How do you say Nikon

[Daniel 78d]

I know it's another brand and probably a dead horse but I watched a thing on tv from the 70's and they were saying it like Ny-kon the way they say it now in the US but in Japan it's pronounced like Nee-kon. What do think about this little problem I have since I say the latter.

 

[9VIII]

I'll take either of those over the slang "Nik'n" (where the "Nik" rhymes with "lick").

 

[mjbehnke]

I think it's pronounced So-knee-kon.

That's just a guess.

 

[ejenner]

I don't use the N-word and I don't like people around me using it either.

 

[scottkinfw]

That is politically correct.

I don't use the N-word and I don't like people around me using it either.

 

[Daniel 78d]

I don't use the N-word and I don't like people around me using it either.

I guess I should have started the topic with something like "How do you say N#@%" ;D

 

[Omni Images]

it's Nik-on ... not Nyk-on
Mick ... Mike
Lick, Like .. there is no E in Nikon ... as in Nikeon

 

[Steve]

Real Americans know that Nikon rhymes with icon.

 

[Jim Saunders]

Real Americans know that Nikon rhymes with icon.

My other answer - had you not got to this one first - would have been "only under duress."

Jim

 

[pwp]

Real Americans know that Nikon rhymes with icon.

That may be so, but elsewhere on this nice, diverse blue planet, some say Knee-con, some say Nick-on, some say po-tayto and some say po-tarto, some say toe-mayto and some say toe-marto.

As a slight digression, in the late 1800's George Eastman knew he was on a winner with his inexpensive box camera which subsequently sold it's socks off and made George an absolute fortune. He wanted a name for his camera and film that could be easily pronounced in any language on the planet. The word Kodak is an invention.

In 1884, Eastman patented the first film in roll form to prove viable; he had been tinkering at home to develop it. In 1888, he perfected the Kodak camera, the first camera designed specifically for roll film. In 1892, he established the Eastman Kodak Company, in Rochester, New York. It was one of the first firms to mass-produce standardized photography equipment. The company also manufactured the flexible transparent film, devised by Eastman in 1889, which proved vital to the subsequent development of the motion picture industry.

So thanks George!

-pw

 

[sagittariansrock]

You don't 8)

 

[Daniel 78d]

I wonder if any American solders got beat up in World War II for asking what sour kraut tasted like?

 

[Sporgon]

If you were to pronounce Nikon as an English word it is 'Ny con' because the i is followed by a single k. The i is pronounced soft (long). However the Nikkor lenses have a double k so the i is pronounced hard (short).

 

[Daniel 78d]

If you were to pronounce Nikon as an English word it is 'Ny con' because the i is followed by a single k. The i is pronounced soft (long). However the Nikkor lenses have a double k so the i is pronounced hard (short).

I loved language arts in school and I think your right. That actually makes sense, here I thought Nikon USA was just trying to sound big

 

[ULFULFSEN]

Nikon is not an english company and sure not an American company.... so i prefer to pronounce it like the japanese do.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Nikon.ogg

further doubts?
this is nikon's official 90th anniversary commemorative video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFUcOrs5LrM

 

[Hillsilly]

I use "Nick-on" (which seems confirmed in the video). But I do notice a lot of people saying "N-icon".

 

[Sporgon]

Pronunciation of some words in the English language is a strange thing. I mentioned Nikon and Nikkor before but there is also the pronunciation of 'Canon'. Cannon ( things that go boom) is pronounced with a hard (short) 'a' due to the double n, so really Canon should be pronounced with a soft a, like 'Kay non', but it is not, and neither is a church order of canon, which is still pronounced with a hard 'a'.

You can see where Noah Webster was coming from when he tried to change the written English word to be written as it sounded. He pretty much failed, but to this day this is still why the Americans can't spell words like 'rumour'

 

[infared]

I say Potatoe.

 

[infared]

:

You don't 8)

LOL! That made my morning!

 

[Phenix205]

We Americans tend to pronounce the foreign words based on what we think sounds right without being too bothered by how they are pronounced in the native language. So we say it as in icon. It makes it sound more American English, which is smoother and more relaxing than any other English in the world. No offense to our UK or Aussie friends here. Totally personal opinion.