Tasavallan Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Having lived in the south of the Netherlands for many years and being very familiar with north Belgium (Flanders), I have always called the Flemish city Brugge (Broo-ga) by its Flemish name. That includes its main football club: Club Brugge KV and not FC Bruges as it is called by the Walloons and French speakers. However, I notice that most of the English media refer to the club by its French pronunciation. Am I wrong. We do not refer to Antwerp as Anvers so why do the English speakers refer to Brugge as Bruges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poseidon Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 There's always the odd anomaly, like why we say Bayern Munich instead of Bavaria Munich or Bayern Munchen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey1874 Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Seems to be different naming. This was fairly common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin_T Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Curiously we don't anglicise Napoli, Roma or Torino to Naples, Rome or Turin in a football context either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazio Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 More recognisable style of pronunciation to the English ear. I’d be willing to bet a lot of the people in the UK aren’t even aware of Flemish as a thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut The Crap Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 9 minutes ago, Tasavallan said: Having lived in the south of the Netherlands for many years and being very familiar with north Belgium (Flanders), I have always called the Flemish city Brugge (Broo-ga) by its Flemish name. That includes its main football club: Club Brugge KV and not FC Bruges as it is called by the Walloons and French speakers. However, I notice that most of the English media refer to the club by its French pronunciation. Am I wrong. We do not refer to Antwerp as Anvers so why do the English speakers refer to Brugge as Bruges. Most English speakers refer to the city by its French name: Bruges. It's as simple as that. (I think the "FC" part is an anglicization though? I'm sure they would refer to themselves a Clube de Bruges in French.) Similar story with FC Basel, although there is probably a smaller proportion these days who still refer to them as the French Basle rather than their preferred German Basel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glamorgan Jambo Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 I guess it's because there's an ancient English name for the city of Bruges just like there's an ancient English name for Antwerp (Antwerpen/Anvers) and Brussels (Brussel/Bruxelles). Incidentally the only double I ever scored in my football career was in a pre season friendkly against a team from Bruges (they have literally hundreds of afiliates of Brugge/Bruges). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nookie Bear Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 10 minutes ago, Tazio said: More recognisable style of pronunciation to the English ear. I’d be willing to bet a lot of the people in the UK aren’t even aware of Flemish as a thing. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackLadd Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Hendry kept Messi and co quiet last night I heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john thomas Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 25 minutes ago, Tazio said: More recognisable style of pronunciation to the English ear. I’d be willing to bet a lot of the people in the UK aren’t even aware of Flemish as a thing. I was vaguely aware of Flemish but was educated about it by a prick in Brussels . After nipping my head he then wanted to fight me because I didn't speak Gaelic . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Landmesser Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 44 minutes ago, Poseidon said: There's always the odd anomaly, like why we say Bayern Munich instead of Bavaria Munich or Bayern Munchen See also; Inter Milan & AC Milan instead of Inter(nazionale) & Milan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poseidon Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 17 minutes ago, August Landmesser said: See also; Inter Milan & AC Milan instead of Inter(nazionale) & Milan Yep, which makes me cringe at how the name 'Inter Miami' came about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballfirst Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 (edited) I believe that we should always use the pronunciation as used by the natives of any particular city. Similarly with the spelling of place names, albeit within the limitations of our alphabet. Edited September 16, 2021 by Footballfirst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatonjambo Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Tasavallan said: Having lived in the south of the Netherlands for many years and being very familiar with north Belgium (Flanders), I have always called the Flemish city Brugge (Broo-ga) by its Flemish name. That includes its main football club: Club Brugge KV and not FC Bruges as it is called by the Walloons and French speakers. However, I notice that most of the English media refer to the club by its French pronunciation. Am I wrong. We do not refer to Antwerp as Anvers so why do the English speakers refer to Brugge as Bruges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john thomas Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 54 minutes ago, jonnothejambo said: Sounds like he had been on the Leffe. A swift boot in the Leightons would have shut his yap. Sensible girlfriend got rid of him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadj Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 1 hour ago, jonnothejambo said: I find it ignorant not to call these clubs by their correct pronunciation but I'm probably in the minority. Mind you my US colleagues used to say Edinbro..... Edinborrow 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pans Jambo Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Going to see Man Citeh play Bruges in the Champions League early November. Work thing but I will just be getting wired into the grog n nosh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EIEIO Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 FC Basle/ FC Basel is another one regularly given the same treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beni Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 5 hours ago, Nookie Bear said: ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheatfield to sheffield Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 6 hours ago, sadj said: Edinborrow 🤣 Embra 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Салатные палочки Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 I remember the Zeebrugge disaster and the media pronouncing it as "Zee-brugg-a". No one ever said the Zee-bruges disaster. Zeebrugge I assume means something like sea of Brugges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor FinnBarr Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 3 hours ago, Salad Fingers said: I remember the Zeebrugge disaster and the media pronouncing it as "Zee-brugg-a". No one ever said the Zee-bruges disaster. Zeebrugge I assume means something like sea of Brugges. To the best of my limited knowledge, yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor FinnBarr Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 (edited) 12 hours ago, john thomas said: I was vaguely aware of Flemish but was educated about it by a prick in Brussels . After nipping my head he then wanted to fight me because I didn't speak Gaelic . Flemish is spoken widely in Belgium apart from Brussels which only has a few Flemish speaking enclaves. We, me wife and mate wandered into a wee Flemish bar in Brussels where we bumped into a "local". He was from fickin Hamilton. Didn't take him long to return to form and start abusing Catholics, Pakistanis and blacks. We tried to explain to the barman he was going to get a kicking if he persisted, he bolted. Guy lived 20k from Brussels and got the train in with his pushbike in tow, hope he wasn't too upset when he returned to find 2 flat tyres and his bike reeking of piss. Edited September 16, 2021 by FinnBarr Saunders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serge Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 (edited) Paree San Jer Man always gets ze full treatment. Edited September 17, 2021 by Serge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldstone Wonder Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 19 hours ago, Poseidon said: There's always the odd anomaly, like why we say Bayern Munich instead of Bavaria Munich or Bayern Munchen Even more confusingly, in Italy and Spain they call that team Bayern Monaco, as Monaco is their version of Munich! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasavallan Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 I lived just outside of Dordrecht. FC Dordrecht were basically a yoyo club. When I was there, Advocaat was their manager and MdV played with them before joining Hearts. Living in South Holland, it was a short trip to Antwerp and to see many of the Flemish clubs. To my ears Flemish was just Dutch spoken with an accent. KV Oostende was a favourite weekend visit. Just a drive down the coast. They are currently owned by a Hong Kong businessman and I expect them to rise. Belgium and Netherlands are similar in size of population to Scotland and their football leagues are similar in size too, each with a couple of oversized clubs looking for a bigger place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingAboutObua Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Tbf I have heard old folk refer to Antwerp as Anvers (saying it as "Annvers" not "Awnverr" of course) I've always heard them being called Club never FC, for Brugge my guess would be historically English media would always rather use the French term than Dutch, and would have read the name Club Broozh before hearing any Flemish rep calling them Club Broogguh. Another guess would be a few Belgian teams follow English naming customs, so Royal Antwerp are called Royal Antwerp in Belgium, (Royal) Standard (de) Liege get "Standard" from an English mens club in Paris, and Sporting Club Anderlecht and Racing Genk etc. Would imagine early reports assumed English football name = English city name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NANOJAMBO Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 5 hours ago, Tasavallan said: I lived just outside of Dordrecht. FC Dordrecht were basically a yoyo club. When I was there, Advocaat was their manager and MdV played with them before joining Hearts. Living in South Holland, it was a short trip to Antwerp and to see many of the Flemish clubs. To my ears Flemish was just Dutch spoken with an accent. KV Oostende was a favourite weekend visit. Just a drive down the coast. They are currently owned by a Hong Kong businessman and I expect them to rise. Belgium and Netherlands are similar in size of population to Scotland and their football leagues are similar in size too, each with a couple of oversized clubs looking for a bigger place. I lived in Maastricht for a while (weird language down there , barely got close to Dutch) and was used to Dutch & Belgians speaking - Flemish & Dutch is very similar but def not the same. In saying that, the way Belgians & Dutch pronounce "g" might explain why English speakers use the French name for Bruges because it is very difficult for non native speakers to pronounce "Brugge" properly (in my experience, most Scots could get close but English people were hopeless). Also a possibility that English ears are just used to hearing the French speakers of Belgium so got accustomed to "Brooges". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NANOJAMBO Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 21 hours ago, Salad Fingers said: I remember the Zeebrugge disaster and the media pronouncing it as "Zee-brugg-a". No one ever said the Zee-bruges disaster. Zeebrugge I assume means something like sea of Brugges. They did , but in Dutch (and I'm sure Flemish also) it's not a hard "g" but it's pronounced something like "Zaybrookhe". As I said above, I think that's why the Flemish pronunciation would be near impossible for English people hence the smoother French "Brooges". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo-Fox Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Antwerp zoo is the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo-Fox Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 I’ve only seen one match in Brugge (or whatever name you want to call it!)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ri Alban Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 I know, it's the same with Hibs, most folk call them C@#ts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FWJ Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 I wouldn’t trust English speakers to know the difference between French and Dutch. Quite proud of the fact she can’t either. Stupid **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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