I SAW THIS HAPPEN IN FINLAND
I was guesting for a con in Kuopio and my handler said he was gonna take me to a "Sahnuh," thinking it would be better to use our pronunciation.
His sister snapped, "It's pronounced SOW-na! It's THE MOST FINNISH THING THERE IS!"
Scott "KaiserNeko" Frerichs
Mispronouncing "sauna" around a Finnish person, will get you an ear lashing or bloodied nose.
You pronounce it "SOW-na"
Or they'll pronounce your name like shit for the rest of your life.
Sauna is a keystone in our culture, and it passes down generationally.