# How Do You Pronounce Przybysz? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131 "2008-04-13T05:04:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/21 "2008-04-14T17:25:10Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] In the army that person would be known as Alphabet. [/QUOTE] I had a guy with a name like that in my unit. He had to get special nametags to fit all the letters in the alloted space. It was always entertaining to see a new NCO attempt to address him. They would stand there, staring at his nametag, while the gears in the language center of their brain made grinding noises. We kidded him by telling people that his family was too poor to afford any vowels. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/22 "2008-04-14T18:24:28Z")
I can’t find it on the \*Onion \* Archives Search page, but during the Clinton administration, they ran an article in which the UN was airlifting vowels and dropping them into the Balkans, intending them for cities and people just like those referenced above. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/23 "2008-04-14T21:21:45Z")
“Throatwarbler-Mangrove” [sub]22 posts, and y’all ignore te obvious joke? You people are slipping! :D[/sub] Robin ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/24 "2008-04-14T21:23:51Z")
[QUOTE=MsRobyn] “Throatwarbler-Mangrove” [sub]22 posts, and y’all ignore te obvious joke? You people are slipping! :D[/sub] Robin [/QUOTE] Post #9. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/25 "2008-04-14T22:43:41Z")
Isn’t this GQ? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/26 "2008-04-15T01:10:28Z")
[QUOTE=MsRobyn] “Throatwarbler-Mangrove” [sub]22 posts, and y’all ignore te obvious joke? You people are slipping! :D[/sub] Robin [/QUOTE] Nice to know I’m on your “ignore” list. 😛 \ ---
**Author:** ![Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bag_of_mostly_water/32/1029_2.png) [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/27 "2008-04-15T01:42:35Z")
[QUOTE=CC] I can’t find it on the \*Onion \* Archives Search page, but during the Clinton administration, they ran an article in which the UN was airlifting vowels and dropping them into the Balkans, intending them for cities and people just like those referenced above. [/QUOTE] I think you’re referring to a Dave Barry article on the Balkan Vowel Drop. I can’t seem to find a copy on line, but there are references to it. Google “Dave Barry Vowel Drop.” ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/28 "2008-04-15T01:54:47Z")
Nope, I’m remembering an Onion article. Probably before they had an on line presence, as they say. I’ll keep looking. xo, C. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/29 "2008-04-15T02:22:52Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Nice to know I’m on your “ignore” list. 😛 \ [/QUOTE] I was so busy thinking of the joke, I missed your post. ::throws herself on a sword:: Robin ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/30 "2008-04-15T02:58:28Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] News reports never did get the hang of John Paul II’s real name, Karol Woytyla. [/QUOTE] Wo_ **j** _ty_ **ł** _a 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/31 "2008-04-15T03:12:29Z")
I used to know, slightly, a guy whose last name was Przybyszewski. Pronounced “SHOO-ber-SHEV-skee.” Don’t know if that’s typical. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/32 "2008-04-15T16:05:19Z")
[QUOTE=VernWinterbottom] In my town, the Sealer of Weights and Measures/Petroleum Inspector is named Przybyszewski. (His name appears on stickers on all of our gas pumps.) [/QUOTE] [hijack] Our guy’s name is Charles Bronson!! 🆒 [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/33 "2008-04-15T17:17:00Z")
[QUOTE=CC] Nope, I’m remembering an Onion article. Probably before they had an on line presence, as they say. I’ll keep looking. xo, C. [/QUOTE] I remember the Onion one. [Here’s a copy of it.](http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/pearly/htmls/onion-vowels.html) ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/34 "2008-04-15T17:59:08Z")
Beautiful! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/35 "2008-04-15T18:27:28Z")
[QUOTE=Flander] [hijack] Our guy’s name is Charles Bronson!! 🆒 [/hijack] [/QUOTE] Yeah, that’s amusing to me, because I just can’t imagine committing some minor infraction in commerce and having Charles Bronson come after me! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/36 "2008-04-15T18:46:42Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] [Potrzebie.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potrzebie) [/QUOTE] Wow! Not to hijack but after 40 years I now know how to pronounce that word. MAD lives! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/37 "2008-04-15T20:42:56Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] One name I always stumble with is the German “Koch.” I know how it’s pronounced in German (kinda like “loch”), but here, it can be “Coke,” “Kotch,” “Cook,” “Cock,” and who knows what else. [/QUOTE] I know someone who pronounce her surname Koch “Kah”. That seemed like a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/38 "2008-04-15T23:04:48Z")
[QUOTE=jackelope] I used to know, slightly, a guy whose last name was Przybyszewski. Pronounced “SHOO-ber-SHEV-skee.” Don’t know if that’s typical. [/QUOTE] We had an exchange student who pronounced it “zja-BEET-zki”–at least that’s what it sounded like to my earnest-but-thoroughly-American ears. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/39 "2008-04-16T00:02:13Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] We had an exchange student who pronounced it “zja-BEET-zki”–at least that’s what it sounded like to my earnest-but-thoroughly-American ears. [/QUOTE] Hmm. You sure his name was Przybyszewski? Because I can’t see any way that name (pronounced approximately “pshih-bih-SHEF-ski” in Polish) becomes “zja-BEET-zki.” That name would be spelled something like “Zdziabitski” in Polish (going by your phonetic rendition), but there’s no such last name, to my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131/40 "2008-04-16T00:08:25Z")
At school, she was Ms. Shibbish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-przybysz/445131.md?page=3)