This might seem a little frivolous for consumer advice, but many people care about pronouncing a name correctly, and worry about appearing foolish if they get it wrong. Especially if going into a shop and asking for the brand by name. So if you want to know how to pronounce Miele, here it is.
For years, I’d always pronounced it, “mealy” and so did everyone else that I had heard say it. When I was invited to go down to Miele in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, I noticed they pronounced it differently to how I’d always pronounced it. The people at Miele UK say, “meal-a”. It’s pronounced, “meal-a”, with the “a” being as in apple.
More Miele related articles
Repairs
Fixed-price repairs, Pay monthly options, Repair & protect your whole appliance..
Save Money Now
Subscribe to Which? today and start saving money now. Subscription offers often available.
Spares
Spares4Appliances is a spares company run by repair engineers who understand all about spare parts for appliances.
thank goodness for that! now I can go buy A Meal-a (as in apple) AKA Miele Cat & Dog Vacuum without having panic attack,
thanks for that!
Even some of the sales people don’t know how to pronounce it :-)
At work, I sell spare parts for theese appliances in a call centre, miele is pronounced “me-lay” it’s funny what people ask for onoccasion over the phone such as “me-elle” and “me-lee” ah well. It’s all fun!
I bought the Miele Vacuum about four years ago and still think it was the best purchase decision I’ve ever made.And till date I am not sure how to pronounce it :)
I service Miele appliances here in the US. I purchased a used Miele washer, and it’s proven to be a work horse. It’s funny to hear it pronounced wrong.
Hi, live in Germany (I am not german) and I just found this article today. So the answer is:
1) First, break the word in two: “Mie” “le”
2) Pronounce “Mie” just saying a long “me”. In german e+i= a long english “e”
3) Complete saying “le” this way “leh” (NOT “lay”).
4) Miele = mee-leh (putting more emphasis on “mee”)
Thanks IGotIT. From what I’ve gathered it’s pronounced differently even by Miele themselves depending on which country they are in :)
Sure, It will be pronounced differently in several countries because (or perhaps) they don´t have germans working there ;-)
But in Germany, where the brand comes from, will be pronounced the way I explained.
Something similar happens here with words like “Apple” and “Pall Mall” they (germans) insist to pronounce them “eppel” and “pel mel” ;-)
Just saw this today and thanks IgotIT, i got it.
Its actually really simple and funny also. Its pronounced pretty much like – A WASHER without the -r. Wash-uh.
1. Long German “Mie” as in i+e = long “ee”
2. French “le” as in french for “the”.
And taking the pun – I fery much like Zie Cherman washuh fon Meee-luh.