For years and years, I always thought that the correct way to pronounce “Knorr” (the soup and other food products company) is with a silent K. I’ve seen numerous TV commercials since I was child where the silent K was used. Then recently, I saw some ads on Canadian TV that pronounced it with the K not silent at all. Kuh-norr. Sounds like uhm… can’t think of a word that has that K sound right now, but kind of like “canuck”?
It bugged me so much that I called their customer line. A few times. Representative 1 said it was silent K. Rep 2 - loud K. Rep 3 - loud K. Rep 4 and 5 - not sure but guesses it is silent.
Did the company change the way their name is pronounced? Do they pronounce it Kuh-norr on Canadian ads cuz they are Kuh-nucks? Ugh, bad joke. But, no offense meant to anyone.
But seriously, how should it be pronounced? What have you heard (been told, read about etc.?) ?
We’ve always pronounced it with a silent K unless we were being smart-alecs. But anything is possible. Local dialects can come up with some strange permutations sometimes.
It’s named after Carl Heinrich Knorr (born 1800 near Braunschweig, Germany) who founded the company in 1838 in Heilbronn, Germany. His name is definitely pronounced with a “K”, at least in German.
Their website list one Carl Heinrich Knorr from Germany as the company’s founder. In German, there is no silent K. I have a hard time describing the pronunciation, but it’s like Corr with an n.
kellner and Fish Cheer: I have come across Carl Heinrich Knorr in my search for the truth but how do locals pronounce Knorr when referring to the brand tho?
It use to be the same with Nestles. When I was growing up in the English Midlands everyone pronounced it Ness-ells. It’s only fairly recently that it has changed to Ness-lay
FWIW, many Germans have problems with English words that have a silent K or (even worse) P, up front. I hear people talking about “P-fizer” almost every day, and the number of mispronunciations for English words like psychiatrist is Legion.
But “Pfizer” is a name of German origin, which is pretty clear from the spelling. I think it would seem odder for a German to pronounce it in a foreign (to them) way just because it’s an American company (well, sort of American, given that it’s the biggest drug company in the world and has bought companies from all over the world.)
The “psychiatrist” thing doesn’t surprise me a ton either, since I’m guessing the P is also pronounced in German. It’s a rare enough word that they probably never covered it in their English classes, you know?
Hmm, I’m not sure about this. Karl Pfizer was born in Germany, but founded the company in the US. So, the name of the company is an American name, and it should be pronounced the American way, should it not?
I do know, because I attended those classes myself. You guessed right, in the German word “Psychiater” the P is pronounced. Still, it’s wrong to pronounce it in English. I did not intend to slur English-speaking Germans, I only tried to point out that mispronunciation goes both ways.
I have always pronounced it with a hard ‘k’, but I grew up in a Polish family and spent many years in Europe, so perhaps that’s influencing my pronunciation. There really is no vowel between the “k” and the “n.” If there is, it’s barely perceptible–the word should sound like it has one syllable.
I guess I don’t see why it “should” be pronounced any certain way. Since no two languages have the same phonology, any word gets butchered some when pronounced by outsiders - it’s only a matter of degree. And in this case, there’s a native German pronunciation that seems like the logical way for Germans to pronounce it, rather than trying to imitate American pronunciation. And this isn’t an exactly precise comparison, but I speak Spanish, but when I mention the country “Mexico” while speaking English, I pronounce it /'mEk sI kou/, not /'me xi ko/, even though the latter is the pronunciation in Spanish, and even though I can say it quite easily.
I went to high school with a guy whose last name was Knorr, with the K pronounced. I’ve also been to Knoebel’s Amusement Park, whose radio ads actually said “K’parking, K’free!” and some other such nonsense. Nice park. No admission fee. If you’re ever in PA, you should find an excuse to spend the day there.
As far back as I can remember the Canadian ads have used the K sound. I’ve never in my life heard it pronounced without the K. It’s not as this is some new change.
Why would they have two sets of ads? It’s like Nutella all over again!
I used to carefully pronounce it “nor” when I was younger. After all, no one says “kuh-nife.” But when I lived in Germany I quickly found out it really is “kuh-nor.” This has provided me with years of silly amusement with friends in grocery stores who get pedantic and correct my pronunciation.
