You Say Bocker, I Say Backer

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 5:37 pm

"The correct original German pronunciation would just be "Rickenbocker". Not "rike". "

er. . . the original name was "Reichenbacher" was it not?

If the pronunciation is "Hochdeutsch" (what you learn in high school) then it is indeed pronounced "Rike." Just like the Third one.

Actually, even that's not quite correct. According to my high school German teachers, CH in High German can have several different pronunciations varying from almost an "sh" sound to nearly (but not quite) a hard "k" sound. It's more like an "H" sound with a lot of phlegm in it than anything else.Hard to describe with a keyboard.

Regarding "back" vs. "Bock" . . . I'm a hardcore "bahhk" backer. (confusing isn;t it?) I am not sure on this front but IIRC standard German does not have a sound equivelent to the "a" sound in the English word "hat." Not as rounded.

Of course, since it's a Swiss name, you can throw standard pronunciations out the window;) Maybe somebody should give Schwarzenegger a Rick during a photo-op to see how Austrians pronounce it.

My last name in Gaelic was originally something like
"Mac Selbach" . . . pronounced "Mac Shelvey." God only knows what happened to it in the interim.

Breitsprecher - "brite shprecher?

dave4004 · Post by **dave4004** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 6:36 pm

No, it was Rickenbacher, not Reichenbacher.

But the original pronunciation is really beside the point. The man pronounced his own name RickenBACKer, not any other way.

kennyhowes · Post by **kennyhowes** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 6:42 pm

It depends on who you ask, actually - I've read conflicting statements in print since this topic began.

I asked John Hall. He knew Mr. Rick, and none of us did. John says it's "backer," so that is how I answer the phone at work!

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 4:30 am

yeah, but how would Dan Quayle spell it?

bigbajo60 · Post by **bigbajo60** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 4:50 am

*yeah, but how would Dan Quayle spell it?*

He'd probably be at some speaking engagement at a brewery and make reference to how, during his halcyon college days, "RIQENBOCKRE" was his favorite dark beer.

hee-hee!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 8:18 am

Spell it? He probably couldn't even say it! haha.

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 9:27 am

John: It's Breitsprecher.... No "sh" on the "sprecher." Although my husband's great-grandparents may have pronounced it that way, LOL! Kenny got it right a few days ago.... "Bright-sprecker."

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 1:54 pm

Man, my linguistic skills need a serious "setup" as it were!

kennyhowes · Post by **kennyhowes** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 12:55 pm

rob · Post by **rob** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 5:09 am

A few days ago, I wore my new Rickenbacker T-Shirt (BTW, Thanks Kenny for kindly taking my order!!!), to work and no one can pronounce it!!! Everyone tried to, but it sounded like jumbled jargan.
But yesterday, this lady from Vietnam who has very broken English, said it perfectly. She doesn't even know what the company makes! I thought this was hillarious. You had to be there. Priceless. For everything else, there's Mastercard. LOL

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 5:46 pm

My wife's from Vietnam, she can't even say my name correctly

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 11:42 am

My wife is from Perú she can't pronounce the Y in Young very good either, she says it like Jung most of the time, when we're in the states I have to repeat it for people, and here I have to say joven (young in Spanish, haha)

bigbajo60 · Post by **bigbajo60** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 2:36 pm

Many moons ago, a man from the northern climes moved to our little border town to ply his talent as a radio disc jockey. He also changed his name to reflect the hispanic culture he was surrounded by.

His radio name before coming here was Joe Young.

His radio name after moving here was Pepe Joven.

He became a local fixture on the airwaves for something like the next 30 years, God rest his soul!