A silly Jeep question
 

An interesting suggestion was put to me recently regarding the Willys Jeep. Because of the nature of the question, I thought rather than pose the question on a Jeep forum (which would have a singular agreed position on the matter), it would be better to pose the Q on a worldwide forum to better gauge local opinions and idioms.

I was always led to understand that the name Willys as applying to MA and MB Jeeps, and the car company before the war, was pronounced as in Willy's, or Willies. It has been put to me by a Jeep enthusiast that it ought to be pronounced with the "Y" being an "I", as in Bruce Willis. On reflection, I could not find any reference to the name Willys being a a condensed version of the possesive of Willy's. God knows I have come across names like Smyth and Smythe where the Y is an I, but surely such a well known car brand could not be so mispronounced for so long and have gone uncorrected? :confused Then again, I suppose, there is the case of the truck maker Reo and their name being hi-jacked by 70's band R.E.O. Speedwagon and trying to correct it ever since. :mad:

I gather..
 

..it's Willis. Not Willies! Yes it was Reo as in Ransom Eli Olds. Not R-E-O.

James D Mooney, who had retired from the USN in 1945, the former President of GM Overseas Operations, left GM and joined Willys-Overland and created the "Mooney Jeep".

Hate to disagree with you David, but, maybe in the Queen's English it may be pronounced " willis" but over here it is definately "Willies". I've yet to encounter an American who calls them willis and afterall, they were built here and they should know...

Pronounciation
 

Well, Chris, you may be right, and apologies if I got it wrong. I gather, going back in history to say 1912, when John North Willys established a British subsidiary, it was pronounced "Willis" although I know that our American friends say "Willies" as in "Willies Jeep". I have studied the Willys-Overland history in the UK and then the US and Canadian back to about 1904 with Charles Y Knight's sleeve-valve engine, which Mr W acquired rights to by buying up the Edwards Motor Company of New York. We made Willys-Overlands cars here in the UK which you may not know.

I can understand that on this side of the Pond "Willies" sounds too much like the standard slang for a phallus, and so there was a deliberate avoidance of a literal translation. I know Willys cars were sold in Australia: did they have any problem with "willies"? Willys-Overland in Toledo went into Federal bankruptcy in 1933 and UK importation ended. However in 1937, Willys returned to the U.K. market, with the 4-cylinder 15.63 H.P. 4-cylinder Streamline model. London Distributors were Shrimpton’s Motors Limited of London. In 1939, the Toledo company having traded its way out of bankruptcy set up a U.S.-run office of the Willys Export Company at Arlington Works, Arlington Industrial Estate, Twickenham, Middlesex, and post-War sold the civilian Jeep models in Britain. The last pre-war 1939 Models were “Willys-Overlands”.

This reminds me that in the early Twentieth Century, there was a fierce argument in Britain as to whether those rubber round things on vehicles were to be called "tyres" or "tires", as the Americans spelled them. I note from Canadian DND correspondence that it was spelled "tyres" generally pre-war, but "tire" crept in from about 1936 and this was influenced by dealings with US Tire companies who had subsidiaries in Canada. This makes me query when in Canada the pronounciation"willies" was first used or whether it has always been the case? I will look further in due course. Willys-Overland Limited was formed by JN Willys and then moved into the former Russell car Plant in Toronto during 1915. They then built cars there from 1915-1933. Did they use the English pronounciation? Was there the same connotation in Canada as in the British Isles? I shall be interested to know.

Once again, apologies for misdirecting but we say here generally "Opal" whereas it is I gather correctly "O-pell". I have been discussing today with a chap whether Reo Trucks [after Ransom Eli Olds] will forever be known as R-E-O Trucks after REO Speedwagon. Also "Hailey's Comet" because of Bill Hailey annd his Comets rather than the correct "Hall-ee". as in Town Hall.

Do I have to separate you two?

Actually, maybe MLU should have a new thread on the subject of dialect... could get interesting... :smoker:

Pronounciation
 

Well Geoff, I can say that I have heard both pronounciations, and the answer to Tony must be that Chris is right so far as North America is concerned and no doubt elsewhere but it has also been pronounced differently where it might have caused offence.

I should add that in the pre-war period the War Department and DND both dithered on "s" or "z" in "mechanisation" or "mechanization".

Mine is a '41 slat grill and it prefers to be addressed as "willis" as only hicks would call it a "willies".

Course we have Willie Nelson here in Austin all the time and his name is pronounced "willy" so go figure...

Also not implying that Willie Nelson is a hick for all you country music fans out there :dh:

The only way I've ever heard it pronounced is Willies, either Canadian or American.

At least you got the spelling right. Sheesh, the number of times I see "Willy Jeep" or "Willy's Jeep" written by so-called specialists. That alone is enough for me only wanting a Ford geepeedubya!

Well, it wouldn't be the first time I have heard of different pronunciations of cars in different parts of the world.
In Aust the Japanese Subaru is pronounced Soo-bar-roo, in NZ it's S'bah-ru.
In the US, a Mazda is a Mars-da, in Aust it's Mazz-da.

In Aust, when Hyundai cars were first imported from Korea, they were marketed by the importers with the slogan "Say Hi to a Hyundai" (Rhyming), but after having the error pointed out by the Koreans, it was changed to "Say G'Day to a Hyundai". Even after dealing with the manufacturers, the importers never picked up on the proper way to say the brand!

The problem with the printed word, even in these days of the global internet, is that pronunciation is still a local practice.

Re: Pronounciation
 

So why do the English say Pall Mall as "Pow-Mau"?

Willie Nelson is a hick...

Toe-may-toe or toe-mah-toe, I suppose us Colonials lost our accents a long time ago... :p
or maybe it's just the Americun's fault

Hey Jif, if you can can manage a squiz at Corowa next year, you'll pick up the lingo quicker than a Bondi Tram on Pension Day. Struth, she'll be Bonza!

You say tomato I say tomata

You say potato I sat potata

BTW, you may think Willy Nelson is a hick but the man can SING and he gives great hugs :smoker:

:D

EH? :confused

Keefy I can MOSTLY understand him when he talks. Max I have to listen a little harder ... what about the rest of you Aussies? Oh boy, I think I may well need a translator with me! That or else give you mates ESL lessons while I'm there! :D

Ma Yappy

Hon, they don't speak "English", they speak "Ozian". Pay attention now.

Training in 'Strine
 

Just keep watching YOTB. :teach:

Do I need to include subtitles in future releases :confused

NO .... YOU pay attention. :teach: I meant that I would teach them English as a Second Language so's I can understand them, because they don't speak English!!! :D

:p

Re: Training in 'Strine
 

No need for subtitles, just the "Where the bloody hell are you?" girl.

Make it so, Number 1. :teach:

Re: Training in 'Strine
 

YES! :p

... I also don't have a VCR anymore. Left the OLD thing in Winnipeg (had to move light and it was old anyways) now am VCR-less and can't see YOTB for now. I still have the video though ;)

Re: Re: Training in 'Strine
 

Now you're speaking in tongues methinks. I don't understand a word you just uttered. Or have you just been into Tasha and Spikes catnip again?

I don't believe it!
 

Well, I suppose I asked for it!

1. Research has shown that "Willys, Wyllys and Willis" are all versions of "Will's" or "William's", and go back hundreds of years.

2. I can do no better than quote from a source duplicated it seems on several encylopaedic sites:

So, the answer appears to be that in olde English it was "willis", and in due course as is typical in the English language, the spelling remained but people pronounced JN's surname either way. My apology stands, but I feel both are correct. However I am not sure Reo Motor Car Co, of Lansing, Michigan, ever got across to the public that it was indeed "Reo" as in the Brazilian city or Spanish for river, and not the letters spelled out "R-E-O".

To finish, Henry Ford [in French of course pronounced "For" with a silent "d"] founded a company that today has a plant in Portugal that produces a small automobile, the Ford Ka...as in "car", or the snake in Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book". However certain BBC Top Gear TV programme presenters insisted on calling it the "ca", even though in German and all other languages so far as I know it is "car"! It is a pun for car! Why on Earth do they have to be so stupid?

That's presuming you can teach Aussies ANYTHING. I wouldn't hold my breath, my sweet. :teach:

Re: I don't believe it!
 

Oh good. A REAL English man arrives. Good timing here David. You tell 'em in plain English .... :D

Re: Re: Re: Training in 'Strine
 

Keefy knows, he sent me a copy of the video... :D :p

HARK :note: ... don't you smell the blood of that Englishman named David? He has arrived to hopefully :teach: them how ...

:teach: :sheep: :)

!!!
 

Well I have had to learn my English Grammar from my Professor boss, but I still know what a "hood" is, a "fender" is, and a "trunk" is. My very good Aussie pal Eddie Ford the auto car mag publisher said "You English guys talk about your wings on your cars. Well, birds have wings, and cars don't fly, and a boot is what I put on my foot, and a bonnet on my wife's head!." Note that I learned that the quotation marks, speech marks, or inverted commas go before the full stop/period/dotty thing on the page. Never knew that until recently...had it from a top Cambridge Professor via my boss!!

So, if a vehicle is a Pick-up truck [North American] , it could also be described as a Lorry [English], a Ute [Utility=Aussie] or a Bakkie [Afrikaans for "Little Tray"]. The word "truck" comes from the French word "Truckus" and there I shut up as I laughing too much. And there's a lady present. :note: Better still: :salute:

And Mr Winnington-Ball Sir: : :note: :note: :note: :note: :note: :note: :note: :salute:

Re: !!!
 

I so very much thank you for your most kind considerations, my kind FE FI FO FUM SIR as you DO speak ENGLISH mostly ... my eyes and ears are covered as I type ... :D

Re: A silly Jeep question
 

AND NOW BACK TO YOU MASTER TIM TAMS TONY >>>> :D

Re: Re: A silly Jeep question
 

Did we get off track or something :confused