# Koch Pronunciation



## Redhound80

How do you properly pronounce the Koch in the HK name?

Is it as in kook,

or as in koe,

or as in kock, 

or as in kotch?

Please help, thanks!


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## Ptarmigan

None of the above. I would not know how to spell how to pronounce it, but most Americans have a very hard time saying it correctly. The CH involves a bit of a throat clearing thing if that makes sense. I seem to remember a website I saw some years ago that had a recording of how to say it.


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## bruce333

and here it is...
http://www.hkpro.com/koch.htm



> One of the most frequently asked questions to arise on the HKPRO boards is the correct pronunciation of Theodor Koch's last name. Most center around "coke" "kotch" or "kock".
> 
> In actuality, there are two ways to correctly pronounce Koch. Let's call them the American version and the German version. In German, the letters "ch" do not sound like they do in English. "Church" is not a ch combination that the Germans ever pronounce. It is more of a chhhh that somewhat sounds like phlegm being summoned from the rear of the throat.
> 
> As for the English pronunciation, the correct way is "coke." Former New York mayor Ed Koch ("Kotch") may have muddied things up, but if you get confused, you can always say, "HK."


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## Shipwreck

If U call the customer service line and hear their phone automated message - it is coke


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## Growler67

Not exact, but most proper for 'mericans would be "Coke".


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## FallGuy

A friend of mine who is half German asked his mother and she said "coke" as well. I always say Kotch and probably will continue to.


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## Ram Rod

I agree with coke no matter what the internet says. When I lived in Wichita, I lived close to Koch Industries....it's 'coke'.


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## Spartan

Just say H & K and be done with it.


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## unpecador

Koch


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## Clyde

I'll have another Please


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## Redhound80

Thanks!

Redhound80


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## Ptarmigan

Not to start a pissing contest here but I grew up speaking German, and in German Koch is NOT pronounced "Coke." "Coke" is the American version.


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## Steve M1911A1

Achmed, the dead terrorist, says that his name is spelled, "A-C-Phlegm-..."
That's how _Koch_ is pronounced, too: "Koc(phlegm)."

(I, too, grew up in a German-speaking household...and Yiddish-speaking, too, when my Grandma wasn't around to complain about it.)


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## buck32

Achmed is my hero!!!!!:anim_lol:


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## Ptarmigan

Steve, that is the best way to explain it I have seen so far. Danke schön.


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## Steve M1911A1

_Bitte sehr!_

I should've added that the "Coke" pronunciation is correct in one aspect, anyway: the pronunciation of the "o" in _Koch_.


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## bophi

*proper saying/ koch*



Redhound80 said:


> How do you properly pronounce the Koch in the HK name?
> 
> Is it as in kook,
> 
> or as in koe,
> 
> or as in kock,
> 
> or as in kotch?
> 
> Please help, thanks!


 it is "COKE" as stated in the manual


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## Steve M1911A1

bophi said:


> it is "COKE" as stated in the manual


Um, no, it's not. The manual is written for native English speakers, but the name _Koch_ is German.
Ptarmigan and I, both German speakers, have just tried to explain how _Koch_ is to be pronounced (see our last three posts in this thread).
The only "Coke" about it is the way that the "o" is spoken (long, as in _Coke_).
The "ch" part is voiced as if you were clearing your throat, or, as Achmed the Dead Terrorist says, "K-O-C-Phlegm."


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## Phalanx1

unpecador said:


> Koch


Short and to the point - as well as correct.


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## bophi

*correct name (koch)*



Redhound80 said:


> How do you properly pronounce the Koch in the HK name?
> 
> Is it as in kook,
> 
> or as in koe,
> 
> or as in kock,
> 
> or as in kotch?
> 
> Please help, thanks!


it is COKE


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## Pistolero

As a retailer, I've been told by representatives to use "coke" as well. You should try CZ's Ceska Zbrojovka on for size! (Chess-ka Seb-broy-yavka, as I understood it).


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## Steve M1911A1

bophi said:


> it is COKE


...Only if you want a carbonated drink.


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## babs

"Coke" but with some fizzzz at the end. Nice pneumatic device there..

"Cochhhhhhhhh"

:mrgreen:


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## Todd

bophi said:


> it is "COKE" as stated in the manual





bophi said:


> it is COKE


I was undecided, but now I'm going to have to go with COKE. Even though two people who grew up speaking German have presented their expertise, I simply can't go against arguments as persuasive and well explained as these. :smt033

Actually, I'm with Spartan. H & K works for me.


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## babs

Todd said:


> I was undecided, but now I'm going to have to go with COKE. Even though two people who grew up speaking German have presented their expertise, I simply can't go against arguments as persuasive and well explained as these. :smt033
> 
> Actually, I'm with Spartan. H & K works for me.


Yeah it's a simple thing.. It's just in pronunciation of the "ch".. English gives it a "K" sound, and Deutch gives it a "chhhhh" sound. Working for a german company, I hear the differences everyday.

It's funny when one or two folks say something in grammatically correct English but the accent is so thick I think "WTF did you just say!!!!!" :smt083 But I don't dare think that out loud because they run the show here. I just say "You bet!" with enthusiasm :smt023and go about my business as just another ignorant local plebe here.


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## Steve M1911A1

Todd said:


> ..."H & K" works for me.


Yup.
Todd has the most correct answer, as far as I'm concerned.
"Coke," "Kotch," "Kokhhh," or even "Crotch"..."_H&K_" is much easier to pronounce. :anim_lol:


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## Gebirgsjäger

Well, I am German and I think I can help you how to pronounce it. It is funny, when I go to a gun shop in the US and talk about Heckler&Koch, I usually just say HK, since a get funny looks when I say Heckler&Koch the german way, Haha!

Well....Koch is the German word for "chef" or "cook". Check out his link. it is from a german English/German dictonary website and you can click on a little symbol behind the word to listen to a translation. The "Koch" in Heckler&Koch is pronounced the same way as it is in the example you can hear when you click on the symbol behind "Koch".

http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&la...pe=relaxed&sectHdr=on&spellToler=&search=koch

And by the way....you don´t even want to know how the local "Schwäbischen" (swabian) employees at the H&K Headquarters are pronouncing the name in their funny south east german swabian dialect.


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## Steve M1911A1

...And to make a bilingual pun, say in _Schwäbisch_: "fatter than the cook."

(Schwabia is to Germany as Appalachia is to the US: They talk funny.)


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## VAMarine

Well we could always ask HK...



> *Frequently asked Questions*
> 
> *What is the proper way to pronounce Koch?*
> 
> The English pronunciation is pronounced, "coke."


http://www.hk-usa.com/civilian_products/faq.asp


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## Steve M1911A1

...H&K just says that because English doesn't have a letter or diphthong that stands for "phlegm." :anim_lol:

As Gebirgsjäger pointed out, in H&K's native Schwäbia, it's pronounced "(slang for male organ)."


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## Gunners_Mate

there is a derogative joke towards hk that involves the correct pronunciation of the "Kock" but I'm not sure of it's appropriateness for this forum, therefor anyone curious may pm me. 

honestly I know and can properly pronounce Koch but prefer not to after having heard this joke. Very simalar to an army/navy joke I learned a year ago.


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