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Gutsi or Guzzi?

I asked a coworker who grew up in Italy and he said "gootsie."

I pronounce it that way, but I wonder if it makes me an ass. Like someone who calls their Porche a "Porch-sha."

When I say "Gootsie" to non-riders, I feel pretentious and affected. Like I'm holding a teacup with my pinkie extend.

Joe
 
If anyone looks at you funny, just remind them that:
"pizza" has two z's, and we pronounce it peetsa (some folks say peetza).
Similarly we pronounce "Guzzi" as gootsee.
 
I don't givashit coz the sound I like comes out of twin megaphones :lol:

Actually, when elderly Italian gentlemen spot my bike at a cafe and comment, I just love the way they speak.
Their pronounciation is poetic and their expression is full of passion. Mo To-Gootsee, Si?
 
During the middle 80's to the middle 90's, I went to Italy over 40 times for business. Each trip lasted 7-10 days and I got to know some of the people who worked in the electronics factory that I did business with. Several of them owned Guzzi's and I had many a lunch and/or dinner at their homes. I can tell you that in Italy, it is pronounced "Gootsi" by genuine home grown Italians.
 
I'm a brand new Guzzi owner. Like, for a month. I've always just called them Moto Goo-zees. Guh-zee never occurred to me. Being of Italian decsent and studying Italian in high school, I do know that to speak Italian you have to roll your R's and do some pretty exaggerated sounds when you talk. But living in America I give little thought to proper pronunciation of foreign words...who really cares, right? So I never really cared how you pronounced Guzzi. But now I have one and this is amusing to me, this thread, because I've been thinking of it lately. Good timing.

In all the model reviews, I thought it was Gris-oh all these years until recently I spoke to sales staff at a BMW dealership where I bought the bike (affiliated with Piaggio via also being a Vespa dealership). Of course, I call it a Gree-soh as a result. But even Ewan McGregor referred to his Gris-oh in Long Way Down.

Back to the Guzzi pronunciation. When I told the local coffee shop bunch I bought the Griso, naturally, the manufacturer's name became predominant in the conversation. Dudes were saying Goot-sie. When I heard the guys say it like that, it sort of killed me. Could I pull that off every time I say Guzzi? I couldn't imagine myself walking around introducing the bike as a "Goot-sie" because it sort of sounds overly eccentric. [I know the MG faithful call them Goot-sies and I don't want to wear out my welcome here, but this is a silly thread anyhow.]

So as new owner simply overjoyed with all things Moto Guzzi, I just feel more comfortable saying goo-zee. Maybe I'll change my mind as time goes on and become a real Guzzi owner and say it the other way! Only time will tell...
 
I dislike the fact if you correct someone and pronounce it correctly people think you are "high society". Whe I was a kid everyone around here said Guzzy(like guzz ee). People in the US have the same emphasis as HAL 9000 when they speak.
Saw both films, loved them both. And I am glad Ewan has a Griso, loves it and is proud of it!!!
 
I knew it was a Gree so. My girlfriend in Italy pronounced my name with a long i. I had no idea it is a Goot zie. I'd been calling them Goo zie since I was a teenager.
 
Guzzy, Guzzy , Guzzy! Doesn't matter how you pronounce it as long as people know what you're talking about! The French say "Paree". Everyone else who matters says "Paris", and as a Londoner I pronounce London," Lundun"! It's called an accent and everyone has got one, even those of you who think you haven't. Trying to talk like a local just makes you sound like a pillock, so don't do it.:-D
 
Having a couple of "Z's" ..... lets say they butcher my name like hamburger meat also. :lol:
My cousin pronounces it "Goossi" ..... Like mother goose.

Northern, Central and Southern Italy have different accents.
Having said that we Central Italians say we speaks the REAL Italian........This should ruffle some feathers. :whistle: :pinch: :woohoo:
 
Tamaytoe, Tamahtoe - no telling how words are going to be pronounced once they enter the English lexicon. Chevrolet and pizza made it in relatively unscathed. Jury is still out on Guzzi, and nobody calls a Volkswagen a Folksvagen (unless they're German). Since almost nobody has heard of a Moto Guzzi, I guess it's up to us to deliver the language lesson when we can, if we care. The same problem exists in my Alfa Romeo club (it's Row-MAY-oh!). We laugh mightily at the silly, unwashed heathens that foolishly say 'ROW-me-oh' in our presence. We enforce that one. We're not pretentious, we're just calling the shots on how to say Alfa Romeo. Just like living in a town that is spelled one way, but is pronounced slightly or completely differently by the locals. You either learn how to say it 'right' or you are an outsider for life!

Guzzi or GOOT-sie doesn't seem to bother me nearly the same for some reason. I wonder how gli Italiani pronounces 'Harley Davidson' in Italia?
 
AFAIK it's always been GOOT SEE downunder. With the OO as in foot. Non-riders sometimes pronounce it GUZ EE.

I am a pedant (PED ANT, not PEED ANT) Ha !
 
It's actually quite interesting the differences in pronunciation between the various form of English spoken around the world, mainly UK and US. No doubt the Aussies, Kiwis and Southers could add their examples. No, Scouse doesn't count! ;-)

Just a few examples using southern counties English that show where the different emphasis is placed.

Jaguar UK JagUar US JagWaa

Colin UK Caulin US Coe Lin (As in Powell)

Bernard UK Bernerd US Ber Nard

Well I thought it was interesting anyway. :whistle:
 
I once got into a pissing contest with a grizzled old Harley rider. He kept calling it guh-zzi, and I kept saying gootsie.
We were at a funeral wake (mother of our mutual friend) so it never got ugly, but we both kept giving each other sidelong looks.

It was really about two A type personalities meeting.
 
Well, I doubt you can teach old Harley riders new tricks anyway. ;)

I've always found it fascinating how colloquialisms, scientific and technical terms, jargon and word pronunciations take hold and are spread around, but maybe I'm just a nerd. :geek: A really interesting example is how the difference between aluminium and aluminum came about.
Here is the story: http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm.

Basically, the official name (and therefore pronunciation) for this element is 'aluminium', but due to mere happenstance it is 'aluminum' in the U.S. and probably always will be. Too late to change us now - just like with the metric system!

Also, a guy in my office pronounces almonds, 'ammends' (just like we say 'sammen' instead of salmon). Use to drive me crazy until I looked it up in the dictionary. Guess what, his pronunciation was listed first!
 
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