Can't Pronounce Porsche!
 

During the games last night, they kept running a Pontiac commercial about their performance line-up being faster than a Porsche Boxster. But they are mis-pronouncing the name "Porsche" (only one syllable). You would think another car manufacturer would be able to get it right.

I think most Americans pronounce it this way. It's just the way they were taught. Do you say Bur-lin or Bear-lin? Myoonik or Moon-chun? Most Europeans pronounce it as it is in German but we have our own way of doing things here apparently. I've seen some people really get their panties in a bunch over this. No need to in my opinion. I don't think people need to speak proper German here. I don't think either is right or wrong. Just 2 different ways of saying it. I'm sure I will get plenty of disagreement over this though.

Maybe we can get Dr. W to start doing some public service commercials-
"You vill say "PORSH-A" unt you vill like it!!!! hmmm wonder if Colonel Hockschtetter is still around....

It would be cool if there was someone from the sales departments at Pelican or Performance who reads this board could respond with what the percentage of Porsche people calling in use for their pronunciation.

Remember the "Jag-U-are" commercials a while back? Anybody notice that in the subsequent commercials they have gone over to the much more Americanized "Jag-War"

Besides-we are talking about Pontiac here. Who really listens to them anyway other than a bunch of Solstice buyers who are upset that they couldn't buy a Porsche? I think they are sharp little cars but they are no Boxsters.

Homogenization (sp?)
 

I think these are just more examples of the evolving homogenizing and globalizing forces in a shrinking world. Regional diversity and truth of place are losing out.

For instance, I've noted local place names starting to be slaughtered in local commercials on TV. OK, so New England is famous for names that are pronounced "difficultly" for visitors (or sometimes even locals*) - "Leominster" is pronounced "Lemminsta" not "Leo-minster", "Worcester" is "Wustir" not "Worchester", etc. But locals should have it down.

But when local car ads start using obviously non-local voice overs, it is a bit much -- a long time local-family-owned Toyota dealership has been recently running ads for their place in Woburn with a slick "midwest" voice-over exhorting folks to visit them in "Whoah-burn" -- I'm sure the locals cringe to hear what should be pronounced "Wooooburn" said like that. Sure, the Toyota production crew probably recorded 200 local-customized variants on the ads that day ("what's the next one on the list?"), but how did the owners let the mistake get past their review?


*The really tough one for locals: "Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" - most just give up and call it Webster lake.

yeah its funny how they pronounce it.
i am from europe so when i came here it was funny for me to hear word porsche, mercedes, volkswagen especially, i was like wtf is that? (couse i grew up saying/pronouncing it Folkswagen instead of Volkswagen couse of german prononciation), but yeah same with munich and other mentioned words.

My guess; most Americans say Porsche with only one syllable and Pontiac is an American car manufacturer.

This might be the most important topic that we have ever had here on the forum!

:D

I almost missed my overnight train from Firenze (Florence) to Wien (Vienna) because I didn't know what the hell "Wien" was. Fortunately all of the porters in Italy speak excellent English and pointed a Yank in the right direction.

-James

Hi,

I think you're all obsessing about a word.

Porsh, or Porsha what difference does it make? I could care less how many people pronounce it correctly or not - this isn't the Nat'l. Spelling Bee...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

I will be the first to admit it but I will even pronounce it the incorrect way. Personally, I dont care. This is how it is pronounced over here and that is how I say it here. When I lived in Germany I used to pronounce it the other way. It really doesn't matter. Language is not concrete and evolves over time as people in society see fit. There are many words and names that started out one way and ended up another. Realistic people accept this and move on.

-aren

If Ferry says, "porsh-uh", it's Porsh-uh" :)
 

It's his name, how can you argue with that? :D This is how he pronounces it:

Prof. Dr. Ferry Porsche

My thoughts exactly Jim.

Ferry doesn't pronounce anything these days.

Ferry is dead!

:D

BoxsterBob sees dead people! :eek:

Good one!!!!!!!!!! :)

Whenever I'm asked what type of car I have or what type of car this is...
 

I say it's a Boxster, I never say Porsche.

I once dated this girl who was constantly correcting me about the pronunciation of Porsche. She kept telling me I was saying it wrong because her daddy use to own a 914 and always hated people for saying it wrong. I told her it really shouldn’t matter as long as you at least spell it right. And on that point, if we need to say it as “Porsch-a” instead of “Porsch-e”, shouldn’t there be an accent mark over the last letter “e”? :p

By the way, I dumped that girl for always wanting to be right. :D

Actually it isnt a word it is someones name which is why as a matter of respect people should try to say it correctly. While here in the States such things are not as important, in Europe people still try and be polite, or as the Brits put it civilized. ;)

Hey Jim, how ya doing? I am a little surprised by your response! :)

First of all, I am not obsessing. I do obsess about stuff, but not things like this. Just observations while watching my 2 picks make it to the Championship game.

I am a bit of a perfectionist...and sense that you too. It's a good thing...I keep telling myself...and whoever else will listen to me.

I would just think that Pontiac would get it right. That's all.

If i heard someone with an american accent say Porsh'a.... I'd call them a douche bag, it just sounds too rehursed and pompus to hear that in SoCal anyway.

Doush'a bag????????


:D

OMG! THATS SO FUNNY! Good one. :D

LOL guess thats how they say it in England and Germany. :)

I'm still confused. *L* Should we pronounce the name "Portia" as "Port-tee-Uh", too? My problem with pronouciation is derived from having a mother who lived on "House-ton St." in NYC and prefers La Gwadia airport and from spending some time in NOLA where I learned to pronounce street names. My favorite was "Milan" as "MY-lan". Talk about your Franch influence.

Hi,

Yea, I lean toward perfectionism, but that's me - I pronounce it correctly. Others may do as they wish.

If we're all of a sudden gonna become the Pronunciation Police, there are much greater offenders out there than those who say Porsh...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

I saw that commercial. Makes me mad.



Didn't it say "PORSHHH Boxster and BMW X5?"



Wtf? X5? What do these cars have to do w/ anything?

My wife translates German for a living and she's got some FUNNY stories about language screw ups.

My favorite is the Vicks corp. They didnt listen to advice when they launched their media blitz years ago and kept their name: Vicks. The way Vicks is spelled when you pronouce it in German it means f*ck. Too hilarious!! Imagine the ads: YOur coughing, sneezing and have a sore throat. ALl you need is a good Vicks and you'll feel better. :cheers:

Hi,

Yea, kinda like Chevy trying to market the Nova in Mexico... ;)

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Not so true on that one.

http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

-aren

Hi,

Interesting, I didn't even know about the 'No Go' angle, but in Mexico, Nova is a slang term for a particular part of the Female Anatomy, and it was this reference which reputedly caused issues with Sales...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Wow, thats pretty amazing, because not only had I heard this same story and thought it WAS true, but the Speed Chanel even had the same silly story in a documentary about this car. Guess they did not do enough research??? :confused:

In that case, I do apologize because I thought that you were referring to the "No Go" angle which everyone makes. I was not aware of the slang would of which you speak.

-aren

Actually, douche, meaning shower, is a two syllable word in German.

Doo-shuh

-Michael

Hi,

Actually, it is also a French word, also meaning Shower, Soak, Drench - pronounced Doosh ...

Circuler en voiture Heureux ! (Happy Motoring!)... Jim'99

That is interesting. If you do a google search on this, there are hundreds of hits on the well-known "No Go" reference that everyone except you seems to know about, but zero hits on this slang meaning. I also ran it through a Spanish Slang lookup web page, and got zero hits with "nova".

Can you tell us more about this slang word, tied to the Chevy Nova not doing well in Latin American countries, that no one seems to know about?

Curious...

Hi,

I'm just relating what a friend of mine in Mexico told me - about the slang and the car. He said there's too much Machismo for guys to buy a Car named P*ssy. While my Spanish is passing, I'm not well versed in the use of it's local slang, but he's born and raised, longtime friend and I don't think he was BSing me...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

A Mexico-born coworker, fluent in Spanish, says he's never heard of it. Maybe it's a regional thing? Curious. You'd think that, with the nature of the internet, there'd be at least one web page about this, but they're all about "no go", and how the sales actually did quite well. Hmmm... oh well. :cheers:

That's funny JBARROW because even though I rented a car in Germany with a GPS I still needed to buy a map because Austria wasn't listed in my pick list.. later found out it was under "O" for OSTERREICH.. and yes then i could find my way to "Wien".. which was a complete waste of time anyway.. "Austria"sucked!!