KeithV

I happened to be at the concours during PCA Parade 2000 in Sacramento CA when I saw a group of "dignitaries" (PCA National Staff) escorting Peter Porsche around the concours site. Having never met the man before, I had no idea who he was until he came close enough for me to see his nametag.

I decided to go ahead and make a fool of myself and ask him the question that he must get asked 50 times a day at Parade and is probably sick to death of hearing.

I said "Excuse me, I don't want to interrupt anything but I was wondering if you could settle an argument my friend and I are having and tell me how YOU pronounce your name?".

He turned and smiled and then slowly and very clearly said

"Pee-ter".............. !!

He later explained that his family name is pronounced "Porsch-uh" so .....

I figured if that is how HE pronounces it ...

Then that's good enough for me!!

Keith V.

Mike Murphy

Does anyone know how to pronounce Adidas?

Megatron-UK

It's Porsh ... no flipping 'e', 'ah', 'uh' or anything else. Unless you want to pretend to be a snob of course ;-)

How many people pronounce Koln, the original german way? The anglicised pronounciation is of course Cologne. Just because a word is spoken a certain way in the native tongue does not mean that's the way to pronounce it in all other languages!

Oh, and I would suggest "addy dass", not "a dee dass".

zicoramone

That was a very funny story

andrew911

I'd like to clairify any posts I've made to this great thread...personally I am speaking about the car and not the family- I can't speak for others contributing to this post Therefore I'll keep saying "poorsh"- I've spent enough decades and money on these things so I'll call my car what I want. Of course, if I were speaking to a family member I'd address them properly, but chances are great that I'll never meet one of them. Hell, people pronounce my last name wrong all the time, so maybe I would say "Dr. poorsh"

J.A.W.S.

wonderful thread! me likeeee...


rgds (from germany)

Kahdmus

Hi Darren, your passion is great, but seriously...it is a Brand name.

Its not a question of respect in any way, shape or form unless you decide for yourself that it is. Porsche is a brand (even though we might be guilty here of thinking it a religion on occasions - Hey, that might get me out of bed earlier on a SUNDAY!!).

From a linguistic or phonological (is that a real word? ) standpoint, the way we speak is influenced by many factors: our roots, our social and educational background, our working environment, our peers and our own sense of identity. The guttural noise exhibited by many of our German friends at the end of the word "Porsche" is not really an "-a" or an "-uh" but something far more subtle that, in my opinion (and its purely that), sounds perfectly natural for a native German speaker but a tad pretentious when imitated by those of us who speak English natively. However, if you want to add something to the end of the word 'Porsche' that speaks to YOUR sense of identity (or simply strokes your own ego) then have at it.

There is nothing 'lacking respect' in pronouncing something in your own regional dialect, far from it. Here in the states words are pronounced very differently from the English pronunciation, as a British citizen should I find this disrespectful? It would be difficult when people at home in Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester use so many different pronunciations that they might as well have their own languages!!!

Also, once you take something and market it or place it in the public domain I think it is fair game for people to call it whatever they want. The bottom line is that if I put my name to a brand and you were willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money to me for small parts like window switches, windshields, rear reflectors etc., etc I would be more than happy for you to pronounce it any way you flaming like!

Best to you mate!

dfinnegan

Howard, I love your avatar.

Kahdmus

Thank you sir! My ten year-old takes credit (she was eight or nine when she painted it for me).

KeithV

[QUOTE=Megatron-UK;4488509]Just because a word is spoken a certain way in the native tongue does not mean that's the way to pronounce it in all other languages!
[QUOTE]

That's rich ... coming from a Northerner!! Where they can't even pronounce English words l

..... like "Castle" and "Trubble at Mill"

Megatron ... the whole point is it is not a so much a word as a family name like "Arkwright", "Entwhistle" or "Clough"?

Surely, a family is allowed to pronounce it's own name how it chooses .... wouldn't you say?

If it's the mans name - it doesn't matter whether you think it sounds snobbish or not.

Each to his own I guess.

Enjoy your whippets, ferrets, racing pigeons and cloth caps in NE England.

Have a "Champion" day! Keith V.

Computamedic

It was interesting today that the BBC carried the news story of the guy having been caught at 173mph near Oxford in a Porsche Turbo. The news reader pronounced the word as a single syllable "PORSH".

I have subsequently written to the BBC and queried the pronunciation and I'll let the forum know their response. That should at least give the "official" English answer.

Regards

Dave

andrew911

[QUOTE=KeithV;4489952]Did I hear someone is doing whippets? I knew a bunch of guys that did that in college, but I never partook... the killing of that many brain cells for a 4 second rush didn't add up for me. Sorry couldn't resist....

Hope everyone realizes not to take this stuff too seriously

crg53

Well, now we have all learned how to pronounce Porsche, so how about if we try another famous name like: "LE MANS"

ebenke

This is like a Seinfeld episode. Funny, and making no real progress.

It's porsch-a if the commercials and the family say it that way then I'll continue that way too.

Why is it a 9-6-4 and 9-eleven then?

What about Lotus Esprit?

I'll be back in two weeks, when it's all resolved.

andrew911

Wait- it's nine sixty-four. And Lotus espree. And poorsh. That's the way tha a-hole tom cruise said it in Risky Business, and lord knows he's the authority on politics/religion/medical issues.