How, or how not, to pronounce "Norge" merged threadfest

[Chuck in Indiana]

I say potato, and you say.. oh never mind.  ;D

[healeyblue]

Don't make no never mind! I agree with what Edo said. However, your average red suspender Guzzista is going to say Norj like the refrigerator no matter what. Being an honorary member of the Sons of Norway I tried it the Scandhoot way for a while but just gave in to standard American convention after one too many good natured ribbings.

[Mountain Bob]

OK, enough of the refrigerator jokes about the Seriously Shrouded member of the MG line, the Norge.  

Is that name properly pronounced "Norrrr-jhe" ?  (as in, "I didn't want a Norge, so I got a Kelvinator.")

Or is it pronounced "Nor-Gay" ? (as in, "He's neither Straight Nor-gay -- he just dresses like that 'cause it's Harley night at the Real Bikers bar.")

Not that the jokes will quit, but they might change just a bit . . .   ::)


--mb

[Idontwantapickle]

We have (not) decided this in the past a couple times. Here's one.
http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=45728.0
Hunter
PS I call mine Norge.  :BEER:

[BravoBravo]

When I visited the Moto Guzzi museum in Lake Como last summer, I asked one of the Italian guys working there how to pronounce it. His response was, "Oh, that's easy - it's Nor-gay."

Bruce

[Oca]

Sorry, "G" followed by "e" is a soft G.

Norge.

Even in French, it the "e" had an accent egue, it would be Nor - ghay.

[donn]

We have (not) decided this in the past a couple times. Here's one.
http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=45728.0

I went and reviewed some of that stuff and was shocked to see a suggestion that the name "Eldorado" might be pronounced el-do-ray-do by some.  Please say it isn't true.

I'd go with nor-gay, if that's the story from Moto Guzzi.  Or nor-geh.  But I'm glad all I need to know is how to say "California two."

[Zoomie]

El Doraydo is a town in, I believe, Oklahoma...could be Texas, though.    They pronounce things funny there.  Try Gotebo, Oklahoma..Go Tea Boe..accent on the GO.   :BEER:  3.2 in Oklahoma, though, unless you want it warm.

[MotorcycleTed]

Does it really matter, when most people incorrectly say Goozy, and not Gutzi? Heeeyy.. nice Gooozy Norghay!

[Mountain Bob]

Ale-doe-ray-doe is in Ork-ann-saww.  
Just like Lul'Rok.  

It's been a few years since I was through there;
back then you'd best declare that you're neither Lesbian Nor-gay.  

Probably differnt now.  Mostly all I know about Ork-ann-saww anymore is that a WG Moderator is from there, and there was a story about a football coach, a Harley, and a young female Athletic Department employee.  Apparently he is no longer the coach, Nor-gay.  

... just sayin' . . .

--mb

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Well Bob your the one who lives not far south of the Penned O'Riley and right next to the Coor De Lane.
 Therefore you may pronounce anything any way you see fit.
 When I lived in Northern Idaho, I had enough trouble with Boner county, much less those froggie tang tongulars.

[molly]

When I visited the Moto Guzzi museum in Lake Como last summer, I asked one of the Italian guys working there how to pronounce it. His response was, "Oh, that's easy - it's Nor-gay."

Bruce

Nor-gay might work in Italy but I'm not sure if I said "I'm riding the Nor-gay tommorrow" in the local pub what sort of response I would get, well I do actually so I will stick to Norge.

[blackbuell]

Why be pretentious? If you're in the USA, why not pronounce it like most Americans would, even though it is not how Italians would pronounce it. How do you pronounce "Paris"?

Jon

[leafman60]

Sigh.  The Norge is named after a monumental journey to Norway during the early years of Guzzi.

Norway in Italian is "Norvegia."

"Norge" is the nordic spelling of the word.  I've been to that part of the world and they prounce it more like " nor- gah" rather than "nor-gay."

The "gay" ending is probably due to the italian inflection on this word.  They like more musical interpretations of words.

Anglos tend to say "norj."  We also tend to say "goo-zee" rather than the italian "goot-zee."

Here's another one.  Many folks here refer to the car as a "porsh," one syllable rather than the two-syllable european "por-sha."

Ever been to "ver-sails" kentucky ?  "la- faay- et" alabama?

By the way, "pronunciation."

[MGKrebs]

Why be pretentious? If you're in the USA, why not pronounce it like most Americans would, even though it is not how Italians would pronounce it. How do you pronounce "Paris"?

Jon

^^^ Dat's what I say. Not sure how they would say it in Nawlins though.

[Dean Rose]

Just ride the friggin thing!  ;D


Dean

[donn]

Why be pretentious? If you're in the USA, why not pronounce it like most Americans would, even though it is not how Italians would pronounce it. How do you pronounce "Paris"?

I used the "Paris" example myself, in one of the threads linked above, but Paris has a standard English pronunciation.  In principle, though spelled the same, it's two different words, as Bavaria and Bayern are different words, albeit related.  This is fairly rare - an English place name that happens to be spelled the same as the name used by the local inhabitants - and of course it is not the case with Norge, inasmuch as Norge is not an English place name.

If you ask the mailman or someone how to pronounce it, you'll just get a random guess, and the most common random guess is still no better than a random guess.

If you know enough English to post here, it should not be news that you can't guess a word's pronunciation from its spelling.  Italians on the other hand could be excused for making this error, but apparently at Moto Guzzi they get that Norge is not Italian.

We do have some latitude, though.  Among the various languages involved, vowels are similar but not exactly the same.  One of the prominent peculiarities of English is the way we pronounce "long" vowels as a combination of two vowel sounds - so "gay" for example comes out "geh-y" (in most US dialects.)   Italian and English are alike in that they have two E sounds, and it's natural to render the Italian close and open E as English long and short E, respectively -- but inasmuch as both Italian vowels are "pure", they both sound more like the short E.  And apparently that fits with Norwegian pronunciation as well.

So I'm saying that particularly in this unstressed position, there's a good case for pronounced it more like nor-geh.  If that helps guys who are anxious about what will happen if the sound "gay" comes out of their mouths, so much the better.

[Yeahoo Whoyah]

I'm sure glad I can just call my bike the V11.  Or the five-eleven  ???

[Bill Hagan]

Mojohand and I spend a bit of time on the phone and person.  We have an unspoken agreement.  He calls (both of) his Norges, "Norj' Juh."  I say "Norj."  Thus, in the same conversation, using the word(s) 20+ times, we tolerate the other's ignorance without skipping a beat.   :D

OBTW, how do the pronunciation pedants here pronounce the refrigerator, "Norge."  ::)

Bill 

[JJ]

I thought I heard the word NORGE used somewhere else before... ;D :D ;) :)

Norge refrigerators were common household appliances from the 1930s to the 1970s. Norge originally manufactured window iceboxes, and later moved to motorized refrigeration units.

[Kev m]

Why be pretentious? If you're in the USA, why not pronounce it like most Americans would, even though it is not how Italians would pronounce it. How do you pronounce "Paris"?

As alluded too, because there is no "proper" US pronunciation anyway.

Pretentious? I disagree that it is pretentious just to try and use a proper pronunciation of a name if you can.

MOST Americans mispronounce my last name, but that doesn't mean I'm going to start mispronouncing it too.

Anyway - I'm also half Italian, with grandparents that were born in the "old country" and so I grew up learning their pronunciation of a number of Italian things (mostly food), and I use those pronunciations to this day.

That, in and of itself, is not pretentious.

[rboe]

Strong Norwegian blood line so I go with Norj rhymes with George. Since I tend to murder many words I just put with it. Don't get me going on Centaro.  ;D

I'm very tempted to call my Griso a Ten-Eee and be done with it.  :pop

[VonNostrand]

Why be pretentious? If you're in the USA, why not pronounce it like most Americans would, even though it is not how Italians would pronounce it. How do you pronounce "Paris"?

Jon

 :+1! My thoughts, exactly. Besides, MG's choice of names for the American market, e.g. "Stone," has been abysmal.

[Mountain Bob]

By the way, "pronunciation."

Oh, sure . . .  ::)

Next thing you know, we'll be trying to elect a "goober-nor" --  Well, at least in Georgia . . .  ;)

--mb

[twhitaker]

MOST Americans mispronounce my last name, but that doesn't mean I'm going to start mispronouncing it too.

Don't see how anybody could mispronounce m. It's m! ;D

[Bill Hagan]

As far as I am concerned, this pic pretty much settles the debate:






 :D

Bill

P.S.  This was Rick Mathis's Norge at 2009 South'n Spine Raid

[Guzzistajohn]

I was thinking about getting a BMW just 'cause it's eacy to spell AND pronounce.

[rocker59]

El Doraydo is a town in, I believe, Oklahoma...could be Texas, though.    They pronounce things funny there.  Try Gotebo, Oklahoma..Go Tea Boe..accent on the GO.   :BEER:  3.2 in Oklahoma, though, unless you want it warm.

El Dorado is in Arkansas.  It's pronounced El-do-ray-do.  The "do" being pronounced like "doe" or "dough".  It's an oil town and the home of Murphy Oil.

Miami in Oklahoma is pronounced "My-am-uh".

How you pronounce anything depends upon where you're standing and with whom you're talking.

[Bill Hagan]

I was thinking about getting a BMW just 'cause it's eacy to spell AND pronounce.

Not really.  Some here would say "Bay Em Vay."   :D

[rocker59]

 
Key words: Pronunciation, Pronounce, Pronounced... 

Along with "Norge", they will find you the answer (or not) with the search function.

Now merged into a threadfest.  Do we really need six or eight threads wondering how to pronounce Norge?