OK, so after 30+ years of lusting after Porsches, I finally got one.

Despite years of dreaming about them, putting them off because it wasn't time yet, and reading all kinds of literature on them, in my mind, I pronounced it "Porsh". Not "Porsh-uh". Just "Porsh". Many times I heard the words in my head...."McLovin? You need to get you a Porsh".

And here's the thing. I took three years of German in High School and even went to the Porsche Museum once on a trip to Germany.

So now, I'm learning that it's properly pronounced "Porsh-uh", and I'm a Rube, a Heyseed, a backwards individual if I call it a "Porsh". But after 30 years, and now car ownership, I'm having trouble saying "Porsh-uh".

So how do you say it? You know, to yourself. Not out loud?

Porsh or Porsh-uh?

Didn't anyone tell you a 914 is NARP................

I used to think that. But now that I've had my eyes opened...like when I look at the subtle curves in it, like the way the fenders go over the wheels, and how it rides so low...body barely fitting over it's own wheels...little more than engine, a seat and sheet metal, how it's a swiss army knife of a car, I'm not so sure anymore. The car in my garage drips history (and oil)

As a kid in the 70's I would go to the PCA events with my dad and they always said " Porsche is a 2 syllable word". There you have it.

I pronounce it, Porker.

But then I like to sit on my front Por-Shaw too.

It's very simple. Porschuh is correct. Porsch is not.

Actually it's NARPUH.

Excellent!

Porn-sh

Family name: Porsche, the right way is the way the family says it.
Porsche where excellence was expected “Porsh-uh” to you

Bob B

I'm German, there is only one correct way to pronounce Porsche correctly and most Americans do it wrong.

I'll give you a hint, the e at the end is neither silent nor pronounced like an e ...

My father is German, "porsh" is incorrect.

It's not being elitist or anything, it's just important to correctly pronounce it, especially now that you own one.

I fail to see how pronouncing someone's name correctly could be considered elitist ...

It's somebody's last name. Get over it.

I'll never understand why some people get bent out of shape about it. English speaking people are taught from the time they start to read that an E on the end is silent.
Hard to break old habits. I always heard porsch since I was a kid, I know how to pronounce it correctly, but porsch still slips out now and again.
I've never corrected a customer and I never will.
If you only told them the E isn't silent they would start calling it a porschie.

BTW Andy did you have perfect command of the English language when you were learning it?
I have a french friend that calls me Henri (Are-ree) all the time, I don't even notice anymore.
And I certainly don't get upset about it.

Cute, but completely misguided ...

The only way to learn a foreign language is when people correct you when you make mistakes.
If people don't correct you, you'll end up still speaking gibberish even after many, many years living in that country.

I'd rather learn how to pronounce something correctly ...

Listen to some Porsche comercials in german on youtube....the e is not silent and not pronounced as an A. I doubt Porsche would approve comercials where the brand is pronounced incorrectly.

To be clear, I know how it's supposed to be pronounced. Likely everyone here does. But there are a lot of people who say it the way they first learned it and/or heard it for many years. Especially those of us here in the U.S. I'm not justifying it or condoning it.

Just curious to know what the percentage break-down is.

If you really think of it or read it as "Porsh" then click on it in the survey. Nobody will know.

shithead, or head of shit?

I pronounce mine "Volkswagon", but some people say it should be "Wolksvagon"

How about this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im2eYuGdmfY
(sorry, don't know how to put the video in directly)

Either way is correct. Troll is also acceptable.

Yep like I said I could care less and I'm never going to get bent about it.

As the late great George Carlin said,
"Your name can be spelled s-m-i-t-h, but you can pronounce it "Janofski" if you want to- They're all silent; it's my name, leave it alone..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kUrpAi4o1s

here ya go


On topic. I had heard once that Ferry didn't even correct people if they said "Porsh" so I don't care, I do use the correct pronunciation but never correct people.

I gotta say this topic bothers me. To a certain point I say who cares? It is elitist.

I don't blame the OP for asking the question though.

Don't get me wrong. I took German in high school and even worked in Austria where I had to speak German. I have a great deal of admiration for all things German. English is also not my first language.

Where does it end? Why aren't we concerned about rolling our R's when pronouncing Porsche correctly? I had an employer who would always correct my Chicago pronunciation of Toyota as "Tuyota" but he could give a rat's ass about trying to even pronounce my long eastern European last name after 15 years of employment. What about properly pronouncing Folksvagun?

It's like listening to Spanish speaking news reporters speak English with no trace of accent until they get to a Spanish name or word and then going all-out with Spanish pronunciation. The same goes for chefs of Italian heritage who have to go out of their way to properly pronounce ricotta and parmesan. It sounds very out of place when speaking English.

Rant over.

Agree with ljubodraz and I'll add, does anyone really give a shit? Silly thread.

I agree that I don't go out of my way to correct people, but if you are going to own one and hang in PCA circles, you should at least attempt to pronounce Dr. Ferry's last name correctly. Plus it just sounds more refined. It's when Porsche turns into Porch that I feel the need to correct people, lol.

Actually yes, i do. See my reasons posted previously in this thread...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I believe elitism comes into play when one is concerned about the proper pronunciation of Porsche but not Volkswagen.

Along the lines of what Andy's been saying, Porsche is a family name. Volkswagen is not a family name, it's the "Peoples wagon".

My last name is Mueller. This Americanized spelling is what it is because we do not have the ü in the English alphabet. So the pronunciation has that strong "EWE" sound instead of the "uh" (not sure how to phonetically write that, lol). While I would prefer Müller to Mueller, there's not much I can do about that. Then there's those Mueller people who pronounce it Miller, which I've never understood, lol.

I wish I could have a beer with both you and Andy so don't take this the wrong way. What you are saying is who cares to pronounce the People's Wagon correctly.... it is only the people's wagon.

If I am correct, it was the vw company that introduced the term Volkswagen to America, therefore becoming the proper pronunciation in the US. I have never heard a porsche commercial that pronounced it porsch. Apples and oranges.

And I agree, ridiculous thread.

Are our resident Germans going to chime in on the above?

I agree that this is a stupid thread.... that's why I can't stop myself. Now I understand how some of us can rack up so many posts.

Gotta go. The short bus is here to pick me up.

It's a family name, and my dad, who was German, spoke in German to this fellow in 1972 at the Lake Geneva Parade... I'm the long haired kid in the background. It was and is two syllables.Click to view attachment

I do. I was curious how many people say it (or at least think it), like I do. Now I know it's about 1 in 5. I thought there were be more, but 20% is still a decent-sized percent.

When I lived in Weingarten, there was a little bar on the corner where we would occasionally go have a beer after work. The other American and I were walking through the gate one evening with a couple of the local girls that worked with us. I asked them, "Hey, want to go to the Linde?"

I cannot really describe the look of scorn on the one girl's face, although I am sure there is a very long compound German adjective for this specific situation. She said, "It's not Lind-uh." Note- the "you moron" here is implied, but unmistakable.

"It's Lind-eh." Then she made me say it about fifty times before pronouncing that I would never in my life pass for German. Then we went to the Linde and had a beer.

Two syllables

Click to view attachment

........ and there goes yer proof

Two syllables here, but it doesn't even sort of bother me when people make it just one.

They're still talking about something I am interested in, and I doubt Ferry would have bothered to correct them. I'm guessing he had the confidence and grace to smile and ignore it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ3Qk6tqZYs

The original question, was how do you say it IN YOUR HEAD. To yourself. How I pronounce Porsche in my head is wallet killer.

several years ago we were running a 24 hours of Lemons race down in Texas I believe. Some ringers in a Porsh (silent e AFAIC) showed up.

about 6 hours into it they looped it, and I respectfully helped them get back on the proper racing line - just a little lovetap.

For my act of kindness and Bravery, we were called in with the PP (porshe people) and given a penalty. we had to dress up like prisoners, get chained together in a line, and walk through the stands professing our lack of driving skills.

During that scene - I mentioned that the Porsh was a very capable machine handled by uncapable drivers. - oh yeah - this was through a megaphone!

The Porsh people immediately got their panties in a wad - shouting out "thats Porsha - you idiot!

of course that immediately got them into a running shouting match with about 50 Texans who were sure my pronunciation was correct.

I think we ended up 7 or 8 out of 170 on that race, the Porsh people went home all butt hurt after the first day. couldn't handle getting stomped by Neons, Supras, old buicks, jeep cherokees and anyone else on the track that day!

actually, i do give a sheit and the mispronunciation of Porsch-E has been driving me nuts for years!

the average joe can pronunciation it either way, it doesn't matter. however, it drives my nuts when I call my local Porsch-E dealer and they answer the phone with Porsch-A(uh). wtf?

if you ask me - which nobody does, the acceptable wrong way would be Porsch.

how da funk did the A/UH ever make it to the end of Porsch?

also, the same sheit when I go to Miel-E. the front-desk lady welcomes me to Miel-A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im2eYuGdmfY

or should it just be "aahn amburger"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz0IT4Uk2xQ

its a family name

I'm sure someone already mentioned it but Porsche a proper noun... a man's (family's) name, pronounced Por-Shuh. There is no argument.

However, there is nothing wrong with saying "Porsh" as an abbreviated version or like a term of endearment. I.e., "I'm gonna take the Porsh to Cars & Coffee tomorrow morning".

Think of it as if you high school geometry teacher was Mr. Janeszewitz" and you'd say "Mornin' Mr. Jans" casually shortening it without any intention to pronounce it correctly.

I don't bother to correct people when they mispronounce it, because it seems a bit ahole elitist. But then I don't bother to correct people when they mispronunce my German last name because to me, it just isn't that import. It is always a pleasant surprise tho when someone does know the correct way of saying either because they and I both know we get it.

YMMV

When did those voices start happening? What are they saying to you now?

Kickass was a fun movie.

This.

As with folks getting uppity about Frankenswapped 914s in a recent thread, I can't decide how I feel about this subject being discussed on a 914 forum.

And yes, YMMV indeed!

ANY word that is pronounced properly shows, respect, care and intelligence. A word miss pronounced because you don't know the proper pronunciation is ignorance. Purposely miss pronouncing a word even though you know the proper pronunciation is laziness and stupidity. If you think that's elitism, re-read the first sentence.