Why are 'Porsh' people so bent out of shape over pronunciation?

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Knurled wrote: (and this is just one more reason why Top Gear is unwatchable)

You'll need to ban both of us, because Knurled is correct. The show has gotten so repetitive that it is predictable, and the jokes have lost their edge.

M030 wrote: I'm fluent in German, and I've met members of the Porsche family. They say their name "porsh-eh"

There Canadian!!???!!

Adrift wrote: There Canadian!!???!!

j/k They're

In reply to Adrift:

The 'eh' sound I'm referring to is like the sound it makes in the word "meh.", as opposed to the 'ay' sound found in Canada or in the word "yay."

M030 wrote: In reply to Adrift: The 'eh' sound I'm referring to is like the sound it makes in the word "meh.", as opposed to the 'ay' sound found in Canada or in the word "yay."

"Yay" is not a word.

Adrift wrote:

M030 wrote: I'm fluent in German, and I've met members of the Porsche family. They say their name "porsh-eh"

There Canadian!!???!!

Ahem: They're

Heathen.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

novaderrik wrote: we do it just to annoy people like you... it's like a game... if i ever get an old air cooled Porsh, i'll just refer to it as a glorified People's Car and give Hitler credit for the design...

Hear hear. I always refer to my friend and neighbours Porsh 356 as a Karman Ghia, helps keep things in perspective.

My brother-in-law has an Audi Allroad. I like to call it an Outback because it gets him all wound up.

As for Porsche, I pronounce it correctly because, well, there is a correct way to pronounce it. Same with Caterham. And I spell Camero with two As, too.

For everyone who gets bent out of shape over the pronunciation of Porsche:

Do you refer to the town in France as Paris, or Paree?

Munich or Munchen?

Volkswagen or Folksvahgen?

Sometimes when words are borrowed and transferred between languages, the pronunciation changes. Even proper nouns. See also: Mexico.

If I hear you say Meh-hee-co and you're whiter than I am, I get to roll my eyes at you, because while I, too, know how the word is pronounced in Spanish, we're not speaking that language.

Well said, Will!

And the Boxster is named for its Boxer engine, right?

This thread is funny.

Once the rage dies down over the mispronunciation of Porsche I like to ask why they spent so much on a glorified Beetle anyway.

fanfoy wrote: I am surprised people get so bent out of shape about this. There are tons of French names in the US (especially in the Northeast obviously), and they are never ever pronounced correctly. I bought a GPS this week, and I tried it around here and the GPS lady voice, mis-pronounced all the French names so badly that I couldn't even understand what she was saying. And I don't care because she isn't French and she isn't speaking French. So why should anyone care about mispronouncing, in English, the name of a German car for snobs?

I wonder how my Garmin would pronounce "Gananaque" ?

Just a few linguistic cents to throw in here.

"ei" in a German word is pronounced as the long I. So Weiner is in fact wy-ner, in German.

Also there are next to no silent letters in German, which is why the German pronunciation of Porsche is por-shuh. Even words that migrate from, say, French get their silent letters pronounced. Pommes is pronounced pom-es.

You can pronounce them any way you want to here in Amiland.

I'm going to get a Royale at McDonalds now...

Will wrote: For everyone who gets bent out of shape over the pronunciation of Porsche: Do you refer to the town in France as Paris, or Paree? Munich or Munchen? Volkswagen or Folksvahgen? Sometimes when words are borrowed and transferred between languages, the pronunciation changes. Even proper nouns. See also: Mexico. If I hear you say Meh-hee-co and you're whiter than I am, I get to roll my eyes at you, because while I, too, know how the word is pronounced in Spanish, we're not speaking that language.

Kinda how Miata is really pronounced "that little gay car".

Joey, the "small tsu" makes it dattosan....

Um......thanks? I was only talking about the final vowel, and I think we're in violent agreement on that issue.

shifty wrote: Joey, the "small tsu" makes it dattosan....

Datsun310Guy pointed out that most people say "DOT-sun", but that Alex Lloyd pronounces it "DAT-sun". You and I both know that the final two kana are サ= "sa" and ン = "n", which means that the -sun part of the name is wrong, and that it should be pronounced "san"

Yes, you're correct, that the name should be romanized as 'dattosan' if your goal is to accurately reproduce ダットサン kana by kana. There's no point, however, in reproducing the 'o' (which the Japanese don't pronounce, either) or the 'tsu'/tt thing, since in English, tt is the same as t

All I wanted to show, and you obviously agree, is that the final vowel in "datsun" should not be a 'U'. That's why stuff like this annoys me: [TL:DR - I hate when people translate Japanese to English to Japanese and think that what they have represents the original Japanese]

Will wrote: Munich or Munchen?

I think its Muenchen ... Its all about the umlaut.

I say Porsche btw ... maybe it has to do with my last name having an Umlaut in there too.

JoeyM wrote: Um......thanks? I was only talking about the final vowel, and I think we're in violent agreement on that issue.

shifty wrote: Joey, the "small tsu" makes it dattosan....

Datsun310Guy pointed out that most people say "DOT-sun", but that Alex Lloyd pronounces it "DAT-sun". You and I both know that the final two kana are サ= "sa" and ン = "n", which means that the -sun part of the name is wrong, and that it should be pronounced "san" Yes, you're correct, that the name should be romanized as 'dattosan' if your goal is to accurately reproduce ダットサン kana by kana. There's no point, however, in reproducing the 'o' (which the Japanese don't pronounce, either) or the 'tsu'/tt thing, since in English, tt is the same as t All I wanted to show, and you obviously agree, is that the final vowel in "datsun" should not be a 'U'. That's why stuff like this annoys me: [TL:DR - I hate when people translate Japanese to English to Japanese and think that what they have represents the original Japanese]

That's a really cool 240zed logo.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

JoeyM wrote: I hate when people translate Japanese to English to Japanese and think that what they have represents the original Japanese

That's a really cool 240zed logo.

It would be SO much cooler if the katakana matched what the company used.

i.e. if it use the character sa (サ) instead of the character su (ス).

ALLEGED TRUE STORY:

In other words, I wasn't there but...

A good friend of mine went to the National Meeting of Porsche Club of America (this was back in the '80s). Keynote speaker at the banquet was Jackie Ickx. He began his speech; "Thank you for the privelege and honor of being with you tonight because I am very proud of my relationship with PORSH..."

A collective "GASP!" went across the room.

And the next day all the "nose-pickers" (as my friend called them) were saying "Maybe it IS Porsh!"

Also the Brits for example, call a BMW 325 a Three Two Five and a Z4 a Zed Four.

JoeyM wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote:

JoeyM wrote: I hate when people translate Japanese to English to Japanese and think that what they have represents the original Japanese

That's a really cool 240zed logo.

It would be SO much cooler if the katakana matched what the company used. i.e. if it use the character sa (サ) instead of the character su (ス).

Higashi no kaze ame...

Who freakin cares.

aussiesmg wrote: Who freakin cares.

As a 47 year-old German with a 4-letter last name that no one can figure out how to pronounce correctly, I freakin' care.

Either learn to speak the proper English of das Vaterland, or don't speak at all!!!

As a 50 year old Aussie, learn to spell, the language is called English not American.

Guten nacht