Excellent description, Grenouillester: "uh" with a little bit of breath. *NM*

BI took the guess work out of a few product name pronunciations, including Porsche:

http://www.businessinsider.com/hard-to-pronounce-brands-2012-5#can-you-pronounce-this-car-company-porsche-23

someone posted a link to a video of Dr. Porsche talking about the company and during his talk he pronounced it "Pors-sha" and that settled the pronunciation question for me anyhow.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

caught me using the casual US version of the name and severely reprimanded me. Yes, she is from the Essen area up north.

The correct German pronunciation always struck me as kind of an affectation.

But then my last name isn't pronounced like it is in Germany either. I'm guessing somewhere around WW I it got changed in Ohio.

Not my greatest concern. As long as the name on the check is accepted....

Dr. Porsche once said, "I don't care how they pronounce my name as long they buy my cars"

Ed B

me sound like an affecting a false foreign accent.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

How do other Germans pronounce it?

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But then my last name isn't pronounced like it is in Germany either. I'm guessing somewhere around WW I it got changed in Ohio.

Along with Sauerkraut, aka Victory Cabbage.

The Porsche family is from Austria.

speak German (most of them do), just like Canadians and Americans speak English.

In German, they don't waste the "e" at the end of a word. They pronounce it the way we say the letter "a" in the alphabet.

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Guenter in Ontario
speak German (most of them do), just like Canadians and Americans speak English.

Hi Guenter,

You are absolutely correct, but my point is made by your comparisons: Don't you ( an English speaking Canadian resident/citizen) pronounce the same words a bit differently from me, born and raised in the US?





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2012 08:43PM by SPG356. (view changes)

Right, I believe Canadians often add the letter "a" at the end of sentences, eh?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2012 09:19PM by Leor ('09S, North of Boston). (view changes)

Not all, but some do.

They also pronounce "ou" as "oo" so about is aboot.

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SPG356

Hi Guenter,

You are absolutely correct, but my point is made by your comparisons: Don't you ( an English speaking Canadian resident/citizen) pronounce the same words a bit differently from me, born and raised in the US?

Not only that, but even people from different parts of the US pronounce words differently. (OK, so it happens in Canada too, eh?)

Came across credible evidence once (pre-internet) that the name "Porsche" is "Borislav" Germanicized.

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Laz
Came across credible evidence once (pre-internet) that the name "Porsche" is "Borislav" Germanicized.

So we're driving a Porislav Boxster? It just doesn't have the same ring to it.

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Laz
Came across credible evidence once (pre-internet) that the name "Porsche" is "Borislav" Germanicized.

Almost as important... Budweiser is a Germanicized version of the Czech word Budvar, or more fully: Budějovický Budvar.

By the way, the original Czech beer puts the American version to shame.

John

No expert am I in language, but I find language issues interesting. Why are we so concerned about how we pronounce "Porsche", as a German (oops, I mean Deutschland), or Austrian (what do they call themselves) word when we don't use the word for the county that the inhabitants use?

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Bobtesa
Austrian (what do they call themselves)?

Österreicher

i'm sorry but i'm going to chime in here and i know people will argue with me but i have spent more than half of my life in a german speaking country and even though i lived in the french speaking part, hearing and speaking german (or Schwiizertüütsch) is still a daily occurance.

this girl is american and is pronouncing it with an american accent. the "e" at the end is too exagerated in her pronounciation. she's saying "ah" but it is more of an "uh" that is just the final little bit of breath.
might not be much of a difference to your ears but it is a very noticeable difference to a german speaker.

here is another audio of a german speaker pronouncing german brand names such as adidas, braun, etc. this is exactly the way germans pronounce it.

Thank you, Frogster. For the last couple of days I've been having a running discussion with my wife about the correct way to say "Bayer". You gave me ammunition. BTW, she does know how to pronounce Porsche.

The American version of the word (or of any German word that ends with an "e" is pronounced without a silent "e".

There is nothing wrong with American adaptations of words; we use them all the time.

In other words, the correct German way to pronounce the word is irrelevant to "correctness" in America.

…and then there's the correct way.

and while you're at it, true, learn how to pronounce ee-kay-ah correctly too!

\remove toungue from cheek

but on a serious note, if your name were "jones" and you were in a spanish speaking country (e.g. california), and they said "ho-ness," wouldn't you correct them? it might not really matter how you pronounce porsche and i really don't give a shinola how anyone pronounces porsche but that does not negate the fact that there is a correct way to pronounce porsche.

Sorry, I disagree that there is 1 correct way to pronounce Porsche, or pretty much any foreign word in a different country. This is the point I tried to make above in this post, but apparently not very well. If there is 1 correct way to pronounce Porsche in the States, then how is it that we say we drive German cars, when the Germans do not call them German cars because they do not call their county Germany? If Americans think the correct pronunciation of Deutschland is Germany, then how is the correct pronunciation of Porsche anything but what we call it?

While I find this discussion interesting, you can call my Porsch an Ikea and I wouldn't mind, as long as it drives the way it does

... a brand.
If it were just a family name, I agree.
There would be the American pronounciation, a German, a Spanish, etc.
But we're talking about PORSCHE the brand, like Chevrolet (French) or any other brand that uses a last name.
Once it's a brand, then there's only one correct way to say it.
Happy Porscheing
Pedro

I don't have a single example, but I would bet there are a million different ways that various branded products are pronounced in a slightly different manner in different countries.

I wonder how the Japanese pronounce Rolex?

and I think some of it had to do with my impression of those who would correct me. Some did it in a kind way, most in a condescending 'I know more than you' way that irritated me. It was somehow important to those people, not so much to me. I just wanted to drive the darn thing.

Was reading an article the other day about there being two groups of people, those who find comfort in the 'truth' and those who feel comfortable with ambiguity. Though the article was categorizing groups by current US political/religious affiliation, I have a feeling the personality types affects much more and may explain some of why I don't care much how Porsche is pronounced. Just as I don't care how my name is pronounced...it just isn't a big deal to me. I'd suggest the pronunciation but in a self depreciating way that suggested the pronouncer was OK. My relationship with that person was more important than getting my name right because which pronunciation is really right?

After all, when my future wife of now 39+ years met me, she described me to her friend as "Michael with the funny last name".

and just about every other word in American English since they all from from "mis-"pronunciations of British English.

And you have to change the "o" sound too.

Since that is the way Germans pronounce it, including the Porsche family and employees.

I knew a chef, "Uwe," who would says things with a northern German inflection, then repeat them with a Bavarian accent. Dang if it didn't sound like he was a good ol' boy.

i was having a laugh about this pronunciation thing when i remembered watching tv in barcelona many years ago and an ad for vick's vapor rub came on. i couldn't believe how they pronounced that. it was beeks bapporroop i kid you not!!! and when i told the spanish people there with me how it was pronounced in "american" THEY laughed THEIR heads off!! so it goes both ways. it was a pretty funny evening (undoubtedly fueled by some nice spanish vino.)

wanna hear how the french pronounce Tupper Ware??? Toopaar Vaarr.

while we're at it, how about the differences between english and american? vitamins, tomatoes, route, et al.

given the time, i'm sure i could find dozens more doozies.

so it ain't just the 'mericans who pronounce things "wrong."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2012 01:36PM by frogster. (view changes)

I have found it much harder to mis-pronounce it "P-car".

that's why i wrote "remove tongue from cheek" in my post.

this whole pronunciation this is ridiculous. i don't think it matters how you pronounce it. you are 100% correct. and this subject comes up on a regular basis on this forum and its predecessor

i was only stating that the woman on that audio recording was trying to pronounce it "correctly" but that it wasn't "correct" if the definition of "correct" is: the way the germans say it.

and BTW, how do the japanese pronounce rolex?

Frogster and everyone else, I cetainly took no offense at anything said in this discussion and I hope no one else did. There isn't a right or wrong way. It's communication. If people know what they are talking about and a listener understands, then you have communicated. I am always happy when folks in South America understand by quite limited, and heavily gringoized Spanish. But, I get my beer, or I find the bathroom, and I am happy!

Calling them P-cars works, or we could stick with Boxster. Now, how do the German's pronounce Boxster?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2012 02:30PM by Laz. (view changes)

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Bobtesa
Frogster and everyone else, I cetainly took no offense at anything said in this discussion and I hope no one else did. There isn't a right or wrong way.

glad you took no offense and no offense taken here either. alles gut!!

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