Pronunciation issue

[kiramdear]

About half of America pronounces my first name as if it's a large Egyptian city.

Isn't it "KEE-ra?"

That's right, Kenny, like the commander major alien lady

[jimk]

Oh yes, and I'm another one who can weigh in on the mispronunciation of one's last name. If some one calls and asks for a guy whose last name rhymes with "house" I tell the caller that no one by that name lives here.

If the caller asks for some one whose last name rhymes with "drowsy" then I say "I am he." It's what you get for being descended from people who adopted a German last name, who could not even speak the language with any facility, only so they could be thought of as urbane, sophisticated, and well educated.

JimK

[kennyhowes]

Oh yes, and I'm another one who can weigh in on the mispronunciation of one's last name.

You'd be surprised at the mutilations my last name gets on a regular basis.

[jps]

There are Beatle interviews around (including Harrison on our hold music, if you time it right; and Lennon, from a '70s radio interview) where they say "Backer." Like I said, I've never heard a Brit say it wrong.

Next time I call you guys I'll ask to just be placed on hold!

[cjj]

Oh yes, and I'm another one who can weigh in on the mispronunciation of one's last name.

You'd be surprised at the mutilations my last name gets on a regular basis.

Yeah, mine too. People always want to put extra "e"s into it. Then there's the proper pronunciation of the "J" at the beginning, which should be more like a "Y" sound.

Well, at least mine's easier than a kid I grew up with who had the last name of Grezgorczyk. That was always fun with a new teacher at the beginning of the year...

[ram]

yep - I get all kinds of stuff with my name - usually Shee-bin. It actually follows the rules - the 'e' makes the 'i' long... so Shy-ben.... I think most folks (myself included) think wayyy too hard on how to pronounce stuff. I mean comon that's how the guy told great grand dad how to spell it at Ellis Island - it have to be correct!

[kiramdear]

It's a quirky English language thing, and the French have some of it too. Most other languages are fairly consistent phonetically, lacking silent letters by and large and sticking to one way of pronouncing a given spelling. Consistent meaning if one can read a word one can be sure of its pronunciation.

[blueflamerick]

I'll always say BOCK. BACK just sounds weird to me.

Very few people pronounce my last name correctly. Even fewer people spell my first name correctly, even when it's in front of their faces. My high school diploma even has my first name spelled incorrectly!

[jingle_jangle]

My last name took me till age 7 to pronounce correctly. And there are two ways--the Polish and the Americanized.

[jimk]

My last name took me till age 7 to pronounce correctly. And there are two ways--the Polish and the Americanized.

Aw shoot Paul, Polish can't be all that hard. Why all those little kids in Gdansk learn to speak it pretty quickly, I'm told.

JimK

[johnhall]

Since Pete calls them BACKers, it makes me wonder what Macca, Harrison and Lennon called them. I also wonder what Entwistle called them...

Well, I can answer at least one of those questions, and head off a few more:

http://www.rickenbacker.com/audio/rickenbacker.mp3

While we're add it, let's remember that the man and his name is of SWISS origin, not GERMAN. Similar perhaps, but in the same category as calling a Scotsman "ENGLISH".

The original GERMAN name was Reichenbacher which is pronounced with the "C" to be almost silent, sort of "reish-en-baher". However the family split, some relocating to Switzerland and changing the name to "Rickenbacher" happened in the time of Martin Luther.

Changing the spelling to Rickenbacker as Adolph and Eddie elected to do makes a very different word in German or Swiss, more like "rik-en-baker".

Those of you who can read German . . . er, Schweizerdeutsch . . . can get a bit more info here:

http://www.migrationsmuseum.ch/index.php?navid=6

[sloop_john_b]

John, thanks for posting that little audio clip! Whose voice is the last one there? Johnny Marr maybe?

[scoobster28]

I pronounce it "Bock," usually because I think it sounds more sophisticated that way. And because that is how I first heard it, and old habits are hard to break.

On a side note, how many of you pronounce the 325 series guitars as "three twenty-five" as opposed to "three two five." Or "four thousand and one" as opposed to "4001."

[kiramdear]

On a side note, how many of you pronounce the 325 series guitars as "three twenty-five" as opposed to "three two five." Or "four thousand and one" as opposed to "4001."

Guilty on both counts.

[rikk]

Anybody want a shot at pronouncing my last name? I've heard it all.