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Pronouncing Knipex

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Jack Olsen

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So, after thinking it was like NIPE-ex, and then hearing NIP-ex, my Googling has pointed me to it being pronounced KIN-ih-pex. (Like Cinemax, but with a hard 'K' at the beginning and a 'mex' at the end.)

Is this right?

I'm guessing it's in the same vein as kinematic Click here to hear what I mean. But with a 'pex' instead of 'matic.'

So, now that I've bought a few examples of these newfangled European tools... is there anything strange about the pronunciations of Wiha, Wera or PB Swiss? :confused:
 
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Monte

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<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/22O4u5w4q_A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


don´t make the germans angry :D
 
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Trucky

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They say KEH-NEH-PEX

But I'll say NIPE-EX til I die. It's just how I say it.
 
OP
J

Jack Olsen

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Monte said:
<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/22O4u5w4q_A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


don´t make the germans angry :D
Click to expand...


I know. But that guy keeps changing back to his old pronunciation in the video.

This video (which I just found) has it as kih-NIP-ex.

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hKa5Ia-0-Yw?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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SMKS

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Monte said:
<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/22O4u5w4q_A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


don´t make the germans angry :D
Click to expand...

He says kuh-NIP-ex in the beginning, but then through the rest of the video he says NIP-ex.

It has been and will always be NIP-ex to me.
 
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Greatbear

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My understanding (very little of it, actually) of German pronunciation of names like this is you pronounce the "k" sound briefly and the accent in the beginning. "Knipex" would sort of sound like "conniption" (or will raise one if it's pronounced wrong!). ki-NIP-ex.
 
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Joe B.

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stephen9666 said:
He says kuh-NIP-ex in the beginning, but then through the rest of the video he says NIP-ex.

It has been and will always be NIP-ex to me.
Click to expand...

I just called their US office and listened for the voicemail outgoing message. (I called off hours)

It sounded like Kuh-nip-ex to me. A light emphasis on the K but not the uh.

I always thought it was just NIP-ex. I have never heard it called anything else.
 
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jesko10

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Call this number: +49 (0)2 02 / 47 94 - 0

This is their headquarter. They pronounce it right. I think it is hard for somebody who speaks english, to pronounce the K. Like for us the TH
 
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Trucky

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jesko10 said:
Its wee ha. the w in wee like in vibration and than the ee and the ha without the w. Like in harbour. WIHA. Simple.

Do you know how strange it was for me learning to pronounce the word comfortable?
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So vee-ha? Like the V in veal, and ha with nothing with it? Sounds about right, but I still say "wee-haw" in my head :lol_hitti

As for saying comfortable, probably about as hard as it was for me to say the word "lorsque" in french class.
 
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Bolster

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I think it depends on whom, at the dinner party, you are trying to impress.

Red necks? NIPE-ex, and run your fingers through your mullet.
Germans? kuh-NEE-pechhhs (with some phlegm), and stamp your foot.
French? kun-waaahz, with your pinky out.
 
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franzdom

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I always thought it was NIPE-ex also but my wife pronounced it correctly her very first time. I asked her after I saw this thread. German is her native language.
 
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Boost Creep

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jesko10 said:
sure, we do. In German it is Knie, pronounced Knee.

You also say Kindergarden and not indergarden.
Click to expand...

the N isn't right after the K in kindergarden to make it silent.

to each their own. you can say it how you want and i'll say it how i want
 
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obsessive

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Bolster said:
Red necks? NIPE-ex, and run your fingers through your mullet.
Germans? kuh-NEE-pechhhs (with some phlegm), and stamp your foot.
French? kun-waaahz, with your pinky out.
Click to expand...

:lol_hitti :lol_hitti :lol_hitti :lol_hitti

Thanks, I needed that this morning. :beer:
 
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Coolabah

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Snarp-****, Wuh-Yeeha, Ploom, Kerneepeeks, Blark-Huke, Narthune-Tule, Ker-Charnel-luke, Doo-Woltay, Moh-tibah-san, Knee-Sarn, Chervey, Ferd ( the "O" is silent) ,

It is not rocket science , people :bounce:

When it all becomes too much, I fall back to : hand me the pliers on the left ... yeh, those...with the beer spilled on them....

Darn, just bumped my left kuh-nee:lol_hitti

...
 
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Major Ramifications

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Wow, I learned something new here. I will still call it "nipex", meaning, "My Japanese ex wife."

Did you guys know that Knaack (jobsite storage) pronounces their K as well.

Also, Wiha is short for Willi Hahn, so that one's pretty simple.
 
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clouseau

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well apologies for offending anyone but never mind knipex.... in France we call our premier tool manufacturer " Fack 'em"..... and with the prices they charge and their after sales service that is quite appropriate! ;)
 
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jesko10

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Solid Lifters said:
No, it's pronounced "We-Ha" with no 'v' sound. It actually sounds the way it looks. I know this becaused I asked the president of Wiha USA.

Oh, and knip and knipe are both Dutch and German words for 'cut.'
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I'm sure the guys from Wiha in Germany are delighted to know that their president in the US cannot pronounce the company name correctly. :bounce:

But anyway, we also pronounce american brands differently here. For example Dewalt. It is just because when one gets in touch with something for the first time one normally does not know where that product comes from, so one pronounces the name as one thinks is correct. Nothing wrong with it.
 
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Bolster

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jesko10 said:
I'm sure the guys from Wiha in Germany are delighted to know that their president in the US cannot pronounce the company name correctly. :bounce:
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In 1963 the US president called himself a jelly doughnut in a famous speech to the German people: "Ich bin ein Berliner." So we have a track record, here.

(Yes I'm aware of the fanbois who claim the translation wasn't a gaffe...but that's just a face-saving move. The Germans are still laughing about it.)
 
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jesko10

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Bolster said:
In 1963 the US president called himself a jelly doughnut in a famous speech to the German people: "Ich bin ein Berliner." So we have a track record, here.

(Yes I'm aware of the fanbois who claim the translation wasn't a gaffe...but that's just a face-saving move. The Germans are still laughing about it.)
Click to expand...

This speech is known by everybody in Germany. And nobody laughs about. It was very emotional for the people here. They like JFK.

And everywhere in Germany he would have called himself a jelly doughnut, but not in Berlin.

When I moved to Berlin I went to a bakery, and said to the lady behind the counter: " I would like to have a Berliner"

She looks at me and smiles and said: " Well, me too!"

I didn't get it first until I found out that a Berliner is not a Berliner in Berlin, but a Pfannkuchen.
A Berliner is just a man who lives in Berlin
 
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