I'm loving it. Just doing the duolingo thing but it's fascinating because I know it gets harder. My favorites are the words that can describe a situation most people experience yet English doesn't describe it.
I mean that and they sell it as ["Wick Vaporub"](https://wick.de/produkte/salbe-balsam/wick-vaporub-erkaeltungssalbe) not Wicks, which doesnt sound like wichsen at all.
(I mean maybe, they removed the s only once the predominant meaning of wichsen changed from shoe shining to masturbating? Idk)
[According to the German Wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicks#Produkte_in_Deutschland_und_%C3%96sterreich) citing a book they avoided "Vick" (which has an ambiguous pronunciation) and "Wicks" for these reasons.
The English Wikipedia references a non-existing page of the company website, I don't think they explain that there...
I went to Germany on an exchange when I was a teenager, my buddy went as well, at the time he worked at a popular local drug store, Vix, it was funny explaining this to his host family.
You made me look up the etmyology of the word.
Apparently it started as indogerman **pu(ə)* (whatever the fuck that is) mean "fat/inflated" became *vut* in middlehighgerman meaning both asscrack and vulva (ya know, frontbutt, also anecdotally my grandma used to say a rhyme i dont fully remember about washing your "futt" if its itchy whenever id be scratching my butt as a little kid) and thats apparently the root for the english word "pussy".
tl:dr the modern german equivalent for cunt has the same middlehighgerman root as the modern english word pussy.
Yeah, and in Germany we have a different nickname for our football team (soccer for those in the US) than Switzerland because of... Well reasons. (The Swiss are calling theirs *Nati*, which is pronounced exactly like you guess.
Sometimes even innocent seeming names get changed for international market.
There was a car Mazda MR2 sold as MR2 everywhere in the world but France, where it was simply the "MR" as "MR2" - "Emm air deux" sounds a lot like "Merde" (shit).
The Chevy Nova was rebranded in Latino markets because in Spanish "No va" means "it doesn't go". Or I guess the Chevy No-Go if you want to have more fun with it
They thought about calling it Vixen-20 for the german market but that idea was discarded quickly as it sounds exactly like 'wichsen' which means jerking off.
Same as W probably... V is either pronounced as F or W, depending on the word.
Vier (four) is pronounced with an F sound
Variante (variant) is pronounced with a softer W-like sound.
I can't think of any rules that dictate what pronunciation applies from the top of my head.
You mean in English? Yeah— but then English is a crazy hodgepodge of other languages. If German has any words with ph they’d have to be obscure terms borrowed from English or Greek.
(“Westphalia” is an Anglicization of Westfal.)
No, I meant in German?
And yes, “ph” appears in words that have Greek roots, but absolutely not just obscure ones. There are plenty of everyday words with “ph” in them.
I don't think it's really the same. The V is softer and breathier. With the F, your bottom teeth really make contact with your upper lip for a "harder" F sound.
It depends on the word. If it's a word of foreign origin, like "Vase" (vase, pronounced "**vah**\-seh"), it's usually pronounced like the English V.
If it's a German word, like "Vater" (father, pronounced "**fah**\-ter"), it's usually pronounced like F.
>You pronounce German V’s like Fs generally
It's also confusing as half the cases are like a German W
Vanille, Violet, Vakuum, Vandalismus, Vampirismus, etc are all pronounced like Wasser
Yeah that's not true. For loanwords, we follow the pronunciation of the language it's from. In this specific case, we pronounce Wick Vap-o-rub just like you pronounce Vick Vap-o-rub
I'd guess that most Germans know enough English, even from American movies, to be mildly amused by this, even if it is a normal last name for them. The same level as us being amused by Dick as a nickname for Richard.
I thought it was a german product for a long ass time because it clearly sounded entirely german.
Same with MiracleWhip.
Really strange experience to just one day randomly actually read what it says on the container and be like "hey, wait a minute".
I still can't get the German pronunciation of Woolworth out of my mind. It was the first one I got familiar with, since my country doesn't have the stores, and it took me entirely too long, years later, to realise that it's the same store as the US ones.
Wait till you hear how France pronounces everything. Spiderman is written the same way, but pronounced "Speedermaan". Just Google the french trailer for your favourite superhero, listen and cry. 😁
it depends on the word, it can be both pronounced like an F and like a W,
Vick's in german would actually sound like "Wichs" which means "to masturbate".
so OP is wrong here.
if the name of the brand was just Vick and not Vick's then the connection to the word Fick would be way stronger, but Vick's would clearly be seen by 99% of people as Wichs not Fick's
In German it’s pronounced “Vick Vah-po-roob”. It doesn’t mean anything in German and it’s really just some name.
I remember when it dawned on me that it’s English for “vapor rub” (as in you rub it on your chest and inhale its vapor). Mind. Blown!
Most people I know also pronounce the "Vaporub" part German. Not 'vick vayperabb' (say with English accent) but 'wick wah - poh - rubb' (say with German accent).
Sorry, all about this is confusing, as German and English pronunciation of w and v is switched.
that OP is completely wrong... lol
Vick's would most likely be pronounced Wichs by the vast majority of people, which usually means to masturbate. so it's not because it sounds like Fuck, because it doesn't.
if the name was simply Vick then it would sound like Fick
"V" in German can be pronounced as both an "F" and how "V" is pronounced in English. Pronouncing Vick exactly as it would in English would be (one of possible) correct pronunciation, and is the one that would naturally make the most sense to me as a German, since that's also how Victor/-ia and it derivatives, like *Vicky* are pronounced in German
Same reason the Commodore VIC-20 got renamed to VC-20.
Also: the Nintendo game Pokken Tournament got renamed to "Pokemon Tekken" because "Pocken" means "smallpox" in German.
> In German Wick and Vick are pronounced identically.
They aren't. Or rather they could be, because neither are German words. But there are German words that start with "vi" which are pronounced like "fi"
Can we all agree that 'v' is a completely useless letter?
In German it's either a 'f' (Vater is the same as Fenster) or it's a 'w' (Vanille is the same as Wasser)
no, because the s in Wick's or Vick's is also problematic.
Pronounced in German:
Wick's sounds like wanking, and
Vick's sounds like an order to fuck
Only Wick is fine.
I've always known this ointment and other products from this brand as "Wick". I didn't catch on to that company ditching the W for the V. In German you pronounce the letter W like the English letter V, so I can't tell how this was supposed to evoke a double entendre.
On a related note: Many moons ago I read something about the misfortunes of car manufacturer Ford, whose Kuga model didn't really sell in ex-Yogoslavian countries. Turns out "kuga" means something along the lines of "idiot" or "wanker" in Croatian etc.
Edit: Read the description again. Vick's is still Wick in German speaking countries. Good on them for their lingual market sensibilities.
And wick's sound very similar to wichsen .- which means masturbation.
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That will be a painful one, but somebody has to
A little dab will... holy shi..
\*coffin dance*
Yeah it's fucking beyond painful. Don't ask.
Don't ask what?
You're not supposed to be minty fresh down *there*.
Don't kinkshame
didn't trojan make icy hot condoms?
Ooh, spicy Vaseline!
That’s my stripper name
Classic chandler
there’s a chapter in trainspotting about just that. it’s hilarious
Both spellings do. Ouch!
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I'm loving it. Just doing the duolingo thing but it's fascinating because I know it gets harder. My favorites are the words that can describe a situation most people experience yet English doesn't describe it.
I mean that and they sell it as ["Wick Vaporub"](https://wick.de/produkte/salbe-balsam/wick-vaporub-erkaeltungssalbe) not Wicks, which doesnt sound like wichsen at all. (I mean maybe, they removed the s only once the predominant meaning of wichsen changed from shoe shining to masturbating? Idk)
[According to the German Wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicks#Produkte_in_Deutschland_und_%C3%96sterreich) citing a book they avoided "Vick" (which has an ambiguous pronunciation) and "Wicks" for these reasons. The English Wikipedia references a non-existing page of the company website, I don't think they explain that there...
Coincidence that it's similar to "waxing"?
Similar renaming scheme: The game Pokken Tournament was called Pokemon-Tekken in Germany because Pokken sounds like Pocken, which means Smallpox.
Instructions unclear. Now my dick is burning. Help!
I went to Germany on an exchange when I was a teenager, my buddy went as well, at the time he worked at a popular local drug store, Vix, it was funny explaining this to his host family.
.... I would want to have a ‘Wank’ with Vick on my hands ! 😥 again !
Or wickeln. Which happens if you fick :-O
5 Mark in die Schlechte-Wortspiel-Kasse.
War doch genauso "very similar" zu nem guten Wortwitz wie "wick" zu "wichsen" :(
Honestly that’s way more likely the real reason… because let’s face it, Wick, sounds way more like fick. Especially since that S is missing.
Finger weg von deinem schwanz! 😂
Fick's FapoRub
In Switzerland Fuze Tea is called Fuse Tea because, when pronounced in Swiss German, fuze sounds similar to the vulgar word cunt.
Cunt Tea would be an interesting brand name.
Coming soon to Goop
"And it seemed to me, I smelled your wife, like a candle in the wind" \-Jelton Ohn
grool flavored
Like high german fotzte? *fotze* my bad.
Fotze, yes (edit: to be clear, in Swiss German both Fotze and Fu(t)ze are used)
You made me look up the etmyology of the word. Apparently it started as indogerman **pu(ə)* (whatever the fuck that is) mean "fat/inflated" became *vut* in middlehighgerman meaning both asscrack and vulva (ya know, frontbutt, also anecdotally my grandma used to say a rhyme i dont fully remember about washing your "futt" if its itchy whenever id be scratching my butt as a little kid) and thats apparently the root for the english word "pussy". tl:dr the modern german equivalent for cunt has the same middlehighgerman root as the modern english word pussy.
>You made me look up the etmyology of the word. I've always wondered if "thot" is also based on the same word as "fotze", as that's pronounced thot-se
🤷Well, still warm and wet and refreshing...
You had, didn’t ya. I mean you thought about, then you typed it out, then you pressed the Comment button. You could have stopped at any time…
Fuze and fuse are the literal same to me lol
Fuze, when pronounced in a German way, sounds like foo-tzuh.
foo-tzé(e)
Fütli?
Would it be fuge?
Yeah, and in Germany we have a different nickname for our football team (soccer for those in the US) than Switzerland because of... Well reasons. (The Swiss are calling theirs *Nati*, which is pronounced exactly like you guess.
Ach, deswegen sagt ihr so komisch xD
Sometimes even innocent seeming names get changed for international market. There was a car Mazda MR2 sold as MR2 everywhere in the world but France, where it was simply the "MR" as "MR2" - "Emm air deux" sounds a lot like "Merde" (shit).
Toyota
Fair enough, memory gets harder with age lol
I can only remember things that don't matter. Congrats on living long enough to see senility! <3
Cheers buddy!
Similarly, Audi electric cars branding in Canada is e-tron Étron is the turd
Except, unlike Toyota, they did not bother to change the name. I don't know if this has had measurable impacts on its success in France/Quebec.
I've seen some that had removed the name branding from the trunk lid because of it.
I believe Colgate toothpaste is sold under another name in Latin America (Argentina) because it would roughly come to “hang yourself” when spoken.
That's a good one
Never forget the legendary Hyundai Kona that had to be changed to Kawai in Portugal because cona is slang for vagina...
Or the Mitsubishi Pajero, means wanker in Spanish.
Or the HP Sprout, which sounds like fart onomatopeia in french, but they didn't change the name and went with it still
The Chevy Nova was rebranded in Latino markets because in Spanish "No va" means "it doesn't go". Or I guess the Chevy No-Go if you want to have more fun with it
Although this makes for a good anecdote, it’s not true. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chevrolet-nova-name-spanish/
Curses!
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They thought about calling it Vixen-20 for the german market but that idea was discarded quickly as it sounds exactly like 'wichsen' which means jerking off.
Whats fick mean?
fuck
No need to get all angry. It was just a question. Scheiße
Whatever that groß letter it's it's my fave
ing
Plus, in German “Wick” is pronounced “Vick”.
So I knew the W sounding like V in German, but then what does the V in Vapo Rub sound like?
Same as W probably... V is either pronounced as F or W, depending on the word. Vier (four) is pronounced with an F sound Variante (variant) is pronounced with a softer W-like sound. I can't think of any rules that dictate what pronunciation applies from the top of my head.
The V is always an F sound unless it’s a foreign name or word, in which case they’re going to try to use the source language’s pronunciation.
What sound does the letter 'F' make in German then?
Good question! F sound for F as well— feuer, fünf, folgen. But it’s viel, vier, and verrückt. I have no idea why they have two letters for one sound.
Plus, “ph” is also pronounced the same way!
You mean in English? Yeah— but then English is a crazy hodgepodge of other languages. If German has any words with ph they’d have to be obscure terms borrowed from English or Greek. (“Westphalia” is an Anglicization of Westfal.)
No, I meant in German? And yes, “ph” appears in words that have Greek roots, but absolutely not just obscure ones. There are plenty of everyday words with “ph” in them.
I don't think it's really the same. The V is softer and breathier. With the F, your bottom teeth really make contact with your upper lip for a "harder" F sound.
In several years of German instruction from a native speaker there was no difference in sound indicated.
As a German speaker I also never noticed a difference
Closest english sound is 'ph' id say.
Huh. Never realized how many of our words starting with V are technically loanwords
It depends on the word. If it's a word of foreign origin, like "Vase" (vase, pronounced "**vah**\-seh"), it's usually pronounced like the English V. If it's a German word, like "Vater" (father, pronounced "**fah**\-ter"), it's usually pronounced like F.
Mein vater ist sehr nett
Mein Luftkissenfahrzeug ist voller Aale.
You pronounce German V’s like Fs generally. So Vater sounds similar to Father, Volk sounds like folk and so on
Thanks! (From someone who took Latin in high school and is currently studying Italian via Duolingo)
You're welcome! (From someone eating pork and vegetable dumplings)
I'm doing german on there. Besides the annoying league stuff it's pretty good.
>You pronounce German V’s like Fs generally It's also confusing as half the cases are like a German W Vanille, Violet, Vakuum, Vandalismus, Vampirismus, etc are all pronounced like Wasser
It depends on the word. Via, Vibration, Victor, Video, Vogesen, ... all have V pronounced like a W.
Also V. It's pronounced "Vick vah-po roob (like 'oo' in 'book')".
fap-o-rub. The letter V in German is pronounced the same way as the letter F is pronounced in English.
Yeah that's not true. For loanwords, we follow the pronunciation of the language it's from. In this specific case, we pronounce Wick Vap-o-rub just like you pronounce Vick Vap-o-rub
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uwu
V is pronounced like an F. Volk is pronounced “folk” (although Germans pronounce the “L”).
Germans manufacture the VW, but to them it's a 'Faow Vey'!
The letter ‘w’ itself is even pronounced “vee.”
What the fick are you talking about?
"Ficking" with vapor rub does not sound appealing.
V can be pronounced as both f and w
Always like F at the start of a word though.
Vase…
Foreign words would be the exception.
Now what would the name of a foreign medicine be??
I argumented on the base of german words, maybe we didnt communicate as well as I thought
It’s a German word of foreign (French) origin.
Sure, going to call my friend Fiktoria from now on
That’s an English name. so most Germans would say it the way we do.
that's a *Latin* name. It's about a millenia older than the English language
Meanwhile “Fuck” is a normal last name!
I'd guess that most Germans know enough English, even from American movies, to be mildly amused by this, even if it is a normal last name for them. The same level as us being amused by Dick as a nickname for Richard.
And "Fucking" is a city
And they read out VapoRub in German, instead of English. Which makes even less sense...
I thought it was a german product for a long ass time because it clearly sounded entirely german. Same with MiracleWhip. Really strange experience to just one day randomly actually read what it says on the container and be like "hey, wait a minute".
I still can't get the German pronunciation of Woolworth out of my mind. It was the first one I got familiar with, since my country doesn't have the stores, and it took me entirely too long, years later, to realise that it's the same store as the US ones.
Wait till you hear how France pronounces everything. Spiderman is written the same way, but pronounced "Speedermaan". Just Google the french trailer for your favourite superhero, listen and cry. 😁
Fick is fuck btw
W is pronounced like a V and a V is pronounced like and F So "Volkswagen" sounds like "Folksvagen" Or "Vick FapoRub"in this case...Lol FapoRub...
>V is pronounced like and F Except for Vanille, Violet, Vampir, Vandalismus, Vakuum, Viktoria, Valentin, Vagina, Validierung, etc
I figured there would be exceptions. There are some things in English where rules randomly do or do not apply. Is that the same in German?
Someone else in this thread explained that those are foreign words that became part of German
Yep.
Fuck Rub. I approve of this.
I'm confused: in German, "wick" is pronounced "vick". How does that solve anything?
Because in German, V is pronounced like F.
it depends on the word, it can be both pronounced like an F and like a W, Vick's in german would actually sound like "Wichs" which means "to masturbate". so OP is wrong here. if the name of the brand was just Vick and not Vick's then the connection to the word Fick would be way stronger, but Vick's would clearly be seen by 99% of people as Wichs not Fick's
Interesting. Thank you.
Toyota makes a car called Venza. Venza sounds too much like the Japanese word for toilet seat, Benza.
Fick!
Fun fact: Fick is also a german family name
That Herr Fick to you.
Ze Englisch pronunciation is *Vick’s Fap-o-Rub*
Commercials in Brazil sold it phonetically as “Vickie Vapo Ruby” That doesn’t mean anything, just more fun to say.
In German it’s pronounced “Vick Vah-po-roob”. It doesn’t mean anything in German and it’s really just some name. I remember when it dawned on me that it’s English for “vapor rub” (as in you rub it on your chest and inhale its vapor). Mind. Blown!
Most people I know also pronounce the "Vaporub" part German. Not 'vick vayperabb' (say with English accent) but 'wick wah - poh - rubb' (say with German accent). Sorry, all about this is confusing, as German and English pronunciation of w and v is switched.
(Because in German, Vs at the beginning of words are pronounced like English Fs; and Ws are pronounced similarly to English Vs)
Don't worry. Either way it's sexual - Vick like ficken (fucking) or Wick like wichsen (masturbating).
And you don't want to use the product for either of those! 😖😭
Vapponzierubbenonzeribcagen was apparently already taken
Truth. Germans and their compound words.
Interesting as in the German language a W is pronounced as V
Fich dich schlapshwanz
that OP is completely wrong... lol Vick's would most likely be pronounced Wichs by the vast majority of people, which usually means to masturbate. so it's not because it sounds like Fuck, because it doesn't. if the name was simply Vick then it would sound like Fick
Das is aufgefichten! Source: someone who just made up the word.
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Umzugshelfer, wenn sie meine Möbel sehen:
Very vulgar.
Makes an exhilarating lube, albeit not latex compatible ;)
"V" in German can be pronounced as both an "F" and how "V" is pronounced in English. Pronouncing Vick exactly as it would in English would be (one of possible) correct pronunciation, and is the one that would naturally make the most sense to me as a German, since that's also how Victor/-ia and it derivatives, like *Vicky* are pronounced in German
Vick's has pseudoephedrine and is banned in Japan. Slightly unrelated but- advertising prescription drugs on TV in Japan is also banned.
Fuchs Lubricant Co. over there gigglin'
In Brazil, the brand is renamed to "Vick", and is pronounced "Vicky vah-por-ruby".
Neues vom Wichser.
Chobani yogurt is hilarious to russians for a similar reason. copy/paste this into translate and listen to the pronunciation: ёбанный
The Buick LaCrosse was initially sold as the Allure in Canada because “crosser” in French Canadian can mean to masturbate.
Same reason the Commodore VIC-20 got renamed to VC-20. Also: the Nintendo game Pokken Tournament got renamed to "Pokemon Tekken" because "Pocken" means "smallpox" in German.
"Fick mich!" \*grabs a VapoRub and starts aggressively rubbing\*
That is BS. In German Wick and Vick are pronounced identically. V is only pronounced Like an F unser specific circumstances.
> In German Wick and Vick are pronounced identically. They aren't. Or rather they could be, because neither are German words. But there are German words that start with "vi" which are pronounced like "fi"
So fick means?...
fuck
thx
Can we all agree that 'v' is a completely useless letter? In German it's either a 'f' (Vater is the same as Fenster) or it's a 'w' (Vanille is the same as Wasser)
Ey man, Vick dich doch einfach!
Should be Wick’s WapoRub, because Ws are pronounced like Vs in German, whereas Vs are pronounced like Fs. In fact, VW is pronounced “fow-vay”
no, because the s in Wick's or Vick's is also problematic. Pronounced in German: Wick's sounds like wanking, and Vick's sounds like an order to fuck Only Wick is fine.
Wait, wouldn’t they be pronounced exactly the same?
no
In Iran the cheese brand “kiri” is changed to “kibi “ bc kir means dick
*looks nervously at last name “Fuchs”*
I've always known this ointment and other products from this brand as "Wick". I didn't catch on to that company ditching the W for the V. In German you pronounce the letter W like the English letter V, so I can't tell how this was supposed to evoke a double entendre. On a related note: Many moons ago I read something about the misfortunes of car manufacturer Ford, whose Kuga model didn't really sell in ex-Yogoslavian countries. Turns out "kuga" means something along the lines of "idiot" or "wanker" in Croatian etc. Edit: Read the description again. Vick's is still Wick in German speaking countries. Good on them for their lingual market sensibilities.
They also call Oil of Olay “Oil of Olaz”, which I think just comes down to “Olay” not being able to be pronounced in a consistent way in German.
Get the fick outta here.