Most Americans eat fast food“McDonald’s” catering is perceived as a usual eatery where you can eat cheaply and, most importantly, eat quickly. However, for many residents of the post-Soviet space, these institutions continue to be exotic despite the fact that they entered the domestic market more than 25 years ago. Despite such a long "cooperation", some even today do not really know how to spell "McDonald's" in English. Let's correct this unfortunate misunderstanding and find out not only how this is done correctly, but also consider the etymology of the word being studied.
What is "McDonalds"
Before considering how McDonalds will be in English, it is worth knowing the lexical meaning of this term.
This noun is the name of one of the mostWorld famous fast food chains. Despite the fact that almost all the food offered in these institutions is deliberately harmful to the human body due to the use of flavors, flavorings and dyes, it has a particularly pleasant taste and smell. And an active marketing campaign, conducted by network owners for several decades, allows McDonalds to remain one of the leaders in the field of catering, despite the competition.
Etymology of the name of the network "McDonalds"
The name of this brand was derived from the last name.its founders are the brothers Mac and Richard MacDonald. Translated from the original language, the word "McDonald's" (as spelled - discussed in the last paragraph) can be translated as "MacDonald's" (genitive). In this case, the name hints that the firm is owned by people or a person with that name.
Considering the question of how to spell "McDonalds" in English, you should pay attention to the features of the recording of this noun in Russian.
Today, two options are common:with and without it. And both are valid. If you visit the official website of the company in the Russian Federation, the name of this brand will be indicated there as “McDonald’s”, which corresponds to its English spelling.
At the same time, the variant with “ь” is also common among the Russian-speaking population, although this contradicts the original spelling and pronunciation of this term.
This is explained by the fact that Slavic languages are not characterized by a combination of several consonant letters in a row, as here - "lds".
In this regard, in borrowed terms,compatriots try to insert their own vowels or change existing ones (for example, as in the words “scrupulous” or “colander”) containing them. Sometimes they just add a soft sign, as is the case with the name “McDonald’s”.
What does the Scots mean the name MacDonald
Having learned the history of the appearance of the name of the brand under study, it would be nice to find out what the surname of the founding brothers originally means.
Like most proper names beginningwith Mac, this also belongs to the Scots. In their tradition, such a beginning is an indication of the father of the owner of the family name. In other words, MacDonald means "son of Donald."
According to official data, this name was the first to startuse in the XVII century. Scottish settlers in the province of Ulster. Some scholars believe that this word is the English name for the Gaelic nickname MacDomhnall.
The origin of the term is from Gaelic -a confirmed fact, just like the meaning of the word "McDonald" in it. Translated, it means "ruler of the world." And if we consider that the network of restaurants with this name is the largest in the world in its field, such a translation can be considered prophetic.
A little about the history of this chain of fast food restaurants
Рассматривая значение и способ написания названия This network of fast food, it is worth a little dip in its history. It begins its countdown in 1940, when the Scottish emigrants, the MacDonalds brothers, founded their first fast food restaurant in the California town of San Bernardino.
Their venture was very successful, and after 8years of their eatery, despite its modest size, began to bring excellent income. In addition, it was these enterprising guys who thought through and clearly formulated the basic tenets of the fast food ideology, which all their colleagues actively use to this day.
12 years after the discovery of McDonaldmet a fifty-year-old Czech salesman Raymond Kroc. It was he who, having seen the potential of the fast-food industry, bought the brothers the right to open restaurants of the same name all over America.
Thanks to the agility and foresight of thisin less than a decade, his restaurant chain has become one of the richest and most common in the country. This allowed Krok to buy out all the rights to the brand from the founding brothers and develop it internationally.
How do you spell "McDonalds" in English
Having considered the meaning, translation and history of the appearance of the term in question, it is worth learning about the main thing. So how do you spell “mcdonalds” in English?
The only correct option can be seen on the extended company logo: McDonald’s.
As mentioned above, the letter ’s at the end does not inform about the founding number of MacDonald founders, but about the fact that the chain of restaurants belongs to them.