This may sound nuts ...But...Do you pronounce the " s " in vanden plas or not? thks. Jamie

 

Yes, I do

 

Yes, the "s" is pronounced


Cheers
DD

 

Officially, no. (van den pla) Or cop out the easy way I do and call it a VDP. It's like carrying a clip board around the office. It just makes you look smarter.

 

Ken, my Flemish friends would strongly disagree!

Cheers
DD

 

I stand corrected. I wonder if that's a British thing. I did see where to coach builder used the "s." I sticking with "VDP" and a clip board. Maybe buck for a raise and carry around a manilla folder as well.

 

But here's another I've heard both ways: is it "dame-ler" or "dime-ler?"

 

Here's some reading on the subject from:

http://www.aronline.co.uk/index.htm?vandenplasf.htm

The Vanden Plas name
Why is Vanden Plas often abbreviated to "VDP" (rather than just VP)? What does it actually mean? And how should the name be pronounced? These questions can be answered (or at least illuminated) by delving into the origins of the name.

Firstly, to dispel some fairly common misconceptions, the name is not French, German or even Dutch, but Flemish, hailing from the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. In plain Dutch it would have been spelled as "van den Plas" (and alphabetically sorted under 'P'). However, Flemish capitalises the V (sorting it under 'V'), and also contracts "Van den Plas" to "Vanden Plas" and sometimes even to "Vandenplas". Incidentally, in modern Dutch usage one would say "van der plas", but Flemish family names are never updated to reflect more modern spelling (whereas there used to be a tendency to do this in Holland).

Next, the meaning. In his book "Vanden Plas – Coachbuilders", Brian Smith gives the literal translation as "of the pond". "Plas" is indeed the Dutch for pond, so this is probably correct, but it should be noted that it is also used for any body of water from a puddle upwards. For instance, the Dutch for "to pee" is "een plas doen", spilt water would be described as "plas" on the floor, and even the ocean is sometimes referred to as "de grote plas" (the great ....). However, there is a further possiblilty that should not be dismissed: in a family name it could very well be a corruption of a similar-sounding word with an entirely different meaning...

Finally, the pronunciation. Many people in English-speaking countries wrongly assume that the final 's' is silent, pronouncing the name as "Vanden Plah". The correct pronounciation (both in Flemish and in plain Dutch) has a rather sharp 's' at the end, as in the English word "kiss". Both 'a' vowels in the name are pronounced the same way, as in the English colloquialism "yah", so phonetically we should say something like "Vahnden Plahs". However, Flemish will in this case put a slight stress on the first syllable of "Vanden", whereas plain Dutch would stress only the "Plas" quite heavily.

Many thanks to Hendrik-Jan Thomassen, Bert Vijn and Erik Nooij for their contributions on this topic

 

I sure correct German would be DIME-ler

Cheers
DD

 

thanks guys..that was great...Jamie

 

Yeah that is weird- your right.

 

In the early to mid 1900's a car body Coachbuilder by the name of Guilame Van den Plas came to the UK from Belguim and was contracted by the Austin Motor Company, and continued to work with BMC and British Leyland as well to "beautify" their cars.
The book of Van den Plas is a very worthwhile read.
So just to reiterate; the the last part of the name VAN den PLAS is pronounced as PLAS.

 

Continuing in this rich vein, should it be Jagwaah or JagUar??
And should it be Vandenplaa, because they moved to the UK and Jaguar effectively owned the brand and get to call the shots re pronunciation?

 

Come to think of it, does the same not go for Daimler? As the brand is “owned” in the UK as far as Jaguar cars is concerned, should it not be the UK pronunciation? And I haven’t mentioned the war…….!!

 

Ah ha, I'm quoting Doug from 14 years ago, when I was just a toddler Jag owner... the XJ12 had just rolled in to the stable.

Gottlieb Daimler was indeed a German, so DIME-ler seems to be the correct pronunciation. He sold the right to use his name to a British entrepreneur named H J Lawson. But... I think with time, as the brand changed hands and evolved in the UK, the English language tended to lean towards and eventually favor the DAME-ler pronunciation. Probably only as a difference in dialect in the way that UK english differs from USA english.

I have asked this question to some British relatives, and was told without doubt that it is pronounced "DAME-ler" by the Brits. Who concurs (or not)?

Also the perfect forum to settle the Vanden Plas mystery. I always pronounced it Vanden Plah (no S). That became habit. Since my Vanden Plas always seemed to be troubled with faults, it became known as Vanden Blah to some. Which I am not proud of.

 

I'd say that Jagwaah is totally incorrect.

Here in the USA Jagwahr is the most common pronunciation...although the cringe-worthy Jagwire is a close second.

JagUar isn't heard often in the USA unless spoken by a visiting Brit or Canadian. It sounds like an affectation when a Yank says it . Within the JagUar crowd I've noticed two variations. Jag-U-Are and Jag-U-Uhr.

Cheers
DD

 

Rule Britannia, surely? British cars demand British pronunciation.
JagUar , DAimler, Vandenplah it is then?
Resolving this most pressing of matters will surely contribute to many more trouble free miles……

 

I take the Clarksonian compromise and just call it a Jaaaaaag, or just Jag when I'm being informal.