I guess 'down here' we pronounce it "kay-toe"Although Gary (GATS) with his "eh-hem" English back ground would pronounce it as "kahh-toe" from memory Charlie,whenever I saw your sirname I thought of it as "V E L K" or "V I L K"?!?!? Interesting subject.
Storm in a teacup if ever there was one, my name is Eliot, and i get Elyet, Ell i ott, and even Alex from people who aren't listening, i often say Eliot Goblet (Australian comedian) or Eliot Ness or "ET phone home" to get my name right to people who cant get a handle on it. If they cant get my name close (doesn't have to be exactly right, just close)then i just ignore them, as far as Kato is concerned does it really matter how it is pronounced ( dance / darnce etc) Kayto (my version) makes excellent track, loco's, rolling stock and other gear and regardless of which way you say it either way everyone knows immediately what you are talking about, a top quality brand with world wide recognition. I have a bundle of Kato track and will purchase even more as time goes by to build a number of T-Track modules, and i can visit my Father and combine his track with mine to make a really big temporary layout which is what this hobby should be all about - having fun and not taking things too seriously. End of rant.
Tom-A-to, tom-ah-to, pat-A-to, pat-ah-to, let's call the whole thing off... Your not the only one Jason. Wonder if we can call Vanna and buy a vowel?
English background? Say what, old squid? Soft vowels are generally the norm in Japanese language so Kah-toe would be correct. Where Alan gets Kah-doe from, I can't say. I presume advancing age and loss of hearing have something to do with it... As for the Vlk pronounciation, I always suspected 'Vulk' though Jase brings up a good point with 'Vilk'... but only in NZ! Now, all you Antipodean colonials gather around and repeat after me, but not through your nose... The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
Lest anyone forget, repeat after me one more time: Kay - toe with the Green Hornet Kay - toe with OJ's wife Kah - toe for all of you your Japanese friends. Cheers.
Yes, I do sualy ask a person how they like to be adressed but that is just who I am so most likey I will try to adopt: Kah To.. For those wondering about pronunciation of "Goodenough" Old New England blue blood and math teachers - Good Day Now English teachers and people being careful- Good Dee No Those that don't fit in including my family: Good ee nuf or: good enough.
That's a good way to thnk of it! And a healthy Welcome to Trainboard!!! My name shouldn't be, but is challenging--Siembida. It's easy: Sem-BEED-uh. I won't get into how many times, and how badly it's been butchered.....
My problem is not so much pronouncing my name but spelling it. Folks figure it must be something other than a simple spelling. I have had Straugh, Strough, Strawn, Stral, Strah and many more.
Try having an old English name in the colonies , seems everyone wants an s at the end. In the old country Wiggin and Wiggins were two completely different families. I once told a woman how to spell my name after her repeated attempts to put an S on it. W, one I, two G's, one more I, enphasis on the N, no S! People in Rockford don't understand dry humor.
My problem is the spelling AND the pronunication. My last name is Semon For spelling I get: Seaman, Seeman, Semen, and never the correct spelling. for pronunication, everyone is way to cautious and say: Seh-mOHn Seh-mun Seh-Mohn-ee I saw See-Mun
For many years I wrote speeches that were delivered all around the world. I had a network of friends to help me through the idiosyncracies of pronunciation. Hungarian was weird: how do you pronounce Albert Szent-Gyorgyi? I can never understand why people want to spell my name Knowland.
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi? Just call him "Al"! "Stuard" is frequently misread/mispronounced "Stroud", but what I find I particularly annoying is that after I spell it, I often get "that's S t e w -what?" Just don't call my Hokies "Vah Tech"!!
I just call them Turkeys. Opps, I ment Gobblers. My wife and my in-laws (Mom, Pop and two brothers) all went to the school formerly known as VPI.
I pronounce Kato Viza, although now I have changed the pronounciation and I say kato Maazztear kaurd. It works for me.
You like KAY-TOE and I like KAH-TOE, You like MI-KAY-DOE and I like MI-KAH-DO; KAY-TOE, KAH-TOE, MI-KAY-DOE, MI-KAH-DO! Let's call the whole thing off!
Drink? Drinks, sir, DRINKS!! I have to say I had been asked quite often how to spell my surname, particularly in the UK. It didn't help there when one of the better known 'celebrity' chefs is named Gary Rhodes!
Gary - Should we roll the "R" in rain? You'd be surprised how many people have a problem with the name Crabtree. As for school nicknames the clowns said Crabapple, freinds called me Crabs, and enemies called me Craptree. Those are just a few mind you. Kay-toe trains. Mr. Kah-toe for me. RICK
