchi as "Bee-an-kee" too.
    Every winner has scars.
  • a_n_ta_n_t Posts: 2,011
    with a v rather than a w :)
    Manchester wheelers

    PB's
    10m 20:21 2014
    25m 53:18 20:13
    50m 1:57:12 2013
    100m Yeah right.
  • ceecee Posts: 4,553
    this is a latin pronunciation debate.

    In the big latin unis in the uk (Oxbridge), they pronounce the W.

    In other latin unis, it is a V.

    this is true for Veni, Vidi, Vici (Weni, Widi, Wici) and most other V and W.

    italians would probably eat the letter :shock: (much like spanish) and it would sound somewhere in between a V, a W and a B
    Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.

    H.G. Wells.
  • LagavulinLagavulin Posts: 1,688
    Once you overcome the manaufacturers name then comes the fun of the model you're after...

    Aye-zord?
    Iz-ord?
    Iz-ward?

    Maybe the owners manual comes with a guide. I can't keep calling it the mountainy one that isn't the Mortirolo.
    2010 Cannondale CAAD 9
    2008 Wilier Izoard
  • pneumaticpneumatic Posts: 1,989
    definitely eezooar (no d)

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
  • georgeegeorgee Posts: 537
    Well I own an Escape,

    pronounced 'Escape' I presume

    Big fan even if it is their lowliest model.
  • redddraggonredddraggon Posts: 10,862
    georgee wrote:
    Well I own an Escape,

    pronounced 'Escape' I presume

    Big fan even if it is their lowliest model.

    The lampre coloured Escape looks class.
    I like bikes...

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  • batch78batch78 Posts: 1,320
    Sure its not 'eska pay' !! :D
  • a_n_ta_n_t Posts: 2,011
    i'm pretty sure you cant go wrong with"mortirolo"? :lol:
    Manchester wheelers

    PB's
    10m 20:21 2014
    25m 53:18 20:13
    50m 1:57:12 2013
    100m Yeah right.
  • LagavulinLagavulin Posts: 1,688
    batch78 wrote:
    Sure its not 'eska pay' !! :D
    I just end up pointing.

    "I'll have one of them, oh and stick those wheels on it".

    Maybe I should just buy a Tarmac Pro instead. :lol:
    2010 Cannondale CAAD 9
    2008 Wilier Izoard
  • mercsportmercsport Posts: 664
    According to an ancient thread from 2003 , on a forum I've already forgotten , Wilier is supposed to sound like this : Wilier = VILify +YAY (accent the YAY - family name from the part of Italy near Slovenia - also a non-Italian regional dialect).
    Although I still wonder . There are only twenty one letters in the Italian alphabet and 'W' isn't one of them . The 'I' vowels I would have thought would have been pronounced 'ee' , regardless , and , er ,...what's left ? Vee - Lee - Yay ?
    Yes , I was guessing .
    Yes , I'd be interested to know too .
    "Lick My Decals Off, Baby"
  • pneumaticpneumatic Posts: 1,989
    Lagavulin wrote:
    batch78 wrote:
    Sure its not 'eska pay' !! :D
    I just end up pointing.

    "I'll have one of them, oh and stick those wheels on it".

    And this same problem is, of course, why Lagavulin outsells its local rivals Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila. Most malt whisky drinkers are not Gaelic speakers, Islay-dwellers nor even Scots and they have far too much self-respect to try and order a Bunnahabhain, even when sober! :D

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
  • LagavulinLagavulin Posts: 1,688
    :lol:
    ...Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila...
    Haven't had the latter but Bunnahabhain is a lovely drink.
    2010 Cannondale CAAD 9
    2008 Wilier Izoard
  • dcabdcab Posts: 255
    i ride with an italian who says well-yer ? but then again he's lived in good old lancashire for't last 15 year so who knows? i've just bought a cervelo which he informs me is italian for brains ????
    veritas vos liberabit
  • Stewie GriffinStewie Griffin Posts: 4,330
    And this same problem is, of course, why Lagavulin outsells its local rivals Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila. Most malt whisky drinkers are not Gaelic speakers, Islay-dwellers nor even Scots and they have far too much self-respect to try and order a Bunnahabhain, even when sober!

    Sainsburys sells Caol Ila, tells you how to pronounce it on the box, thankfully :oops:
  • nick hansonnick hanson Posts: 1,655
    Their site says Vee-Lee-Air
    so many cols,so little time!
  • redddraggonredddraggon Posts: 10,862
    nick hanson wrote:
    Their site says Vee-Lee-Air

    I think you might be right

    I was just speaking to an italian friend of mine, and asked her how to pronounce it, and she said it wasn't an italian word as they don't have w in their language. I was suprised she hadn't heard of Wilier either.
    I like bikes...

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  • redddraggonredddraggon Posts: 10,862
    This is it apparantly:

    V-e-l-e-E-r

    with E as in "egg".
    I like bikes...

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  • HungryColHungryCol Posts: 532
    mercsport wrote:
    According to an ancient thread from 2003 , on a forum I've already forgotten , Wilier is supposed to sound like this : Wilier = VILify +YAY (accent the YAY - family name from the part of Italy near Slovenia - also a non-Italian regional dialect).

    To quote the Life of Brian "He making it up as he goes along"
    Every winner has scars.
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