Konig pipe stingers

[Gene East]

Gene, to clarify the spelling of Koenig as used in english, we do not have a provision for an umlaut on our keyboard. The umlaut in German is two dots over the o which gives it the ker sound in German as opposed to no umlaut and Koenig should be pronounced kernig in english. Although it is supposed to be pronounced kernig, most still say Konig which is actually König in German. So the correct way to spell König in english is Koenig, but still pronounced kernig. Gee, this sounds aufully convoluted. I hope it makes sense.

Thank you for the explaination regarding the umlat. Sam Cullis also explained that to me.

Was the e added on some early engines shipped to the US in an attempt to have Americans pronounce the name correctly?

When you spoke with Dieter privately, how did you pronounce his name? What I'm asking is: Was he comfortable with most Americans mis-pronouncing his name, or was it simply a matter of doing business?

I understand Honda is pronounced differently in Japan than it is in the US as well.

In any event Herr Koenig/Konig was a worthy advesary. I had a great respect for him.

[Mark75H]

Yama-toe in Japan

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I don't know about Ralph Gene, but it was probably the same with him. Most of the people I was around that knew Dieter called him Dieter. When it came time for introductions in a crowd of people where some knew him and some didn't it was either in Germany or Austria, and they knew how to correctly pronounce Koenig. I haven't spelled it correctly in all my posts because I have just gone by how his name has been written in English over here for so many decades, but Ralph is correct. Except my pronunciation has a little "ish" on the end. Steve Litzell tells me that's a Berlin thing.

I never recall Dieter being embarrassed or put out by pronunciation of his name and I think if anybody could mess it up, it would be his overseas distributor Scott Smith with his Georgia accent.. But I think most everybody was on a first name basis. Dieter would sometimes call my Dad Mr. Baldwin, but he also called him Baldy.

In the German language my name is hard to pronounce for some. In 1975 Dieter was giving me a tour of Berlin and he spotted a prostitute on the sidewalk. I would not have known, because she wasn't dressed like some you see in the movies. Dieter pointed toward the curb and said "look...there is a prostitute. We will speak to her." He was just wanting to show me the sights and sounds of Berlin. Dieter pulled over and struck up a conversation. He told her I was a boat racer, and came to Berlin from Texas. He told her my name was Wayne, but she could not get it at all. In trying to coax her on Dieter slowly said "Wwaayne....Wwaayne". Remembering Dieter said most Germans have a love for western movies, I said "like John Wayne". Her eyes lit up and with a big smile she replied "Oh! like JOHN Vayne" I said "Yeah."

[Donald]

Wayne, you and Steve are both right. Berliners pronounce Koenig with an ish sound, but nig, I am told is correct. Also another pronunciation peculiar to Berlin is the word for "I", which is correctly pronounced "ish", but in Berlin you will hear icke for I. I have verifyed this with my friend from Berlin, Thomas Wiegrefe, who is visiting Naples now.

[Smokin' Joe]

Thank you for the explaination regarding the umlat. Sam Cullis also explained that to me.

Was the e added on some early engines shipped to the US in an attempt to have Americans pronounce the name correctly?

When you spoke with Dieter privately, how did you pronounce his name? What I'm asking is: Was he comfortable with most Americans mis-pronouncing his name, or was it simply a matter of doing business?

I understand Honda is pronounced differently in Japan than it is in the US as well.

In any event Herr Koenig/Konig was a worthy advesary. I had a great respect for him.

Germans still write oe,ue and ae in passports and other international documents because the symbols ö,ü, and ä don't exist otherwise except in Swedish (Finnish?), not even in Norwegian (although they're easy to make on any Mac). My wife's name is Küffner and I hate it when Americans say 'Kuffner'. I'm betting that Wayne pronounced König correctly since he knew Dieter pretty well and even traveled with him. Here in Texas where the name is common (König/King) the Texas-Germans say 'Ka-nig'. Me, I always say König, even to a 'Ka-nig'.

When the pipes point downward the sound waves reflect off the water, I'm not sure there's a great difference in noise level whether pointed straight back or down.

[Smokin' Joe]

Wayne, you and Steve are both right. Berliners pronounce Koenig with an ish sound, but nig, I am told is correct. Also another pronunciation peculiar to Berlin is the word for "I", which is correctly pronounced "ish", but in Berlin you will hear icke for I. I have verifyed this with my friend from Berlin, Thomas Wiegrefe, who is visiting Naples now.

The pronounciation Königh' with soft 'gh' extends into northern Bavaria as far south as Franken.

[Smokin' Joe]

Yama-toe in Japan

Ya-MA-ha instead of YAmaha.

[Smokin' Joe]

Ya-MA-ha instead of YAmaha.

Well, I'm waiting for parts from SeaWay for several motors, am at loose ends, and you guys haven't given me enough entertainment tonight to get me past 21:31 so I think I'll go read 2 pages of 'Merchants of SPEED' and fall asleep behind the hot rod wheel.

Servos!
Joe