Don't overgeneralize. Consider "Audi." While obvious to a German speaker, an English speaker who has never heard the word before will wonder if it should be "oh-DI," "OH-di," "OW-di," or "ow-DI?"

I think Cuil is a decent name, far better than Srchr or some other Web 2.0 contraction. If it overcomes its growing pains and solves all the hard problems involved in search, it'll do well.