Do you know what language this is from? In my yankee/red neck experience there are two approaches you can take here.
One is to research it on google and see what pops up. Maybe something familiar, a passage in a story you read in high school or something. Although you may luck out and get a pronouncing of the name/word, its my experience it can always backfire.
Ive run into two problems in my line of work as a cold caller. Van, the name is sometimes said as the vehicle for your family or Von, like Lilly Von Shuppt. Jamie is another one. Sometimes it is said like the Aerosmith song, Jamies got a gun or Hi-Me like one of the mythbusters. Other names the best defense is to pronounce it fast. If you can only say one part, said it then, just becareful of assigning genders if you are unsure. Like Mr or Mrs Gell in the example here.
Second is to be right up front when calling for the person and ask for and pronounce the name best you can and tell them you are unsure and hate to slaughter it.
No offense to anyone, but I would guess Salad Gell for the question posed here. I usually tell the person on the other end of the phone I hate to slaughter the persons name, I think it is Salad Gell, regarding a flashlight.
