What words can be pronounced in any language?

kodak chose their name for much the same reason as Nike… but kodak was a completely fabricated word. I am not sure whether it could be pronounced in any language though.

Couldn’t you easily mispronounce Nike in English simply by thinking the e is silent? Wouldn’t that be a default unless you knew better?

Am I missing the point?

momma and poppa

haha as in laughter :P

I always figured Nike’s name was chosen because of the Greek Goddess
“Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_(mythology)

@ uberbatman
You’re probably right. I said in part because I’m sure there were other reasons.

@ funkdaddy
You could be right as well. I’m just repeating what I read. I looked quickly and didn’t find the article but I found a post mentioning the same thing. The poster didn’t reference so I’ve no idea where they got their information either.

I would guess words like “mum” (“mom”) and “pop” (or “dad” or “baba” – Indian for dad) because there seem to be very similar words all over the world for mother and father. So I would think these are some of the earliest sounds that all babies can make.

This may be wrong, but I believe “Coke” and “OK” are the most universal (and most common) words that any Earth-language can say.

yeah is another one.

@funkdaddy – hey, I always pronounced it that way until I heard on a commercial that you say Nike-ee. I also used to pronounce “details” the English way while we’re supposed to do it the French way in the Netherlands.

@steveprutz – but those are just “universal” because everyone uses them. If you never heard of “OK” and a Dutch person was asked to pronounce that aloud he wouldn’t say “OK” as you would.
(Heck, “OK” is also a Dutch acronym for operatiekamer, in which case you also pronounce the acronym the Dutch way)

I’ve heard that ‘hallelujah’ sounds virtually the same in every language.

I love how similar mommy and daddy are in so many languages. I remember once seeing a little chinese toddler say “babbo! babbo!” while pointing at his father. I assume it means daddy.

Most brand names like mentioned are pronounced the same. Okay is also one .As also “hello” etc. And of course laughter has no foreign accent.