The 'how do you pronounce X' thread

[Eikman]

After I realized today that i pronounced "Mezzanine" completely wrong all those years, namely by saying 'nine' as in 'number nine', and since there occur questions about bandnames or tracktitles every once in a while, i thought it would be interesting and fun (well, mostly fun) to create a thread where we can 'discuss' things.....

for a start, maybe someone can tell me how to pronounce the following:

Akufen

[King of Snake]

I'd probably say "ah-coo-fun" :)

[Eikman]

i'd probably go with "ah-coo-fen", but i've heard people pronounce it "ey-coo-fen" as well

[ceramic'cow]

at first glance, and having never heard of them:

ack-yoo-fen.

cos it sounds a bit like an over-the-counter painkiller

[joethelion]

I always say it "aaah-koo-fen"

[lukeyd]

how about autechre?

altho to be fair, the band themselves arent too sure and over 5 or so valid pronunciations

[//\/\/]

akufen, for some reason, i see as 'afucken'

autechre i have as 'ortekr'

[thee carp dreamer]

how about autechre?

altho to be fair, the band themselves arent too sure and over 5 or so valid pronunciations

i have a radio set from them from 1991 and they say "or-teck-er"...

[Kennrr]

Sigur Ros and Xiu Xiu.

i found out how to pronounce xiu xiu once but forgot it now.

i thought it was Awh -tech- chure, its Audio Technology Research right?

[Eikman]

Sigur Ros and Xiu Xiu.

Sigur Ros has the rolled r, the g is not spoken. (si-ur rose)
you can listen to the pronunciation on the official homepage here (http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/band/pronunci.php)

and xiu xiu....hmm.....i'd say something like "chu chu" or "shoe shoe"?

[Eikman]

i thought it was Awh -tech- chure, its Audio Technology Research right?

that's one hypothesis, but it is not confirmed. from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autechre):

Booth and Brown have explained that the name Autechre can be pronounced in any way anyone sees fit. They pronounce it "aw-tek-er" /ɔ ˈtɛk ɚ/. They are also often referred to by the moniker "Ae." It has been claimed by several, but not confirmed, that the name Autechre comes from Audio architecture or Aural technology research.

[groovypanda]

how about autechre?it's pronounced 'overated bollocks' ;)

[jose m]

ha ha ha:D

[GforGroove]

it's pronounced 'overated bollocks' ;)
jajajaja!!!

(but is not true :p )

[den]

For a little while I was dyslexic and thought Kanye was actually Kayne.

[Eikman]

For a little while I was dyslexic and thought Kanye was actually Kayne.

i've heard that on german radiostations, too

[//\/\/]

it's pronounced 'overated bollocks' ;)

just close the thread - it won't get better than that! :D

[TheRev]

What about Frou Frou?

And I've always said (and heard many others say) Ack-u-fen

[Eikman]

What about Frou Frou?



Frou Frou is french and should be pronounced that way...something like "Frew Frew"

[vacant]

Oh-Tech-Er... but with more of an A sound to the O... that's from a one of the guys in the band (forget his name) so pretty solid...

[bavarianbeer]

"Xiu Xiu" is pronounced kind of like "sue sue," I think. Maybe with a sharper vowel sound, like "s'you, s'you."

[big screen satellite]

ok, how abouts...

potenital underworld remixer:

Robag Wrhume (and while were at it 'Wighnomy' Brothers)...

Row - bag Room?

Whig - no - me?

as for Aukfen, i used still say Alf Ken for some reason ?!?!

[Eikman]

Robag Wrhume (and while were at it 'Wighnomy' Brothers)...

[row-bag room] sounds about right if you pronounce it the english way, but it's the inverted form of a eastern-european name (Gabor), so the "a" is pronounced more like after than bag

Wighnomy Brothers = [why-no-me] (no 'g', i'm pretty sure about that)

[big screen satellite]

Wighnomy Brothers = [why-no-me] (no 'g', i'm pretty sure about that)

what in the pronuciation or the spelling??

[Eikman]

what in the pronuciation or the spelling??

pronunciation

[sola sistim]

i pronounce Akufen as "ah-coo-fen"

as for Autechre, havnt we gone over this? like a while ago?
i pronounce Autechre as "Awe-tek-ar" or something..

[Tom]

Or-Tea-Tree.

The band themselves said it like that a few weeks ago on Leno. The name was lifted from a conversation with an old lady suggesting they get some lavender oil, OR TEA TREE oil.

[luke]

I actually heard that too. I was a bit taken back by it, but it does make sense when you think about it.

[Tom]

Yeah it does.

Imagine if she suggested something else, like

"..get some lavender oil, OR KY JELLY"

Then they'd be 'Auckicheli'!

[luke]

You raise a valid point! I am sure there's another band who's name was lifted from a conversation.. can't think of it at the moment.. I think it's a rock type band..

[Tom]

That would be the above mentioned Sigur Ros.

From the official site:

"Yeah, it's something we overheard in a cafe... "Give me more SUGAR ROSlyn" and it kind of just stuck."

[luke]

Ah wow, I didn't know that one.
I was actually refering to Mick Hucknall, and 'Simply Red'. He was actually shopping with a friend and over heard a woman tell her friend 'You look better in Red, definitely'. Prior to this, it was infact going to be Simply Blue.

I think he went with the better choice.

[Tom]

I'd prefer he be SIMPLY DEAD

ZOMG SNAPS!

[purlieu]

"Yeah, it's something we overheard in a cafe... "Give me more SUGAR ROSlyn" and it kind of just stuck." :D Ahahaha.

[Tom]

Why are you laughing at me?

[purlieu]

Because that was funny.

[Eikman]

stop sniffing the glue, you lot!

[Camiel]

You raise a valid point! I am sure there's another band who's name was lifted from a conversation.. can't think of it at the moment.. I think it's a rock type band..

I guess you mean that bunch of wankers called Nickelback.

[purlieu]

For anyone who doesn't know, Sigur Rós is Icelandic for victory rose. It's the name of Jonsi's sister.

[anna]

"Xiu Xiu" is pronounced kind of like "sue sue," I think. Maybe with a sharper vowel sound, like "s'you, s'you."

I have never heard of this group and do not know how to pronounce the name, but Xiu is Vietnamese/Chinese for pork. It is pronounced something like "s'yiw". The vowel sound is more like in "ill" rather than "oo".

That could be how it is pronounced.

[big screen satellite]

Ah wow, I didn't know that one.
I was actually refering to Mick Hucknall, and 'Simply Red'. He was actually shopping with a friend and over heard a woman tell her friend 'You look better in Red, definitely'. Prior to this, it was infact going to be Simply Blue.

I think he went with the better choice.


i think thats utter bollocks, it may be true, but very unlikely,

One he's red headed and two he's a massive Man United fan, there's no way he would have gone for simply blue...

its to do with the colour of the hair and / or his football team - which as anyone knows if they are a major fan of Man United, wouldn't call their band Simply Blue - in a million years....

[chino]

i got a good one:
T.A.T.U.

[Jason Roth]

T.A.T.U.

It's pronounced "hot russian teenage lesbains"

.
.
.

I think

[Eikman]

in germany we call them Taaatooo, but Jason's idea isn't bad either. except that only one of them is hot.

[big screen satellite]

T.A.T.U

Tits Ass Trouser Upheaval

[sola sistim]

or even, "Shit Music"
well, thats how i pronounce it..

[purlieu]

What? t.A.T.u are great.

[bavarianbeer]

Yeah, it's "Tah-too."

[munga]

sufjan stevens

i always pronounced it "suf-jan" kinda like.... um... "stuff" & "pan."
heard it pronounced on a public radio interview as "saf-yen" and from wikipedia they say its "soof-yon"

i like my version the best.

there is also -

Apoptygma Bezerk
Osymyso
Royksopp
Thelonious Monk (though at this point, i think we all probably pronounce it the same.)

[BeautifulBurnout]

How do you guys pronounce "Rowla"?

I always pronounce it row... as in rowing a boat, but others of my friends pronounce it row... as in argument.

Dunno which is correct. :confused:

[Eikman]

where's the difference?

[big screen satellite]

royksopp

Roik Sopp

how about.....

Sven Vath

is it:

vaff

or

vaith

or somit else?

[BeautifulBurnout]

royksopp

Roik Sopp

how about.....

Sven Vath

is it:

vaff

or

vaith

or somit else?

I would say Sven Veht, with a kind of shallow "e" sound as is "get" and a hard t at the end, cos most european languages don't have the th sound.

[Eikman]

it's Väth, so pronounce it like an ä, dammit! :D

[Eikman]

i thought Ian speaks norwegian, so he should be able to tell us how to pronounce 'Röyksopp"

[BeautifulBurnout]

it's Väth, so pronounce it like an ä, dammit! :D

and an ä sounds like what, if it is not the e sound in get?

[Eikman]

and an ä sounds like what, if it is not the e sound in get?
hard to explain in english, since you don't have that native sound, and therefore no words with it.

it's like the 'e' in get, but longer and you need to open the mouth more

[Eikman]

something like this:

http://www.personal.uni-jena.de/~x1siad/lehre/IPA/cv03.wav

[sanakan]

hard to explain in english, since you don't have that native sound, and therefore no words with it.

it's like the 'e' in get, but longer and you need to open the mouth more

ha ha, i soo get what you mean, eik ;)
although i have to say, that one/we (swiss) sometimes pronounce it a bit like the 'a' in "about"...



question from me: in another thread (http://www.dirty.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2371) (and i also stumbed across it a few other times) there was a band mentioned called "abfahrt hinwil". how do you guys pronounce that?

as an explanation for my curiosity: "hinwil" is a town in switzerland, and "abfahrt" - which is obviously a german word as well - has various meanings in english: departure/descent/ski-run. so I know how to pronounce it in german, but how did the band intend it to be?

[Céj]

sufjan stevens

i always pronounced it "suf-jan" kinda like.... um... "stuff" & "pan."
heard it pronounced on a public radio interview as "saf-yen" and from wikipedia they say its "soof-yon"

i like my version the best.

yeah, i had the same problem, but it's definitely soof-yon, i heard him say it myself :)

[//\/\/]

i thought Ian speaks norwegian, so he should be able to tell us how to pronounce 'Röyksopp"

indeed so! at last it comes in useful!!! :D

ö (or ø as it appears in norwegian - ö is the swedish equivalent - danes use ø) - it's pronounced more like 'ir' in dirty - but without any hint of an 'r'.

however:

'y' in norwegian is also classed as a vowel, almost like saying 'eeyuh' very quickly - it's all about your tongue really - it should be touching your back teeth on both sides of your mouth, with your lips fairly rounded

so røyksopp suddenly sounds far more complicated than it actually is...:)

it means 'smokemushroom' - make of that whåt you will...