Pronunciation in cycling

jonny_trousers

Anyone else scared of making a tit of themselves in the bike shop?

Sportive? Pronounced spor-tivv or spor-teev?

Cervelo? Chur-vello, sir-vello, chur-veelo, sir-veelo?

Campagnolo? Cam-pagg-nolo or campai-nolo?

Pinerello? Pinn-erello or pee-nerello?

Keo? Kee-oh or kay-oh?

There will be many others that have slipped my confused mind.

asprilla

spor-tivv
sir-vello
Cam-pagg-nolo
Pinn-erello
Kee-oh

rick_chasey

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Anyone else scared of making a tit of themselves in the bike shop?

Sportive? Pronounced spor-tivv or spor-teev?

Cervelo? Chur-vello, sir-vello, chur-veelo, sir-veelo?

Campagnolo? Cam-pagg-nolo or campai-nolo?

Pinerello? Pinn-erello or pee-nerello?

Keo? Kee-oh or kay-oh?

There will be many others that have slipped my confused mind.

You're the one with the bulging wallet...

Agent57

SPOR-teev
sir-VELL-o
campan-YO-lo (or just CAM-pag)
PIN-er-REL-o
KEE-oh

for me

Robstar24

Asprilla wrote:

spor-tivv
sir-vello
Cam-pagg-nolo
Pinn-erello
Kee-oh

all correct apart from no hard g in campagnolo - it's cam-pa-niolo

notsoblue

I was in a tiny bike shop in Siena fully of gorgeous bikes when my pronunciation of Bianchi was indignantly corrected. Apparently its "Bian-kee" and not "Bian-chee" as I had thought for years :?

jonny_trousers

Rick Chasey wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Anyone else scared of making a tit of themselves in the bike shop?

Sportive? Pronounced spor-tivv or spor-teev?

Cervelo? Chur-vello, sir-vello, chur-veelo, sir-veelo?

Campagnolo? Cam-pagg-nolo or campai-nolo?

Pinerello? Pinn-erello or pee-nerello?

Keo? Kee-oh or kay-oh?

There will be many others that have slipped my confused mind.

You're the one with the bulging wallet...

Ha! I just want to be able to talk the talk with the big boys without them laughing at me.

Thanks so far guys. I see there is a little disagreement, though. I guess it's about whether it's acceptable to Anglicise foreign words and names or not (for me it's not, but I equally don't want to look pretentious).

jonny_trousers

notsoblue wrote:

I was in a tiny bike shop in Siena fully of gorgeous bikes when my pronunciation of Bianchi was indignantly corrected. Apparently its "Bian-kee" and not "Bian-chee" as I had thought for years :?

Ah yes! That's another that has troubled me. Thanks for settling it!

asprilla

Robstar24 wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

spor-tivv
sir-vello
Cam-pagg-nolo
Pinn-erello
Kee-oh

all correct apart from no hard g in campagnolo - it's cam-pa-niolo

Not in my house.

rick_chasey

Johhny - If I'm in a good mood and I get corrected in a bikeshop I tend to play the foreign card.

If I'm irritable it's some comment like "Isn't the customer always right?" *tilts head a little to the right and stares*

They shouldn't be correcting anyone's pronounciation

jonny_trousers

I'm not even sure about my own road bike which is a Veneto. Could be Ven-ett-to could be Ven-ee-to. Let's call the whole thing off?

dhope

When in Halfords you request a a BO! Ard-Man

sketchley

If I'm spending that kind of money and the LBS corrects my pronunciation , I may go somewhere else. That being said sometimes I play dumb just to see if the salesman knows what they are talking about or is indeed bullshitting me.

It's amazing just how many salesman work on the principle that the customer knows less than them, therefor it doesn't matter if they get it wrong. Best one recently was a sales person in a well know chain of bikeshops (not Halfords the other one), who spent ages talking to me about which road bike he would choose and why and then didn't know how a presta valve worked when pumping the tyres up so I could go for a test ride, I had already worked him out by then but it was fun playing some more.

lardboy

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Thanks so far guys. I see there is a little disagreement, though. I guess it's about whether it's acceptable to Anglicise foreign words and names or not (for me it's not, but I equally don't want to look pretentious).

So if you were to talk about the capital city of France, would you say "Paree"?

jonny_trousers

lardboy wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Thanks so far guys. I see there is a little disagreement, though. I guess it's about whether it's acceptable to Anglicise foreign words and names or not (for me it's not, but I equally don't want to look pretentious).

So if you were to talk about the capital city of France, would you say "Paree"?

No, hence the 'pretentious' comment. It's never straight forward is it? Do you refer to your commuter as a Croiks de Fur?

il_principe

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Anyone else scared of making a tit of themselves in the bike shop?

Sportive? Pronounced spor-tivv or spor-teev?

Cervelo? Chur-vello, sir-vello, chur-veelo, sir-veelo?

Campagnolo? Cam-pagg-nolo or campai-nolo?

Pinerello? Pinn-erello or pee-nerello?

Keo? Kee-oh or kay-oh?

There will be many others that have slipped my confused mind.

Erm, it's Pinarello, not Pinerello...

:roll:

jonny_trousers

To be fair on those who work in bike shops, it's often the clued-up, super helpful ones who treat like you are one of them who I am more nervous of revealing myself as an idiot to.

lardboy

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

lardboy wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Thanks so far guys. I see there is a little disagreement, though. I guess it's about whether it's acceptable to Anglicise foreign words and names or not (for me it's not, but I equally don't want to look pretentious).

So if you were to talk about the capital city of France, would you say "Paree"?

No, hence the 'pretentious' comment. It's never straight forward is it? Do you refer to your commuter as a Croiks de Fur?

Nah. Usually I talk about the bloody heavy thing that won't stop because the brakes are pants.

rjsterry

IIRC, you tend to stress the second to last syllable in Italian; gn is pronounced as 'ny', as in agnello (lamb). C is a bit more complicated: as a hard c if followed by a, o or c, but as ch if followed by i or e. ch is always a hard c or k, hence 'BianKi'.

SimonAH

lardboy wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Thanks so far guys. I see there is a little disagreement, though. I guess it's about whether it's acceptable to Anglicise foreign words and names or not (for me it's not, but I equally don't want to look pretentious).

So if you were to talk about the capital city of France, would you say "Paree"?

No - cities and countries are exempt if already anglicised. Braun is 'Brown' though even if it has been anglicised to 'Brawn' even in their own commercials....

kurako

Italian names are a dawdle if you know the rules. The trick is mainly in knowing when a 'c' or 'g' is a hard or soft sound. There's no funny stuff like in English to catch you out.

Just think of stuff with the same spelling which you know how to say. Footballers and food normally...

The gn in Campagnolo is like in gnochi.

Actually gnochi is a good one since it also covers 'ch' as in Bianchi.

notsoblue

lardboy wrote:

Nah. Usually I talk about the bloody heavy thing that won't stop because the brakes are pants.

Off Topic: Really? I was looking at getting a "Croiks de fur" for the winter.

davmaggs

Kurako wrote:

Italian names are a dawdle if you know the rules. The trick is mainly in knowing when a 'c' or 'g' is a hard or soft sound. There's no funny stuff like in English to catch you out.

Just think of stuff with the same spelling which you know how to say. Footballers and food normally...

The gn in Campagnolo is like in gnochi.

Actually gnochi is a good one since it also covers 'ch' as in Bianchi.

+1

jonny_trousers

notsoblue wrote:

lardboy wrote:

Nah. Usually I talk about the bloody heavy thing that won't stop because the brakes are pants.

Off Topic: Really? I was looking at getting a "Croiks de fur" for the winter.

Off my own topic, but there are a couple of really nice looking Kona options following a similar spec worth checking out (But only if you promise to wear a helmet )

Gussio

Mmmmm.....gnochi....

notsoblue

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

lardboy wrote:

Nah. Usually I talk about the bloody heavy thing that won't stop because the brakes are pants.

Off Topic: Really? I was looking at getting a "Croiks de fur" for the winter.

Off my own topic, but there are a couple of really nice looking Kona options following a similar spec worth checking out (But only if you promise to wear a helmet )

Yep yep, quite a few bikes like that around and the Kona Honky is nice. But I like the look of the "Croiks". And even though I do usually wear a helmet, it would be nice to know that it'll brake properly.

kelsen

Kurako wrote:

Italian names are a dawdle if you know the rules. The trick is mainly in knowing when a 'c' or 'g' is a hard or soft sound. There's no funny stuff like in English to catch you out.

Just think of stuff with the same spelling which you know how to say. Footballers and food normally...

The gn in Campagnolo is like in gnochi.

Actually gnochi is a good one since it also covers 'ch' as in Bianchi.

How do Italians pronounce 'Shimano'?

Is it 'P-tooey!'

ballspondroad

And is it SHI-ma-no or shi-MA-no ? Is that 'no' an English 'no' or a 'nu' ?

Agent57

Kurako wrote:

The gn in Campagnolo is like in gnochi.

Doesn't help, as I've no idea if that's "g-nocky" or "nyocky".

kelsen

ballspondroad wrote:

And is it SHI-ma-no or shi-MA-no ? Is that 'no' an English 'no' or a 'nu' ?

I think the Japanese say 'SEE-MAN-no'

lardboy

notsoblue wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

lardboy wrote:

Nah. Usually I talk about the bloody heavy thing that won't stop because the brakes are pants.

Off Topic: Really? I was looking at getting a "Croiks de fur" for the winter.

Off my own topic, but there are a couple of really nice looking Kona options following a similar spec worth checking out (But only if you promise to wear a helmet )

Yep yep, quite a few bikes like that around and the Kona Honky is nice. But I like the look of the "Croiks". And even though I do usually wear a helmet, it would be nice to know that it'll brake properly.

I've had a devil of a time with my brakes. I rear-ended a car because I reached for them and got nothing more than a gentle slowdown when I needed an emergency stop. I've since got a little more out of them, after having a look at the cable ends and discovering that they hadn't been finished properly. 2 mins with a file at either end, job done.

I spent £80 and a couple of hours this weekend trying to fit an Avid BB7 on the front, only to find that the supplied rotor bolts have too big a head and so clash with the fork.

You're welcome to have a play with the bike if you want. I'm just down by Fenchurch St, so you're not that far away.