Wales disagrees with majority of UK by pronouncing Nike to rhyme with ‘spike’, not ‘spikey’

UK-wide survey, conducted by JD, asked 3081 Brits how they would articulate a whole host of sports fashion brand names such as Nike, adidas, and PUMA
55% of those surveyed pronounce from Wales would pronounce Nike as ‘ni-k’, (rhymes with Spike) with 46% preferring ‘Ni-key’ (rhymes with spikey)
This is despite the majority of UK regions preferring the ‘Ni-key’ pronunciation
77% revealed they would say ‘a-dee-das’ compared to 23% who would call the German brand ‘a-d-das’ – comfortably the most convicted on this matter, ahead of the north west of England (71%) and Scotland (70%)

Ni-k or Ni-key? It’s been a long-running debate down the years but new research can reveal that those from Wales actually say ‘Ni-k’.

Of those surveyed from Wales, 55% admitted they would use the pronunciation that rhymes with ‘spike’, with the rest saying they would articulate the sportswear brand so that it rhymes with ‘spikey’.

The results were part of a wider UK survey, conducted by JD, which asked 3081 Brits how they would articulate a whole host of sports fashion brand names such as Nike, adidas, and PUMA.

The ‘Ni-key’ articulation was generally more popular in regions further south with East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, South East, and South West all preferring this dictation.

What’s more, the shorter-sounding ‘Ni-k’ version was more prevalent in areas further north, with the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, as well as Northern Ireland, agreeing on this sound.

The North West and London, however, were split down the middle and couldn’t agree on either pronunciation.

For the German brand adidas, 77% revealed they would say ‘a-dee-das’ with an elongated ‘e’ sound, compared to 23% who would call the manufacturer ‘a-d-das’.

While all areas of the UK agreed on ‘a-dee-das’, the Welsh were comfortably the most convicted on this matter, ahead of the north west of England (71%) and Scotland (70%)

The label that united most by those surveyed in Wales was Puma, with a whopping 89% revealing they would call them ‘Pew-ma’, rather than ‘Poo-ma’.

Furthermore, respondents claimed Italian brands Ellesse and Napapijri plus Brazillian logo Havaianas would be pronounced ‘El-es’ (58%), ‘Na-pa-pee-jeer-ee’ (55%), and ‘Hav-i-anas’ (56%), rather than ‘El-s-ee’, ‘Na-pa-pee-ree’ and ‘Hav-ai-anas’, respectively.