Ugh - this is in OT now. Talk about embarrasing.

I'm out.

Honestly, how is it possible to either misspell or mispronounce "Zoltan"?

For all of the Canadians, of course you guys should call it "Porsh". You automatically add "eh" to the end of everything already, so pronouncing it porsh should me that it comes out as "Porsch eh" which should be perfect.

Oui-eh

I have seen all of these and more...
Zoltar
Zolton
Zolten
Zultan
Voltar
Voltan
Sulatan
Soltan
Zsoltan
Zolter
Salter

As for pronounciation - it is all over the charts. Most folks start with "Soul-ten.") Technically, my name is spelled, "Zoltán" with an accent on the a. However, the first part of my name has the same weight as the second part, in terms of pronunciation. (Think: Zoul-taaan.) However, when most people see the accent, or I try to explain the pronunciation, they will just stress the second part of the name, making it sound more Italian than anything else. (think Zol-taaan). And most will soften the "Z" into an "S" which is also incorrect. Hungarian is a very peculiar language -- some of it may seem simple, but we Hungarians LOVE to screw with other nations!! :D

What worse is this: when on the phone, and someone is asking for my name, the will ask, "What is your FIRST name, sir?" I will respond, "My first name is Zoltan. Z-O-L-T-A-N." They will reply, "Thank you for your last name -- now, may I have your first name please?" (At this point, I want to reach through the phone and strangle the person on the other end!) Instead, I reply, "I GaVE YOU MY FIRST NAME. You asked for my first name, and I told you my first name is, ZOLTAN. Now, would you like my last name?"

Yeah, I got issues, but my therapist says I'm doing much better ever since I got over my clown phobia... ;)

Geez - I've managed to derail this thread quite well -- apologies to the OP.
-Z-man.

at least when we say 'water' it has a 'T' in it, not two 'D's' . :D:D:D

I have always wondered, is it Zee-man or Zed-man?? :D:D

When i first got my 928 i corrected some hot chick that was clearly into me, that i'd just met, on how it was pronounced.

After she told me "Go Fk yourself you pretentious snob," i stopped correcting people.

I could really care less, one way or another.

Good one...
 

So I'm guessing you rode back alone...

Depends -
In Canada, it's pronounced, "Zed-man."

In the USA, it's pronounced, "Poopy-head."

:D
-Z

Correct. No nookie for snipey that night, but i did go home in a Porschaaaaaaah.

I'm a product of the south and I pronounce it PorschUH... I also do not change it depending on the company... I try not to correct someone unless it is someone I am close enough to that I can do it in a ribbing manner... I always let them know it doesn't really matter to me.... I have had several people ask me the proper pronunciation... I am sure to explain it to them...


On the snob part..... Well everyone around here has always thought that of me anyways.... Something about the fact that I dress nice and drive nice vehicles...

Damn rednecks....

Z-man you should change your last name to John or Bob. :rolleyes:

I just finished watching the Porsche Ultimate Factories (finally caught it on the PVR) and it was amazing that the only a few (German) people in the program pronounced it Porsche with a very soft "uh" at the end. The narrator pronounced it Porsch.
I don't care either way but if I was addressing someone with this surname, I would try to pronounce it properly.

simple process for me. It's someones name and in my line of bizzyness, names are important. If someone calls it porsh, I dont sweat it, but I dont, fwiw?

To simplify things I just call mine Bruce...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1277327420.jpg

Exactly. It's a super-soft sound at the end, whether you hear it completely depends on the structure of the sentence.

"Poorsha" is as wrong as "Poorsh". :cool:

Denis nailed it !

I find porsh- UGH more annoying than PORSH.

Just open your mouth after the first syllable and the required second (faint) syllable almost comes out on its own.

I grew up knowing it as Porsh. I've since learned it is a family name. I always try to pronounce someones name correctly, so now I pronounce it "Porsha".

However, this family has lent their name to a product. I knew it as a product before I knew it as a family name. I have come to call it correctly as Porsha because I now know from where the name comes, and with time it has become easier to say it that way; it was a little weird at first. When in the company of others who do not know the source of the name, I'm fine with however they pronounce it. It's fair game I say because it is a product.

Once you lend your name to a product, it's the consumer's option to say it as he/she sees fit. There's no personal introductions or nothing of the sort to guide the person after all. We all mispronounced Hyundai and probably still do.;)

BTW I was born in Saskatoonhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...s/beerchug.gif

I am not German, therefore I don't know how to pronounce German words. So, I guess I could pronounce Porsche "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".

I am not French so I pronounce Paris Par-is, not Pari.

I am not Swedish, so I pronounce Gothenburg, Gothe-en-burg, not Jœteˈbɔrj.

What I'm saying is, if it's a foreign word, just do your best.....:).

BTW. Basil is Baz-il, not Bay-zil.
Herb is Her-b, not Erb.

Lever is...... etc, etc.

It's NOT a word..............It's a name!

Name: David. A French person would call me Dav-eed. I would not correct them.

If an English person called me Dav-eed, I would think they were taking the piss !

There is an urban car legend that says the Colt (Mitsubishi) Starion was meant to be called the Stallion.......

So, when do you start with the millions of names out there. Around here, there are many street names that are in Spanish. Almost everyone pronounce like English. I refuse to pronounce Los Angeles in Spanish. Do you say Honda, or Oonda?

Learn to pronounce all names correctly is almost not possible, so I am thinking you are a long way from manhood. Now I am pissed off too.

Now you're talking about my relatives. Easy there...:)

I remember a neighbor that called his Renault a Renn-alt. I did not know better back then, so that is how I pronounced it for years. Now I watch F-1 and I know how to properly pronounce Renault. I wonder if there is a discussion about it on the Renault boards.

Probably not...

Renault Cinq... Turbo:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1277386542.jpg

O.K. I'll settle this once and for all. According to Wikipedia...

Porsche - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pronounce it like Portia.

Wikipedia is hardly the definitive answer for anything.

Even when it's cited as a reference more than once in the same thread.

I think you take all of this too seriously. The marque has been in the USA since the early 50's and I was old enough to drive in the early 60's. Never heard the pronunciation with the "a" until several years ago. I know I spent enough money getting my "Poorsh" worked on by all kinds that have been around the cars a lot longer than me. Let's see, I've owned whatever you call it one way or another since 1972.

For all of time until you couldn't get them any more in the USA, the car was called a "Renalt." Not renneaux or whatever that one is.

But here ya go: everywhere I go and on TV, etc., people refer to the front entry in a larger home as a "foy-er." Well friend, it's a "foy-ai." Or even more French as this bite sounds:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Fr-foyer.ogg

I wonder how you say it. :)

well, I'm goin' out back and soak a spell in the cee-ment pond and think about this some.

Sometime you need an earthquake...
 

+1

We were 50 miles from the epicenter of the quake on Wednesday. It was a "5" (rather small). We stayed in the building because it used to be the US embassy so it had been reinforced.

Anyway to make a long story short, quite a few people realized that it could have been their last day... An "8" would have been 1000 time more powerfully with a lot a causalities (none this time).

For my part, I went home and took Das Babe for a long ride like it could be our last one...

Quake leads to confusion, panic in the streets | Ottawa and Region | News | Ottawa Sun

Drive & enjoy

J.J.

P.S. Even this post is too serious... pass the Valium please

Fwah-jeh

This one is my favorite one
 

Every time I watch an DIY show from the US, I bet along it will take before we hear the famous... Foyerrrrrr :D:D:D

WRONG! :D

no R at the end of foyer.

I'm having a Déjà Vu experience :D:D:D Oh oh, 2 accents in the same word, stand by for heavy roll:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1277463941.jpg

My opinion is that as americans we tend to be less formal in our ways than a lot of other nations. Our Chevrolet becomes chevy, Cadilac becomes caddy, Jeffrey becomes Jeff and so on. How many people will use an abbreviated first name soon after meeting someone for the first time. I think of Porsch as a shortened, familar form of Porsche. Now tell me why Jaguar is pronounced Jaq u are in England when it is from the Portugees word for the big cat. No surname there.

I guess it is a lot like going to a town and hearing a local resident pronounce the name of the town. In north east Oklahoma is town named Miami Oklahoma. Only it is not pronounced like the big Florida city, it is pronounced Miam-a.

If you ever hear someone say to you that that were born & raised in Mont-gom-or-e, Alabama be suspicious of them. All the locals call it Munt-gum-ry

Does that make it “correct” or is it pretentious to pronounce their city the way the locals do?

Those crazy Brits!!!!! :D

-Z