Are We All Pronouncing IKEA Wrong In Michigan?
The internet was set on fire this week after it was brought to light that we all may be pronouncing IKEA wrong.
We are lucky enough to have an IKEA store within driving distance from Flint. I know it sounds weird, but there's something therapeutic about walking through the maze of mini-room set up inside the massive store in Canton. What's not so therapeutic is finding out that I have been pronouncing the name of the store wrong all this time.
If you're like me, you've just accepted that the store is pronounced like the spelling, IKEA (eye-key-uh). The internet went crazy this week after social media user, MacDoesIt revealed that the correct pronunciation is (EE-Kay-ah).
This makes me feel a little dumb, after all these years of wandering aimlessly through IKEA. After all the meatballs and lamps that I've gotten from there, how am I just finding out.
Why didn't anyone correct us?
So it might not be as cut and dry as I'm making it out to be. It turns out that there could be two different ways to pronounce the store.
Obviously IKEA is a Swedish born store, and in Sweden it is in fact pronounced EE-Kay-ah. There are other acceptable pronunciations though depending on where you live according to the video below.
So which way should we pronounce it?
I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but the store's name is EE-Kay-ah. I know we Americanize pretty much anything we can, but there really isn't a good reason to chance the way we say IKEA.
So the next time you jump in the car and head to Canton for a day at IKEA, try to pronounce it the right way a few times and see if any of the people that work there notice.
Who knows, they may give you an extra meatball or two.
Enchanted Tree House on Lake Michigan
LOOK: Here are 25 ways you could start saving money today