Lee-dull NOT Lid-ell

Pedantry is a very odd thing. Why do some people get so upset about misappropriated apostrophes? I know my brother-in-law does and I suspect my sister takes him down to the local green market for the sole purpose of winding him up. Similar is the split infinitive. It's not "To boldly go" but "To go boldly". However, I don't care and, as I recall Bill Bryson once pointed out, there is no reason whatsoever to actually have a rule on infinitives in English. Pedantry is silly and stupid. So why have I been so infuriated about hearing a radio advert for Lidl which pronounced it Lid-ell NOT Lee-dull.

I think the reason why is that I have been told, in no uncertain terms, what the correct pronunciation is; and if I have to pronounce it correctly then I don't see why anyone else should be allowed to get away with it. There, I told you that pedantry was silly. I first came across the shop when I was staying in the Kirchheim area of Heidelberg. To be honest, I preferred the Aldi across the road even if the car park was filled with tasteless station wagons from the nearby US airbase. At first, I assumed that it was an acronym for something but, as I later discovered, it was originally a fruit wholesaler bought by a Herr Schwartz and he re-used the Lidl name when opening his first supermarket. Schwartz Markt would have meant the "Black Market" so I can understand why they felt a change of nomenclature was in order. Anyway, I was told that this was pronounced Lee-dull.

From the radio advert it sounds like they have given up trying to educate the Brits as to the proper name; although we are happy enough to take a near enough approximation of other foreign language names - Audi and Renault spring to mind. Others have changed. Adverts for Knorr products used to make a point of pronouncing the K but I'm sure the last time I heard an advert it sounded closer to gnaw; which was unfortunate.

I suppose it's swings and roundabouts. I don't think I've ever heard a non-Scot manage Kirkcudbright, Milngavie or Strathaven without tutoring; although why Greenock should be such a problem remains a mystery.