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Is it Will-is or Will-ies??

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by mountaineerman, Aug 20, 2010.

  1. mountaineerman
    Joined: Nov 13, 2009
    Posts: 16

    mountaineerman
    Member
    from NC

    I know it is spelled Willys, but how is it pronounced?
     
  2. jdj9410
    Joined: Sep 4, 2007
    Posts: 324

    jdj9410
    Member
    from Paris TX

    Will-is, per Wikipedia.

    What's in a Name From Arizona State University researcher
    The original pronunciation of "Willys" was with a short "i" sound for the 'y"; so it was pronounced "Will-iss". But it seems to have been transmuted by the same flexibility of language that could produce "Jeep" out of "GP". I've heard that the workers in the Willys factories were the first people to mispronounce the name. Like most everyone I have ever talked with, they pronounced it with a long "e" sound for the "y". The official DMV title for my truck lists the make as a "Willy". (They only have space for five characters on the title.) From that, people guess that one vehicle must be a Willy, pronounced "Willie", which is as good a nickname for William as is Bill. So "Willys" would be pronounce "Will- eez" and obviously be more than one "Willy". Everyone seems to get more and more confused over time. Even my insurance agent asked me if there was an "e" before the "y". I guess I add to the confusion. I often say "Will-eez" as a nickname for those unique trucks and wagons produced from 1946 until 1965.
     
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2010
  3. Weasel
    Joined: Dec 30, 2007
    Posts: 6,698

    Weasel
    Member

    Willis as in Bruce...:rolleyes:
     
  4. Royalshifter
    Joined: May 29, 2005
    Posts: 15,579

    Royalshifter
    Moderator
    from California

    What you talkin about Willis.
     

  5. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,753

    Deuces

    This is how I spell it...... :D
     

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  6. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,753

    Deuces

    Cool actor!!
     
  7. Weasel
    Joined: Dec 30, 2007
    Posts: 6,698

    Weasel
    Member

    Even cooler cars....
     
  8. Jingles
    Joined: May 6, 2009
    Posts: 100

    Jingles
    Member

    Will iss. My dad was born in 1922. He had been a car lover since he was very young. When I was young, he was in the car business. He always pronounced
    it Will iss. I had never heard the name pronounced "Willies" until about 30 years ago. I think that "Willies" is just a nickname or petname for a Willys (Will iss).
    I call them a Willies out of affection for them--- even though I know that I am
    mispronouncing the name of the cars (and trucks).
     
  9. Truckedup
    Joined: Jul 25, 2006
    Posts: 4,661

    Truckedup
    Member

    Us guys who have 4 wheel drive made by Willys say it's Willis,but most say Willys .Even some who may have worked for Willys back when say Willys and not Willis.
     
  10. I think it might just be a geographical pronunciation difference. You southerners talk weird!!! LOL! Kidding. Potato, Potaaato.
     
  11. John North Willys pronounced it "will-iss". Many of us say "Will-eez". John North Willys' famous quote is, "I don't care how they say it, as long as they buy my cars." Most of the Willys owners I know say "will-eez" and most people know what you're talkng about when you say that, but either way is correct according to the man that gave his name to the product.

    We call my '53 "Little Willy", it rolls off the tounge better.
     
  12. Labold
    Joined: Nov 1, 2007
    Posts: 1,219

    Labold
    Member

    Damn, beat me to it.
     
  13. I had a '33 sedan and called it Fred, because you don't really want to say you have a small willy's here in Australia.
    It means tool, love plunger, chopper, or whatever you guys like to call it.
     
  14. it's my willy,,,,, or willy with a "S" Willy s
     

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  15. 4dFord/SC
    Joined: Sep 12, 2004
    Posts: 837

    4dFord/SC
    Member

    It's one of those tomayto/tomahto, neether/niyther things.
     
  16. 4dFord/SC
    Joined: Sep 12, 2004
    Posts: 837

    4dFord/SC
    Member

    That's Johnson.;)
     
  17. down hill from here...
     
  18. Castr8r
    Joined: Mar 10, 2006
    Posts: 121

    Castr8r
    Member Emeritus

    I got a "Will-ee" in my pants, and two "Will-iss" Jeeps behind the shed! It ain't a small "Will-ee", but the "Will-iss's" are not as big as they make"em now.

    Will-iss is correct, but so is Will-eez by common useage. Our language is constantly changing; not always for the better...
     
  19. Hot Rod Willys
    Joined: Nov 10, 2006
    Posts: 1,700

    Hot Rod Willys
    Member
    from Ohio

    This is correct, even though John North Willys was pronounced Willis, his workers and sales people went along with the majority and said Willeez. Even though I know its Willis I say Willeez. I do get corrected from time to time but almost always Willeez is the way its said in these parts.
     
  20. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    It has always been Will-eze to me and my friends. A Stone Woods & Cook Will -iss?....I don 't think so.

    I was bringing home a 41 Willys sedan project across the Chesapeake Bay bridge on a trailer. The older female toll taker asked me "what kind of car is that?" I said a 1941 Willys. She looked at me puzzled and said "is dat Willie's car???" I just laughed, nodded and pulled away.
     
  21. SO If you can't call a Willis or Willys a "Willies" then there goes the Chevy or Chevies too. Which leads us to the big question "Are they Mercurys, Mercuries or Mercurii?"
    Personally i wouldn't drag my butt to the stands to watch a Willis run but a Willys? That is a different story!
    Don
     
  22. ShakeyPuddin55
    Joined: Dec 22, 2004
    Posts: 1,906

    ShakeyPuddin55
    Member

    I've always known the correct pronunciation was Will-iss but I refuse to say it that way.
     
  23. carcrazyjohn
    Joined: Apr 16, 2008
    Posts: 4,843

    carcrazyjohn
    Member
    from trevose pa

    Next you guys will be calling Ford Fode ,
     
  24. enjenjo
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 2,689

    enjenjo
    Member
    from swanton oh

    I live in Toledo, home of the Willeze, and never heard the Willis pronuciation until recently. My grandfater and several uncles worked at Willeze Overland, or the Overland, long after both names were no longer used.
     
  25. BadgeZ28
    Joined: Oct 28, 2009
    Posts: 1,165

    BadgeZ28
    Member
    from Oregon

    I remember my Grandfather calling them Willis. So there must have been some type promotion that made that name prominent in the 1930's?
     
  26. TaylorCrawford
    Joined: Jul 28, 2009
    Posts: 792

    TaylorCrawford
    Member


    Damn! I wanted to say that!
     
  27. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,753

    Deuces

    Nope!.. It's Ferd.
     
  28. TaylorCrawford
    Joined: Jul 28, 2009
    Posts: 792

    TaylorCrawford
    Member


    "Sheee-it man, gone go drive muh fode!"
     
  29. DocWatson
    Joined: Mar 24, 2006
    Posts: 10,273

    DocWatson
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Are you people fucking serious?? The human race has no chance when some can not even pronounce Willys.
    Do you have an education other than by Pa' out in the yard?
    FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! Im about to give up with the amount of idiots joining the site.

    Doc.
     

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