Reply With QuoteIf you'd seen my other thread...Originally Posted by ODLOWEND
Patek Philippe.... Pat-rick Philip
This may seem a little trivial but I often stumble to correctly pronounce several of the brand names. I always find a look of consternation on the AD's face when I cannot eloquently ask to view a nice watch by name.
I thought I could resolve this once and for all. So alongside the brand name I have given the likely phonetic equivalent(s).
Would appreciate any thoughts/comments/corrections/additions!
Jaeger-LeCoultre: Yay-ger-Le-Coup-tra _or_ Yay-ger-Le-Cool-tre _or_ Yay-ger-Le-Coot-tre ???
Audemars Piguet: Oar-de-mars-Pig-hey _or_ Oar-de-mars-Peak-gay _or_ Owe-de-mars-pig-ay
Ulysse Nardin: You-le-seas-Naw-din _or_ You-lease-Nor-din
If you'd seen my other thread...
Patek Philippe.... Pat-rick Philip
Ya, I thought that one would have been a no-brainer!?
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
I've never actually said submariner but in my mind it is always 'sub-mur-en-er' (as in the boat) not 'sub-mar-in-er'.
Luckily I've never been in a Rolex AD!
As it is currently fashionable to be a Pleb, I may as well confess that I am unsure whether to say " Oh-mee-ga" or "Ommegger".
Probably been done to death before.....
Audemars Piguet - "Owe-de-mars-pee-gay"
Ulysse Nardin - All this time I would have gone for ""Yoo-liss Nar-dan" but having just thought about this, "Oo-liss Nar-dan" I would go for.
For JLC, not sure what the difference is between your first and third but the '-tre' at the end is almost swallowed...so it ends so it kind of feathers off like "Coot-rr" with a sudden stop rather than -'rerr'.
"Yay-ger-Le-Coot-trr"
Clear as mud?
Hear them here http://www.chronometrie.com/watchsou...soundspage.htm
I've only just realised this had already been posted.....................................!
Last edited by shadowman; 29th September 2012 at 10:46.
No. It's much more fun to guess.
I think Rolex is Ro-lex, Omega is Oh-me-gaa
Just remember, when the names are French, all the vowels are silent.
The dealers all say oh-mee-ga, but I always used oh-meh-gah in maths and physics classes so I'm finding the habit hard to break.
Oh-mee-ga sounds odd to me.
I always thought that a mariner served on a boat so a submariner servers on a sub, so submA-rina not a submerine-a
Thats how my two local ADs pronounce it anyway ;-)
Great stuff, the Rolex one is outstanding
Off-topic, but in Dutch I have quite a difficulty with ordering this: Drambuie...
How the f*ck do you pronounce "Timex"?
"Off-topic, but in Dutch I have quite a difficulty with ordering this: Drambuie..."
Just as off-topic; if a Geordie asks to use your phwatwacupya, he is after a go on your photocopier.
Similar UK anomalies include someone from Northern Ireland cleaning themselves in a parshar and someone from the Birmingham area putting milk & sugar in a kipper tie.
A reason, if one were needed to go for an IWC. :)
if you dont know then you are just new money dahling, and shouldn't be wearing it anyway
Hublot......................Hub....blooooooooo
The Rolex voice on this is amazing!
I find that non-native speakers tend to overemphasise the "D" in Audemars. Native speaker friends pronounce it closer to "Owed Ma" with the "D" rolling softly and quickly into the "M". Similarly with the ending of "Coultre", the final "re" is barely felt.
On "submariner", I always pronounce it as sub-mariner ( as in Rhyme of the Ancient - ) rather than submarine-r. But in Japan, it is pronounced and spelt ( phonetically, like all all foreign words ) as the latter.
Paul
Same thing in Spain with the difference that they use spanish rules meaning that a ´j´ is spoken as a hard ´g´ per example.
They cannot handle a spoken ´h´ at the beginning of a word as it doesn´t exist in spanish so will speak it a hard ´g´ too.
Hublot will be G (hard) oo (as in kangaroo) blot (with a wet t).
Last edited by Huertecilla; 29th September 2012 at 10:36.
How do you pronouce Longines?
Kinda like lon-jeans, not like long-ins that i once said in a AD :-(
I normally go for Say-Ko.. :)
Cheers,
Plug
if the dealer smirks at your pronunciation, you pull out a wad of banknotes or a credit card and say " you faaackin understaaand this dont you, you slaaaaaaag" ( to be said in the style of a sweeny episode) :-)
It's easy.
ALL Swiss brand names are pronounced "Oh ver pry said mar cat ting four she peep" and best delivered in the style of Fawlty's waiter.
;-)
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Smiths or Smiffs was so much easier to pronounce!! lol
Some are easier to pronounce than others, and some have deliberately changed their pronounciation over the years.
Rotary used to be pronouced as Row-Tar-EE.......... but now they've changed the pronounciation to Sh-ite.
Go into any Argos and ask for a Sh-ite watch, and they'll bring out a tray of Rotary's
kaa see oh !
Here in Texas, correct pronunciation of anything foreign (outside of the triangle bounded by Dallas, Houston & El Paso) will reward you with a blank stare.
Ah'mo git me a Blankpane dahrekly . .
I have an elderly and longstanding customer who says "Jaguar le Culture" and "Useless Nardeen". Brockbank is always Brocklebank. Chain-driven of course! The balance is the "flywheel".
Whatever is in a name, he does very well buying and selling his watches.
Brendan,
www.webwatchmaker.com
The whole issue with pronounciation of foreign names is very muddied and inconsistant so it makes "correct" a relative term depending on you location and nationality. It can lead to bordeline pretentiousness/snobbery.
It's not just watch brands.
Do we really need to pronounce Paris, pa-ree?
Our Dutch members will tell us Van Gogh is neither van-go nor van-goth.
Even in English, is it Bath or Barth?
It seems convention in watch circles is to use the French pronunciation e.g. Blancpain is blon-pan (with a very soft n) or AP is owe-de-mar pee-gay.
There do seem to be inconsitancies, particularly with German derived names e.g. Basel can be baal (French) or bar-zul (German). JLC is an odd case as I believe Jaeger in French is jay-jer, but in German yay-ger. It seems the former is more correct, especially as I think Jaeger was a Frenchman, but you do sound a bit pretentious saying it that way. (A bit like pronouncing Porsche as porsh-er).
It's a minefield, but I think it's best to follow the convention of your particular country rather then the strictly correct way.
I thought all sounded the same;
Kaaaatjíngggggg.... followed by the whistling sound of air filling the hole on the bank account.
I think the reverse.
I think we should be following the country of origin. Not different from capital cities and names of families and individuals.
It doesn´t mátter ofcourse and it may sometimes be confusing, silly even when done to show off, but it would be correct if we would try and call things by their names as they were given to them.
This thread is very amusing, especially the levels of misinformation being bandied about.
Tip 1: ADs do not necessarily know how to pronounce the names of things they sell. On the UK high street you will find a lot of see-ko dealers, for example.
Tip 2: Hold your wallet in your hand, point and say "I won tha' won". They all understand that.
My favourites are dealers who correct one's pronunciation: "I'd like to look at that Longines, please." "Certainly sir, I shall get the lon-geens out of the window for you."
I once saw an aussie tv show where the prize was a watch "Made by Ramon Wheel, Geneeeeva".
Good site... I especially like the Rolex pronunciation
My two pet hates in this world:
1) football commentators who talk in heavily accented english, but try to pronounce european team and player names in what they think is the correct accent e.g " Barr....theeeeee...lone...eh...ya " mid-sentence before going back to their heavy english regional accent.
2) Welsh people who change the course of the conversation, just so they can correct your incorrect pronunciation of a Welsh placename in a ridiculously emphasised Welsh accent .
e.g " I was in Llanberis yesterday " which is responded to with " oh really ? and what took you to TH_LAN_BERRRRRR_ISSSSS ? "
LOL
Really? So Breguet becomes Brgt?
Last edited by Bassplayer; 2nd October 2012 at 12:15.
So how IS Breguet pronounced, as a matter of interest. I've always gone for Breg-eh or Brej-you-ay depending on how much coffee I've drunk.
Last edited by Bassplayer; 2nd October 2012 at 12:14.
IN France, it would most probably be pronounced Zhay-zhair Le-cooltre (the "zh" as in Dr Zhivago, a sounded "sh"). In Germany, "Yay-ger", and probably in other places too, as the word is the German word for "hunter". In the Anglosphere, I would stick to "JLC".
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
Pretty much - although my remark was tongue in cheek, and no less inaccurate than most of the information in the thread so far ;)
Neither of those. Try Breh-Gway.
Also, anglophones tend to emphasise the first syllable (BrEH-gway), but that's not right either.
Sorry, that's just wrong. You don't pronounce the U in Breguet (I assume that's what that w is for). It's bre-géh. (The second half is a bit like the "ga" in "gay").
Last edited by o u t a t i m e; 2nd October 2012 at 14:01.
I never said it was right, I said to try it. Misinformation is the game in this thread. You seem not to have picked that up.
"couture" is often pronounced " coot-yer" so perhaps "Coultre" should be pronounced "cool-t-ray"?
just a thought, i am certainly no expert in French! :-)
Only if the e had an acute accent over it, as in "outré". In reality the l t r and e sort of merge with one another and are swallowed. You could probably forget about the l altogether without annoying too many people ("cou-tre"), and end the word as you would with "être", a word every British schoolboy has learned. Not that tricky, really.
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
Anyone reading this poster's replies needs to know how to pronounce the word 'connard' - KON-ARE.
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It might be your game...
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