# How is the name of the Bombardier company pronounced? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414 "2009-03-31T12:39:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/41 "2011-07-09T03:24:45Z")
Oh, well I’ll grant that is different! I won’t tell your family members how to pronounce their own names, in much the same way that I “insist” people pronounce the company and related family name correctly, or at least accept the GQ factual answer for it 😉 Going by what they themselves use is just the polite thing to do! As a mildly related aside, the other day I was ordering something online on behalf of my dad, and when I asked him what the cardholder name was on the credit card he wanted to use he said his first and last names and then _proceeded to spell the last name._ Granted, our name is often mispronounced and misspelled, but I assured him that I knew how to spell my own last name thankyouverymuch. He spent the next several minutes laughing hysterically. “I just told my own daughter how to spell my name!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/42 "2011-07-09T05:02:28Z")
We pronounced it bomba-deeyer when I was growing up. ---
**Author:** ![seth1066](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@seth1066](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seth1066)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/43 "2013-01-14T19:33:45Z")
I remember years ago while working for a dealer in exotic automobiles, there was this person who insisted on pronouncing “Lamborghini” with a soft “g,” (Lambor-gee-ni) claiming there was no “hard g” in Italian. My retort was that proper nouns, particularly family names, don’t necessarily follow the exact language rules of the land. To resolve the Bombardier question, I called the company’s US office in Dallas and the phone was answered, "Bom-bar-dee-yay. I asked if it was pronounced differently at the Canadian office and was told that that version had a slightly different enunciation. She spoke both versions and I couldn’t really tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![sidecar\_jon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@sidecar\_jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidecar_jon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/44 "2013-01-14T19:54:11Z")
I heard a BBC news reporter pronouncing it as “Bombahdeeyay” The BBC has a department for proper pronunciation of words… still sounds wrong though. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/45 "2013-01-14T20:45:31Z")
> [@sidecar\_jon](#): > > I heard a BBC news reporter pronouncing it as “Bombahdeeyay” The BBC has a department for proper pronunciation of words… still sounds wrong though. zombie or no the BBC that i listen to has pronunciation gone all to hell. younger people with no strong British accent but annunciation and diction is poor. things like names of shows or people’s names said way too fast for those unfamiliar with them. vowels are non-distinct and words slurred. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/46 "2013-01-14T23:26:41Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Having worked at Bombardier Aerospace and having family members who know Laurent and Pierre Beaudoin, I can attest that, internally at least, the name is pronounced as J.A. Bombardier’s family pronounces it. > (…) > Bon-bahr-dy’eh (with a nearly silent n and the Canadien eh sound at the end) is close to how it is prononuced in French, while (…) And let’s not forget the _affrication_ whereby it’s actually pronounced Bon-bahr-dzy’eh (notice the Z) by everybody except PR people and journalists. (And Pelletier is usually pronounced “Pell-tsy-ay”, even in Trois-Rivières.) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/47 "2013-01-14T23:49:13Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Is it “Bom-bar-deer” (like the guy in WWII bombers whose job it was to, well, release the bombs over the target) … Whenever I see or hear the word (or come across the name of the company) I think of the searing absurdity/horror that opens the film _Catch-22._ [Clip here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eFgBEeqhq0&feature=youtube_gdata_player). The movies first dialogue begins at 6:20. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/48 "2013-01-15T04:42:25Z")
I remember it well. The movie keeps returning to that scene, playing a little more of it each time until the final reveal. Made a big impression on me when I saw it. I’ve never associated it with the SkiDoo company, though, maybe because I pronounce the company name with the French pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/49 "2013-01-15T04:49:11Z")
You’re right. I forgot it was _the_ leitmotif of the movie. I telescoped the horror. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/50 "2013-01-15T05:52:28Z")
Okay, how do you pronounce _leitmotif_? 😉 (_Once Upon A Time In The West_ uses the same technique to great effect as well.) [/derail] ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/51 "2013-01-15T12:19:33Z")
> [@seth1066](#): > > I remember years ago while working for a dealer in exotic automobiles, there was this person who insisted on pronouncing “Lamborghini” with a soft “g,” (Lambor-gee-ni) claiming there was no “hard g” in Italian. My retort was that proper nouns, particularly family names, don’t necessarily follow the exact language rules of the land. There are hard (back) and soft (central and front) vowel sounds (back, central and front relates to the position of the tongue). Some consonants are pronounced hard or soft depending on what vowel it precedes. In Italian the letter “h” has no value in itself, but it is used to indicate that “c” and “g” are to be pronounced hard even if it is followed by a soft vowel. Thus “Lamborghini” has a hard “g”. Had it had a soft “g” it would have been spelled “Lamborgini”. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/52 "2013-01-15T12:58:03Z")
> [@seth1066](#): > > I remember years ago while working for a dealer in exotic automobiles, there was this person who insisted on pronouncing “Lamborghini” with a soft “g,” (Lambor-gee-ni) claiming there was no “hard g” in Italian. My retort was that proper nouns, particularly family names, don’t necessarily follow the exact language rules of the land. > > To resolve the Bombardier question, I called the company’s US office in Dallas and the phone was answered, "Bom-bar-dee-yay. I asked if it was pronounced differently at the Canadian office and was told that that version had a slightly different enunciation. She spoke both versions and I couldn’t really tell the difference. The nitwit probably mispronounces Ghirardelli too, Tell them that “gh” represents a hard g in Italian. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/53 "2013-01-15T14:36:59Z")
What’s the received pronounciation, in English, for the file type GIF? I used to say hard “g,” I recently heard soft “G,”–which sounds silly, like Jiffy Pop–and now I don’t say it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414/54 "2013-01-15T14:43:08Z")
Apparently booth, but as it’s derived from "graphics’ I suppose a hard ‘g’ would be recommended. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-name-of-the-bombardier-company-pronounced/491414.md?page=2)