Do you intentionally "Americanize" your words when you order beer?

[Teromous]

I am by no means an expert on any language, but while in Germany I grew accustomed to pronouncing their words correctly. This was after discussing beer with a man who seemed a bit agitated, then told me I was pronouncing everything incorrectly. I wanted to give it a shot, and pronounce things the right way. I'm eating their food and drinking their beer, so let me learn the language.

It was a bit uncomfortable to make the shift from the standard English pronunciation to my attempt at German, but I found that by giving it some effort and through practice, people were happy to carry on a conversation for as long as my vocabulary would sustain. I realized that it's not just about the letters being strung together, but how you sound when reading them. Much of what we attribute to a "German Accent" is in reality their own pronunciation of the words. By omitting the "accent" I was not really saying the word. I learned to pronounce a few words the best I could and eventually left, feeling comfortable saying them the right way.

Then I come back to the states and go to places like Gordon Biersch where they serve German style beer with German titles. If I order it with correct pronunciation they just stare at me like I've laid an egg. I have to order it the way they expect I will order it. It's not a big deal, but I get the same level of discomfort now speaking it incorrectly as I did then when I was making the shift from English to Deutsche. After all, I'm just ordering beer and I don't want to make a big deal out of it.

What about you all, do you find yourselves in similar situations? What do you all do?

 

[Clonefan94]

I think a beer place should know the correct pronunciation. This is America though and just like any country our dialect will be different. Hell Arnold Schwarzenegger never learned how to pronounce California and he was their Governor.

Plus sometimes I think trying too hard to correctly pronounce foreign words in America comes off a little *****ey. Obviously when in Germany try your best. When in America, I don't see it making much of a difference though. Just like in Germany I'm sure most people aren't concerned that they pronounce English words 100% correct if they aren't speaking to a native English speaker.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[dadshomebrew]

When in europe or any foreign country it is great fun to take a stab at the local language. I particularly enjoy ordering food or drinks, mimicking the locals as i over pronounce the names, and manage the rest of the conversation.

The downside is you come home and you know how it should be pronounced, but if you do, you sound like a ******. My feeling is if you want to use an italian accent when you order pasta or coffee, you need to either speak that way all the time, or be prepared for ridicule.

Then again, who really cares what other people think.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I try to pronounce words the right way unless I think it's making me sound *****ey or pretentious. Then I pronounce them the way the locals do at whatever locale I'm in.

I speak spanish fluently and used to call Amarillo the same as the spanish word for Yellow. But too many brewers I know just pronounce the L sound and I was coming off as pretentious, so I conformed. When in Rome I guess.

 

[NickTheGreat]

When in europe or any foreign country it is great fun to take a stab at the local language. I particularly enjoy ordering food or drinks, mimicking the locals as i over pronounce the names, and manage the rest of the conversation.

The downside is you come home and you know how it should be pronounced, but if you do, you sound like a ******. My feeling is if you want to use an italian accent when you order pasta or coffee, you need to either speak that way all the time, or be prepared for ridicule.

Then again, who really cares what other people think.

You're talking about Giada on the Food Network aren't you? :fro: She will be talking perfectly normal until she gets to a type of cheese in her script, she'll slow down, wave her hands, and painfully over enunciate that one word. And then continue on like normal.

 

[Marc77]

I am by no means an expert on any language, but while in Germany I grew accustomed to pronouncing their words correctly. This was after discussing beer with a man who seemed a bit agitated, then told me I was pronouncing everything incorrectly. I wanted to give it a shot, and pronounce things the right way. I'm eating their food and drinking their beer, so let me learn the language.

It was a bit uncomfortable to make the shift from the standard English pronunciation to my attempt at German, but I found that by giving it some effort and through practice, people were happy to carry on a conversation for as long as my vocabulary would sustain. I realized that it's not just about the letters being strung together, but how you sound when reading them. Much of what we attribute to a "German Accent" is in reality their own pronunciation of the words. By omitting the "accent" I was not really saying the word. I learned to pronounce a few words the best I could and eventually left, feeling comfortable saying them the right way.

Then I come back to the states and go to places like Gordon Biersch where they serve German style beer with German titles. If I order it with correct pronunciation they just stare at me like I've laid an egg. I have to order it the way they expect I will order it. It's not a big deal, but I get the same level of discomfort now speaking it incorrectly as I did then when I was making the shift from English to Deutsche. After all, I'm just ordering beer and I don't want to make a big deal out of it.

What about you all, do you find yourselves in similar situations? What do you all do?

I'm curious, what are some examples? At some point I'm going to make a trip back to "the motherland" to site see and try some of their great beer. Would like to be able to pronounce their beers the way they should be. I'm guessing weissbier, witbier and hefeweizen are some of them?

 

[Hopinista]

If I was speaking with someone who was getting agitated by my pronunciation, I'd stop speaking with them.

Who has time for A-holes like that?

 

[johngaltsmotor]

I can understand your frustration, I've made almost 3 dozen extended (2-4week) trips to Germany for work. And my mothers maiden name is German, but not pronounced per German standards. So it's a matter of what makes you feel most comfortable. Obviously in Germany try to conform, if for no other reason than to be a gracious guest. In the US you just have to decide if it's worth the hassle of educating people.

Yes Marc77 Ws are one of the biggest peaves (and easiest to correct)
Weissbier is pronounced more like vise-beer (similar wit, weizen)
Dunkel is pronounced dune-kel not done-kel

My biggest solution though was simple: talk faster. Just like English, people will fill in with context clues. If they don't hear what they expect in one place but everything else fits their mind will register (like that old spelling trick where you rearrange all the letters in each word but you can still read it).

 

[j1n]

If I was speaking with someone who was getting agitated by my pronunciation, I'd stop speaking with them.

Who has time for A-holes like that?

This^

Who cares if you weren't saying right. he knew what you were saying so he should have let it go. If you were calling it something else and he was confused then id understand him correcting you.

The only thing like that i can sort of relate to is when i'm talking to someone about firearms and they call a magazine a "clip". normally i don't care but i've corrected a couple people cause they are very much into guns and own many but still called it the wrong way.


On another note, my mom (Korean) was over my place and shes drinking a beer and says to me "i really like this 'ah-lee' beer". im like "what?". She points to the bottle where it says Ale and says "ah-lee". i lost it and died laughing on the ground.

 

[Teromous]

...comes off a little *****ey.

...sound like a ******.

...sound *****ey or pretentious. Then I pronounce them the way the locals do at whatever locale I'm in.

I speak spanish fluently and used to call Amarillo the same as the spanish word for Yellow. But too many brewers I know just pronounce the L sound and I was coming off as pretentious, so I conformed. When in Rome I guess.

This is exactly why I'm apprehensive about it haha. I just want to order beer. It's just that after hearing it pronounced and practicing it the correct way it's a bit grating to intentionally pronounced incorrectly. I appreciate the comment about Amarillo. My Spanish is extremely poor and after hearing George Strait sing "Amarillo by Morning" I believe that my use of the word has been spoiled.

I'm curious, what are some examples? At some point I'm going to make a trip back to "the motherland" to site see and try some of their great beer. Would like to be able to pronounce their beers the way they should be. I'm guessing weissbier, witbier and hefeweizen are some of them?

Mainly the way it was described to me is that (for example) hefeweizen there is a little imaginary "t" and then "s" that your tongue makes on the "z." Also the hefe is pronounce "he" like "he, she, we" not "heh," then "fe" is pronounced "feh." Mostly backwards from what I hear in the US. The word that sort-of spawned this whole thread was Märzen, where the ä is similar to the sound you get from mayor. This is quickly followed by r and then ts and en. To only confuse things further, I discovered that in various parts of Germany people pronounced the beer differently, with slightly more or less accent on the umlauts and longer or shorter drawn-out "s" sound on the z, and sharper or lazier emphasis on the "t". Maybe it's only more noticeable to an outsider but I found it extremely interesting.

 

[char005]

You're talking about Giada on the Food Network aren't you? :fro: She will be talking perfectly normal until she gets to a type of cheese in her script, she'll slow down, wave her hands, and painfully over enunciate that one word. And then continue on like normal.

HAHAHA. came here to say the same thing. She goes from Califirnia yuppie to Don Corleone and back again in one sentence. What is the term for lady *********?

 

[neilpcraven]

Try ordering things by brand name in different countries. I used to live in central Europe and would travel around the neighbouring countries a lot. You'll be surprised the number of ways you can pronounce "Marlboro Light".

 

[Teromous]

This^

Who cares if you weren't saying right. he knew what you were saying so he should have let it go. If you were calling it something else and he was confused then id understand him correcting you.

The only thing like that i can sort of relate to is when i'm talking to someone about firearms and they call a magazine a "clip". normally i don't care but i've corrected a couple people cause they are very much into guns and own many but still called it the wrong way.


On another note, my mom (Korean) was over my place and shes drinking a beer and says to me "i really like this 'ah-lee' beer". im like "what?". She points to the bottle where it says Ale and says "ah-lee". i lost it and died laughing on the ground.

That is pretty cool, I don't think I've ever heard anyone pronounce Ale "ah-lee."

I didn't take offense to the guy getting agitated with my mispronunciation because I was trying to pronounce stuff correctly. It was a sort-of game while in Germany for me to try starting a conversation using no English words and carry it on as long as I could without bailing. I didn't last long but I think it helped me learn more than if I simply defaulted to English all the time.

 

[j1n]

That is pretty cool, I don't think I've ever heard anyone pronounce Ale "ah-lee."

I didn't take offense to the guy getting agitated with my mispronunciation because I was trying to pronounce stuff correctly. It was a sort-of game while in Germany for me to try starting a conversation using no English words and carry it on as long as I could without bailing. I didn't last long but I think it helped me learn more than if I simply defaulted to English all the time.

Ha yeah my mom says funny sht. She was talking to me about wine and she tells me she likes the "mur-lot" im like uhhhh... you mean "mer-low" (merlot). Then she busts out laughing and says she and my dad have been saying it wrong the whole time.

My MIL side of the family is German. My name is Jin and they all call me Yin. i don't bother to correct them cause other people do and they never change.

in understand though. when your in the country its a good time to practice the language. i agree with others though. it does come off *****y here in the US to try and say it the right way.

 

[ericbw]

I can understand your frustration, I've made almost 3 dozen extended (2-4week) trips to Germany for work. And my mothers maiden name is German, but not pronounced per German standards. So it's a matter of what makes you feel most comfortable. Obviously in Germany try to conform, if for no other reason than to be a gracious guest. In the US you just have to decide if it's worth the hassle of educating people.

Yes Marc77 Ws are one of the biggest peaves (and easiest to correct)
Weissbier is pronounced more like vise-beer (similar wit, weizen)
Dunkel is pronounced dune-kel not done-kel

My biggest solution though was simple: talk faster. Just like English, people will fill in with context clues. If they don't hear what they expect in one place but everything else fits their mind will register (like that old spelling trick where you rearrange all the letters in each word but you can still read it).

Not to sound *****ey, but are you sure about wit? Isn't wit beer Belgian in origin? In which case the German pronunciation is... irrelevant?

 

[Hopinista]

Not to sound *****ey, but are you sure about wit? Isn't wit beer Belgian in origin? In which case the German pronunciation is... irrelevant?

You're not sounding *****ey to me, you just sound right.

I'm originally from the French speaking part of Belgium. I've been in the states since I was 13 and I never feel the need to correct people when they (always) pronounce things wrong.

It's not only (and always, no exceptions) rude, it's just unnecessary. I know Germany has a different idea of courtesy

 

[BBBF]

Not so much with beer, but I always Americanize "gyro." I have a german last name that has completely been Americanized. I've always been tempted to try and reverse that.

 

[Marc77]

Not to sound *****ey, but are you sure about wit? Isn't wit beer Belgian in origin? In which case the German pronunciation is... irrelevant?

You're correct, that's my bad. Witbier is Belgian. There's a portion of Belgium though that speaks German though so even though it's Belgian I'm thinking there's different ways to say it even in Belgium.

 

[troy2000]

This^

Who cares if you weren't saying right. he knew what you were saying so he should have let it go. If you were calling it something else and he was confused then id understand him correcting you.

The only thing like that i can sort of relate to is when i'm talking to someone about firearms and they call a magazine a "clip". normally i don't care but i've corrected a couple people cause they are very much into guns and own many but still called it the wrong way.


On another note, my mom (Korean) was over my place and shes drinking a beer and says to me "i really like this 'ah-lee' beer". im like "what?". She points to the bottle where it says Ale and says "ah-lee". i lost it and died laughing on the ground.

That bothers a lot of people; I guess I'm unusual. I have somewhere north of two dozen guns, and some of them use detachable magazines. Some with fixed magazines load with stripper clips, a couple take en bloc chargers, I use moon clips on revolvers - and although I know the proper teminology, I don't particularly care what someone else calls the ammo-holding thingies. In fact, on occasion I've pointed at a mag pouch and asked someone to hand me a full clip....

Is admitting that publicly going to get me drummed out of the National Gun Freaks of America?

Great story about your mom. And nice that she has apparently has a sense of humor, and didn't get offended when you laughed.

 

[ericbw]

You're correct, that's my bad. Witbier is Belgian. There's a portion of Belgium though that speaks German though so even though it's Belgian I'm thinking there's different ways to say it even in Belgium.

Well, there's people in Germany that speak English, so... (making a joke)

But I will finish the rest of my rant about wit beers, for those who are interested. I hear people knock the practice of putting an orange slice in Blue Moon all the time. (For starters, it's delicious that way, and in fact, any wheat beer is great with orange. It just is.) And I know that this was a marketing ploy to make a beer more interesting (and it works!). But...

The argument often goes, "Hey, I've BEEN to Germany (or even Bavaria), and I never once saw anyone put an orange in their hefeweizen (pronounced annoyingly correctly)." Which is great, since we're talking about witbier.

And they may go on to say, "Hey, Germans (again, Bavarians) INVENTED the Reinheitsgebot, so they know what should go into a beer." But they forget that weizens aren't really in line with the Reinheitsgebot, being made from wheat and all (and including yeast, but that's a digression).

Further, Germans also seem to have invented the Radler - beer with soda pop? I'm not knocking it, because I love a shandy, and I like orange in my wheat beer. But to say that Germans have some high standard for awesome beer seems misinformed.

I don't think it's worth getting hung up on. You should pronounce things correctly, but be ready to say it the way people expect it.

(My beer peeve is Smithwick's. I first say it correctly, then if they don't recognize it (or say they don't have it, when I know they do), I say, "Smith-wick's?")

 

[Hopinista]

Lol, I once ordered a Smithwick's, and the extremely Irish bartender got all pretentious and said "Do you mean a SMITIKS!?!?"

So I said "un delirium si'l vous plaît"

 

[dadshomebrew]

HAHAHA. came here to say the same thing. She goes from Califirnia yuppie to Don Corleone and back again in one sentence. What is the term for lady *********?

yep you guys found a prime example. Luckily for her she has other...assets.. that still make the show watchable.

 

[how1]

When I listen to Reggae music I like to speak with a Jamaican accent!!

 

[Nightshade]

I once ordered a Dubbel and I always say it like double and never had an issue until this random person corrected me one day at the bar and said, "You are saying that wrong it is doo-bell."

I looked at him and simply said, "Thank you doushay bog but I prefer my way better."

 

[andvari7]

Back to OP: Only if it will generate a humorous response. In other words, every time.

 

[ericbw]

yep you guys found a prime example. Luckily for her she has other...assets.. that still make the show watchable.

I don't know what other assets you're talking about. I'd rather look at Emeril.

 

[skw]

You haven't ordered in German until you've seen a puzzled wine waiter try to comprehend "Gewürztraminer". Sometimes it's easier to just point at the item on the menu.