I don’t consider myself a Serious Car Person in the slightest, but I can’t help but to roll my eyes when people decide to take certain liberties when pronouncing the name of a certain German automaker. Raphael believes differently.
This is the fifth episode of Carguments, a new series for us in which, basically, we turn a camera at ourselves when we’re normally screaming at each other at our desks. It’s a good way to see why the rest of the Gizmodo Media Group hates us.
Some people (the correct kind of people) say Porsche the way it’s supposed to be said: “Porsch-uh.” And some other people see that and decide just to burn it all down with their “Porsh” lousiness.
Look, this goes beyond just pronouncing a name funny. This is comes down to you and your character. See, when you butcher a name, any name, in such a manner, you are telling the world that you either don’t care or that you are so comfortable with the subject that you are better than correct pronunciation.
“Porsche” it not even a long word, so this isn’t a matter of laziness, either. It’s two syllables, unlike Lamborghini, which can be acceptably shortened to “Lambo.” (Oh, also, Porsche also made a video about this very topic, which should have put it all to rest, but it didn’t. Hm.)
No, this is a matter of superiority and snobbishness. You know how the word is supposed to sound, but you’ve decided that you’re better than that and instead went with your own pronunciation. It’s trash behavior. It needs to stop.
Yet Raphael, despite being armed with his knowledge of the German language, still insists that “Porsh” is the way to go. While he loves cars, he hates car companies and his use of “Porsh” is his way of sticking it to Porsche.
I was sick of it and no longer content to let such feelings live in the Kinja comments section any longer. We had a cargument.