Author Topic: 'Concours' or 'Concour'  (Read 24452 times)

Offline Stephen.G.Fiddes

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'Concours' or 'Concour'
« on: February 11, 2014, 04:56:03 PM »
Ok, dumb question apparently.

Because I'm American, not French (no offense to our French folk, my wife is part French so get over it) I have been pronouncing it with the 'S' this entire time. The first time I saw it pronounced with a silent 'S' was in a review not too long ago. Then recently I saw in a thread that its supposed to be pronounced with a "Silent 'S' ".


So have I been doing it wrong this entire time? (I had wanted one since I first read about them in 2010, and finally got a 2013)
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Offline KawiMick

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2014, 05:02:48 PM »
Concour is the proper pronunciation.    C14 works better. 

HTH,

Mick
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Offline BackInTheSaddle

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2014, 05:03:29 PM »
Silent S is correct, but we'll talk to anyone about the machine no matter how they say it.  You an also forget the word and call it a GTR like overseas - in my opinion it should be the same here. ;)
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Offline Stephen.G.Fiddes

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2014, 05:05:25 PM »
Silent S is correct, but we'll talk to anyone about the machine no matter how they say it.  You an also forget the word and call it a GTR like overseas - in my opinion it should be the same here. ;)

Ha! That'd be ideal but then people would think I have a Nissan........ Yuck........
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Online maxtog

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2014, 05:24:18 PM »
Ok, dumb question apparently.

Nope, the only stupid question is the one not asked

Quote
Because I'm American, not French (no offense to our French folk, my wife is part French so get over it) I have been pronouncing it with the 'S' this entire time. The first time I saw it pronounced with a silent 'S' was in a review not too long ago. Then recently I saw in a thread that its supposed to be pronounced with a "Silent 'S' ".

It doesn't matter if you are French or not, borrowed French words in English still have a similar sound.   I was just talking to VirginiaJim to see if we could unpollute that other thread to which you are referring and move those postings to a new topic in THIS forum.  Seems you beat us to it... at least half way.

Quote
So have I been doing it wrong this entire time?

Yes.

The "s" is and always has been silent.  Of course, nobody will flog you for saying it incorrectly (at least I hope not).  As you probably noticed from the other thread, quite a few people have been saying it incorrectly and many probably will continue to do so, regardless.  The earth will continue to rotate...

This is a summary of the info I posted from the other thread, so hopefully all that stuff can just be removed there and kept here, instead.

The word "Concours" is well known in vehicles/racing/contests and is of French decent (French root: "a public contest or competition") and as such, the "s" is not pronounced.  The correct way to say it is kawn-koor (or perhaps more Americanized as khan-kour with stress on the first syllable).  Kawasaki didn't invent the word, so it is not a private proper noun with proprietary pronunciation.

The word can be examined here:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concours%20d%27elegance
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/pronounce/american_english/concours
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/concours
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/concours

Pronouncing the "s" would actually result in a totally different word, the word "concourse", which is "is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space."

If you still don't believe history, dictionaries, tradition, and other language rules, then just go by the only three official, Kawasaki-produced videos where the word Concours is uttered:

2010 Kawasaki Concours™ 14 - Official Preview
Kawasaki Concours14 2008
2008 Kawasaki Concours14 Movie
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Offline ZG

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2014, 05:24:57 PM »
I say concours.  :) 


Anyone that calls it a concour is an idiot and wears an ascot and has a silk hanky folded into a triangle in their chest pocket...  :)


Better yet, just call it a ZG.  ;) ;D :chugbeer:

Offline gPink

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2014, 05:54:06 PM »
How do you know the earth will rotate?

Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2014, 06:18:33 PM »
How do you know it won't?
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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2014, 06:21:38 PM »
I say concours.  :) 


Anyone that calls it a concour is an idiot and wears an ascot and has a silk hanky folded into a triangle in their chest pocket...  :)


Better yet, just call it a ZG.  ;) ;D :chugbeer:

I don't know if I would go that far, Jay.  That's painting a broad swath with your brush.  I don't know of anyone here that fits into that category that pronounces it 'Concour'.  I happen to know some of those individuals and they neither wear an ascot nor have the folded silky hanky in their chest pocket.  I usually use C14 but when I do mention Concours, I pronounce it 'Concourse' of course.  Unless, of course, it's a GTR.
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Offline gPink

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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2014, 06:33:39 PM »
 :banghead:
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Offline Cuda

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2014, 06:42:01 PM »
I've always called it a ZG 14
I tell people it's the OLD man's version of a ZX 14
Max do you Iron your underwear?
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Offline Gsun

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #12 on: February 11, 2014, 06:51:14 PM »
Call it whatever you want, but Max is correct. He is into linguistics and that may be boring or uptight to some (won't mention Jay's name) but what turns one's crank may not turn another's. Get over it.

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2014, 07:02:46 PM »
A HUGE FWIW, I/we spent money on this awesome bike!!!  If I say it with an s at the end I bet it will be understood what I am referring to.  If I say it with a silent s I will get the same reaction.  If there was only one universal language around the world I could see a cause for great consternation, but, alas, that just aint so.  Get over it, say it how you want, and move on.

Let's have a discussion on You all, or Y'all and leave this great bike alone.

Offline gPink

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2014, 07:22:27 PM »
I thought you'ns sold that great bike.  :-\

Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #15 on: February 11, 2014, 07:35:03 PM »
Indeed.
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Offline B.D.F.

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #16 on: February 11, 2014, 07:37:05 PM »
[ puts popcorns emoticon here ]

 :rotflmao:

Brian

I thought you'ns sold that great bike.  :-\
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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #17 on: February 11, 2014, 07:43:21 PM »
The next great battle for world domination pits the ones that say 'Concour' vs the ones that say 'Concourse'.  The ones that say 'Ni' are not amused at this development however I'm sure we'll all get along eventually.

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Offline B.D.F.

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #18 on: February 11, 2014, 07:52:07 PM »
Just as a matter of opinion: I believe correctly it is pronounced Concour but we tend to 'fix' it by anglicizing it so we pronounce the 's'.  We borrow words from other languages but tend to 'English' them up by pronouncing them differently. After a while, that is accepted as one of the pronunciations.

I think everyone does it in his / her native language and eventually the butchery becomes OK. Certainly the Germans do not pronounce Volkswagen as we (Native English speaking Americans specifically) do but I do not know that out way is incorrect, just the anglicized version of the identical word.

So if enough of us pronounce it incorrectly, for long enough and hard enough (easy boys!), maybe Concourseouse's will become an alternate pronunciation / spieling of that name?

Now let's discuss the correct way to pronounce Neanderthal!

Brian

Ok, dumb question apparently.

Because I'm American, not French (no offense to our French folk, my wife is part French so get over it) I have been pronouncing it with the 'S' this entire time. The first time I saw it pronounced with a silent 'S' was in a review not too long ago. Then recently I saw in a thread that its supposed to be pronounced with a "Silent 'S' ".


So have I been doing it wrong this entire time? (I had wanted one since I first read about them in 2010, and finally got a 2013)
Homo Sapiens Sapiens and just a tad of Neanderthal but it usually does not show....  My Private mail is blocked; it is not you, it is me, just like that dating partner said all those years ago. Please send an e-mail if you want to contact me privately.

KiPass keeping you up at night? Fuel gauge warning burning your retinas? Get unlimited peace and harmony here: www.incontrolne.com

Offline ZG

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Re: 'Concours' or 'Concour'
« Reply #19 on: February 11, 2014, 08:32:16 PM »
Porsche....


Porsh or Porsha?  ??? :-\