Sorry, can't do it, can't call it "Porscha"
 

Go ahead call me a heathen, an uncouth, unrefined lowbrow, but I just can't call my car a "Porscha". I have been dreaming of owning a 911 since I was about 6, that was in the mid 70's. Everyone I know or have ever known have called them "Porsche" (one syllable). I realize that in German it is pronounced Porscha, but now that I own one.... if I changed the way I pronounce the name, I might as well get a t-shirt that says:

"I'm a pretentious knob and now pronounce the name correctly now".

Don't get me wrong, however you pronounce it is fine either way, I can't change just because I own one now even if it is correct.

I still call my shoes "Nike" also, even though a marketing plan some years ago insisted we call them "Nikee" (it sounds more European).

That's ok I can't pronounce Canada correctly, every time I say it, it comes out "North America's hat!" Just kidding.
There are some pretentious people that insist on the correct version, but pronounce it how you want.

I've always pronounced it Porscha
Took German in High School and always knew how to say it.

When I'm talking to people about the car though, if they start the conversation using the 1 syllable - I will too so I don't come across as snooty.

I just call it "my 9" and leave it at that

Oh yeah, Congratulations on your first Poorsh. Pics please.

Guess i'm another low life.
I can't put the "A" on the end either.

Yet another of Ancient Greece's questionable marketing decisions.
How will languages evolve if we all pronounce words as they were meant to be pronounced?

I don't consider it pretentious to pronounce the name correctly, but whatever, dude..............

This was it last fall, since this picture it has aquired H4's, 21mm rear spacers and new dynomax exhaust, along with a bunch of stuff you can't see.
Almost 2 years owning it, and you can't kick the grin off my face when I am driving it.http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l...0Targa/157.jpg

i'm pretentious i guess. never knew that. hell!

Nike is from the Greek word for victory and is the name of the Greek Goddess of victory and therefore is pronounced Nikee. The company used the name because it means victory.

Please don't say Porsha!!! I think our resale values were plummeting because of the snooty nature of the name!!! Have a good day guys

It really doesn't have anything to do with being pretentious.
It is the correct way to pronounce someone's name.
Period!

Are you telling me if you met one of the Porsche family in person, that you'd choose to pronounce their name incorrectly?
That's idiotic.....sorry.

It is not OK to pronouce it incorrectly if you ask me.
You just show your ignorance.....that's all.

Become a man, and learn how to pronounce it correctly.
And if you are so insecure that you worry what people will think.....that's your issue I guess.

This thread really pisses me off.

Try saying "Porsh-uh" if it feels better...

or perhaps "Porsh-eh"???

Cheers

d.

No!!!, Please don't get me wrong DaveE, there is nothing pretentious about pronouncing the name correctly, I personally have pronounced it Porsche my whole life and would feel like pretentious changing the pronunciation to Porscha now that I own one. If I would have started calling it Porscha 5 years ago before I owned one then it wouldn't bother me.

I am NOT saying if you pronounce it "Porscha" you are pretentious.

Yes, and quite clearly you're not from Tennessee or any of the other southern states wherein the listener would...

"say what, what'd you say..?"

Bought my first 911 in '83 and being from TN/AR it took me years to convert from "my 911" to Porscha. But when I'm back home it remains "my 911".

Does this help?
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1277153623.jpg


I don't correct people anymore. It just doesn't matter.

it's someones name. i go by how he pronounced it..nothing more, nothing less. pretentious? please.

So sayeth Canuck_Targ from Canad.

"I'm a pretentious knob and now pronounce the name correctly now".

Brought to you by the department of redundency department. ;)

I could care how it's pronounced, I just like driving it! :)

Skinnerd
I appologize for a light hearted thread "Pissing you off", but that was not my intent.

I will try my hardest to suck up my insecurities and use the correct pronunciation, if not I will just call it "the 911"

Another Canadian
 

I Loved the "Porsch-eh" Very Canadian. I get upset when people call my car a "porsh" its a Porsche no need to sound it out, we all know how Ferdinand and Ferry pronounced it!

Hi there, Canuck;

An old item that still seems to cause a lot of debat amongst non-German native speaking Porsche afficionados. As often, the truth may just lie in the middle. In my experience a lot of English native speakers tend to either pronounce the name too short ('Porsch') or too long ('Porschaah'). Just about every German I have ever heard saying the name pronounced it as 'Porschuh', with a rather short 'uh' in the end. ;)

No prob Canuck_Targa.

In reality, I'm not pissed off.
I think the word would be more like bemused and bewildered.

I can understand people mispronouncing a person's name because they honestly just don't know.

What I can't understand is why people would purposely choose to mispronounce a name when they do know how to do it correctly?

Porsche is not only a car company.....it is a German family name.
I don't think it takes much effort to pronounce it correctly in any situation no matter what other people might think.

I guess I just look at it as a matter of respect.
I like to be respectful to people (when they deserve it).
I think it dis-respects the Porsche name (company and family) to not pronounce it correctly.

Sadly this has become such a part of our American society today.
The lack of respect part.

And no.....my last name is not Porsche.
:rolleyes:

Hi there, Porschefans;

If the brandname Nike is originally Greek is should actually be pronounced "Neekeh'.

So is Saskatoon a place in Canada or a caricature of bigfoot?

Pronunciation does make a difference.

I can’t see how it is pretentious to pronounce the name the correct way. When I talk to a Jaguar owner I try to pronounce it the proper British way. All my life I heard it pronounced Jag-wire but now I know that the company pronounces it more like Jag-you-are.

that's right. that's how i pronounce it..."hey check out my new NEEKEH jordans!!" WAIT! how does everyone else pronounce it? i'm messing it up?

I don't know if anyone already said this, but from my Ferdinand Porsche pronounced his name with two syllables which gives you the correct pronunciation. I don't speak German so I don't know. The Americanized butchered version is the one syllable version. I use both, though. When I say "Porsche 911", two syllable version, it's usually cus I know I'm talking to another porsche guy. But when I'm talking to my girlfriend I call it the one syllable version. Snooty, whatever.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

So do you call Germany, "Germany" or "Deutschland?" I assume it's "Deutschland," since it's the proper German pronunciation ;)

What aren't both pronunciations acceptable? "Porsh" or "Porsha," what's the big deal? (As long as you're not addressing an actual member of the Porsche family.) If someone calls a car a "Chevy," I know they're referring to a Chevrolet.

"Porsch-eh" <-- clever

My motorcycle is of the Bayerishe Motoren Werke brand, and while most call the manufacturer BWM I call my bike a "beemer" and that is different from the cars (Yes, BMW also makes cars! :D) called "Bimmer".
Now I think I'll go back and stare at the Porch in my driveway! :D

How do you get out of the garage when there's a friggin' porch in your driveway?

The thing is, it's a family name...and when saying their own name, the members of the family say "Por-sha". So, I pronounce it that way out of respect for the people who bear the name...

The car itself? Now that they're all waterpumpers and the company makes sports utes & 4 door sedans? Hell, call the car itself whatever you like.

OH SO TRUE!

I've never understood this endless debate. It's the family name and they pronounce it with two syllables! Why pronounce it any other way?
I've been fortunate over the years to have met members of the Porsche family on several occasions. Not once did any of them introduce themselves as Porsh.

I use both depending on who I am speaking with. If I was talking with MR. Porsche, I would certainly pronounce it correctly. I suppose we shouldn't feel pretentious saying it the right way, but if I was asking for directions in some back water Mississippi place, I sure wouldn't correct anyone for saying it incorrectly.

You don't call it yer Porsher? :p

I pronounce it correctly. I always have. Never thought about it much until I started posting on the internet. My whole life I've been around people who pronounce it wrong and those who pronounce it properly. I've neverr corrected someone else's pronounciation. Now that would be pretentious of me.

It IS what it IS....



Doyle

Both Oldham and Mayberry are historically and/or traditionally US family names.

Now look at the US census records going back about 200 years.

Variations galore.

I prefer the correct German pronunciation but I am in no way offended if someone calls my Targa a "Porsch".

As a retired Physicist, what did bother me greatly was our erstwhile President referring to nuclear weapons as "noo-cu-ler" weapons. Ya'd think after 8 years........