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Winegar's Penn Boys is one of my favorite dance bands on Edison DD. I was always confused about how to pronounce "Winegar's". Is it pronounced "wine-gars", or "win-a-gars", or "vin-a-gars"? I've never heard anyone say this dance band's name! Any ideas?

Here is a sample of their music on Edison DD: Shaking the Blues Away!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqpbidk7kBM

There is a song that is a waltz song called "Down by the Winegar Woiks" In the song, it is pronounced "win-a-gar". Is this another word for vinegar and is the Winegar Woiks another name for Vinegar Works? Is a Vinegar Works a factory that makes vinegar?

marcapra wrote:There is a song that is a waltz song called "Down by the Winegar Woiks" In the song, it is pronounced "win-a-gar". Is this another word for vinegar and is the Winegar Woiks another name for Vinegar Works? Is a Vinegar Works a factory that makes vinegar?

Yes, the Vinegar Works is a factory that made vinegar. The slang language used in the song were typical pronunciations of common words distorted by a New York dialect, which was probably a mixture of ethnic interpretations...

Vinegar (in the US) is pronounced with a V, not a W... European pronunciation of a W sounds like a V, as in, BMW is pronounced BM-V in Germany...

The Heinz Co. (57 Varieties) is the Winegar Woiks in Pittsburgh

So, I guess the band Winegar's Penn Boys is a play on the Winegar Woiks song, or it may refer to the Heinz Co. in Pittsburg?

Being Pennsylvania Dutch, I would say Vinegar, pronouncing the W like a V.

"So, I guess the band Winegar's Penn Boys is a play on the Winegar Woiks song, or it may refer to the Heinz Co. in Pittsburg?"

No, the band's named for its leader, Frank Winegar.

http://www.jazzoracle.com/catalogue/BDW_8040.asp

I have the CD, but not to hand, and I don't recall if the liner notes go into the pronunciation of Frank Winegar's surname.

Best wishes, Mark

I guess you can pronounce it any way you want... I don't think that Winegar will mind.

The one that really bothers me is the pronunciation of Berliner that a guy in NC uses. He pronounces it Ber-line-er, which drives me crazy. He has all of his minions doing the same and I have tried to explain to him that it is a German word referring to someone from Berlin, which he just can't understand... He also pronounces Mignonette as Mig-non-ette, so I guess if he orders a steak, he orders a fill-et mig-non... It's like fingernails on a blackboard (wait, do they still have blackboards?)...

yes, that's pretty bad, Ber-line-er! Once I was talking to some German women years ago. One was a Berliner, one was a Hamburger, and one from Austria was a Weiner (pronounced veen-er), which is someone from Wein (pronounced veen, not vine, which is German for wine). Wein in English is usually pronounced Vienna. I was once waiting for my car at the shop and I was asking how to pronounce Vienna in German. I said I think it's pronounced (vine) and someone from Vienna is a (viner). There was an older man sitting across from me who corrected me. No, he said, you are saying the German word for wine! Vienna is pronounced (veen) Wein, and someone from Vienna is a (veener) or Weiner. He said in his youth in the 40s, he was a Vienna Choir Boy, so I guess he knows what he is talking about. Be sure to tell your ignorant friend that it is not a Cygnet (sig-net) horn, but a (sin-yay)! But different countries have different ways of pronouncing foreign words. The English poet Lord Byron wrote a long, narrative poem called Don Juan. In English, it is actually pronounced (don jew-an). And in France, the the soldier in Bizet's opera Carmen, is called Don Jose (pronounced jo-say).

marcapra wrote:yes, that's pretty bad, Ber-line-er! Once I was talking to some German women years ago. One was a Berliner, one was a Hamburger, and one from Austria was a Weiner (pronounced veen-er), which is someone from Wein (pronounced veen, not vine, which is German for wine). Wein in English is usually pronounced Vienna. I was once waiting for my car at the shop and I was asking how to pronounce Vienna in German. I said I think it's pronounced (vine) and someone from Vienna is a (viner). There was an older man sitting across from me who corrected me. No, he said, you are saying the German word for wine! Vienna is pronounced (veen) Wein, and someone from Vienna is a (veener) or Weiner. He said in his youth in the 40s, he was a Vienna Choir Boy, so I guess he knows what he is talking about. Be sure to tell your ignorant friend that it is not a Cygnet (sig-net) horn, but a (sin-yay)! But different countries have different ways of pronouncing foreign words. The English poet Lord Byron wrote a long, narrative poem called Don Juan. In English, it is actually pronounced (don jew-an). And in France, the the soldier in Bizet's opera Carmen, is called Don Jose (pronounced jo-say).

Not to be too picky, but Wein ("vine") is wine, Wien ("veen")is Vienna. An English speaker pronouncing ie/ei in German words need only remember to pronounce the name of the second letter of the pair.