How to pronounce SRAM?

[Eric S. Sande]

I went to the LBS to buy some stuff, principally a couple of PC-58 chains and a derailleur pulley
wheel for a Suntour XC. I managed to get what I wanted, including a free lesson on how hard it is to
get old Suntour parts (not that hard if the LBS is willing to part out an old derailleur, harder if
they say oops, that one worked).

Anyway, it used to be easy to say "Sachs", or "Sedis", how do you say "SRAM"?

They knew what I wanted, though, but I'm sure I was pronouncing it wrong.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email protected]__________

 

[Benjamin Lewis]

Eric S. Sande wrote:

> Anyway, it used to be easy to say "Sachs", or "Sedis", how do you say "SRAM"?
>
> They knew what I wanted, though, but I'm sure I was pronouncing it wrong.

From their web site:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What does SRAM mean?

R: SRAM is the conglomeration of our founder's [sic] names, Scott, Ray and sAM. The initials
provided a simple way to come up with a corporate name that could be trademarked and directly
translated into languages other than English. It is not pronounced S-RAM, SchRAM, or SkRAM.
Just SRAM.

--
Benjamin Lewis

F u cn rd ths u cnt spl wrth a dm!

 

[Matt O'Toole]

"Eric S. Sande" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> I went to the LBS to buy some stuff, principally a couple
of PC-58
> chains and a derailleur pulley wheel for a Suntour XC. I
managed to
> get what I wanted, including a free lesson on how hard it
is to get
> old Suntour parts (not that hard if the LBS is willing to
part out
> an old derailleur, harder if they say oops, that one
worked).
>
> Anyway, it used to be easy to say "Sachs", or "Sedis", how
do you
> say "SRAM"?
>
> They knew what I wanted, though, but I'm sure I was
pronouncing it
> wrong.

Good question. I pronounce it "STUPID." (Them, not you.)

Matt O.

 

[Patrick Lamb]

On Tue, 04 Feb 2003 16:07:06 -0500, "Eric S. Sande" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Anyway, it used to be easy to say "Sachs", or "Sedis", how do you say "SRAM"?
>
>They knew what I wanted, though, but I'm sure I was pronouncing it wrong.

You mean it's not "ess-ram?" And by what authority is it - or isn't it?

IMHO, if a company names itself with random letters (acronym or not), they'd better be willing to
put up with all kinds of pronunciations.

Pat

 

[Paul Southworth]

In article <[email protected]>, Patrick Lamb <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Tue, 04 Feb 2003 16:07:06 -0500, "Eric S. Sande" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Anyway, it used to be easy to say "Sachs", or "Sedis", how do you say "SRAM"?
>>
>>They knew what I wanted, though, but I'm sure I was pronouncing it wrong.
>
>You mean it's not "ess-ram?" And by what authority is it - or isn't it?

I will call it ess-ram forever or until the next merger.

--Paul

 

[Benjamin Lewis]

Patrick Lamb wrote:

> On Tue, 04 Feb 2003 16:07:06 -0500, "Eric S. Sande" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Anyway, it used to be easy to say "Sachs", or "Sedis", how do you say "SRAM"?
>>
>> They knew what I wanted, though, but I'm sure I was pronouncing it wrong.
>
> You mean it's not "ess-ram?" And by what authority is it - or isn't it?
>
> IMHO, if a company names itself with random letters (acronym or not), they'd better be willing to
> put up with all kinds of pronunciations.

This is a going point. I believe it's why the Loughead brothers called their aircraft company
``Lockheed'' instead.

--
Benjamin Lewis

F u cn rd ths u cnt spl wrth a dm!

 

[Benjamin Lewis]

Benjamin Lewis wrote:

> This is a going point.

Uh, I meant `good'. My fingers appear to have ignored my brain.

--
Benjamin Lewis

F u cn rd ths u cnt spl wrth a dm!

 

[Jake Khuon]

### On Tue, 04 Feb 2003 21:18:55 GMT, Patrick Lamb <[email protected]> [PL] casually decided to
### expound upon rec.bicycles.misc the following thoughts about Re: How to pronounce SRAM?:

PL> IMHO, if a company names itself with random letters (acronym or not), they'd better be willing
PL> to put up with all kinds of pronunciations.

I kinda liked the way Be, Inc. came up with their name. As I recall the story, one guy took the
dictionary home one night and started going through words from the beginning attempting to find a
name for the company. He got bored and stopped at the word "be". On a sidenote, it's too bad what
happened with Be. I had high hopes for that company but then again I like rooting for the
underdogs... especially when they're technically adept.

--
/*===================[ Jake Khuon <[email protected]> ]======================+
| Packet Plumber, Network Engineers /| / [~ [~ |) | | --------------- | for Effective Bandwidth
| Utilisation / |/ [_ [_ |) |_| N E T W O R K S |
+=========================================================================*/

 

[Robin Hubert]

"Benjamin Lewis" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Eric S. Sande wrote:
>
> > Anyway, it used to be easy to say "Sachs", or "Sedis", how do you say "SRAM"?
> >
> > They knew what I wanted, though, but I'm sure I was pronouncing it wrong.
>
>
> From their web site:
>
> FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
>
> Q: What does SRAM mean?
>
> A: SRAM is the conglomeration of our founder's [sic] names, Scott, Ray and sAM. The initials
> provided a simple way to come up with a corporate name that could be trademarked and directly
> translated into languages other
than
> English. It is not pronounced S-RAM, SchRAM, or SkRAM. Just SRAM.
>

As I understand it acronyms are not words, so there's no correct pronunciation. I love it when
people correct my pronunciation of MAVIC.

Robin Hubert

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Benjamin Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:

> Eric S. Sande wrote:
>
> > Anyway, it used to be easy to say "Sachs", or "Sedis", how do you say "SRAM"?
> >
> > They knew what I wanted, though, but I'm sure I was pronouncing it wrong.
>
>
> From their web site:
>
> FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
>
> Q: What does SRAM mean?
>
> A: SRAM is the conglomeration of our founder's [sic] names, Scott, Ray and sAM. The initials
> provided a simple way to come up with a corporate name that could be trademarked and directly
> translated into languages other than English. It is not pronounced S-RAM, SchRAM, or SkRAM.
> Just SRAM.

SRAM is pronounced "SRAM"? That's terrible! The all-caps strongly suggests an acronym, and the
pronounciation "S-R-A-M".

However, I have forgiven them, because I found this unusually honest bit in the SRAM
company history:

SRAM Corp. is born and opens its first office/factory in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Total number
of employees, six. First year goal: sell 100,000 units. Actually sold 1,000.

Achilles tendonitis is making me angry!

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Benjamin Lewis]

Robin Hubert wrote:

>> From their web site:
>>
>> FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
>>
>> Q: What does SRAM mean?
>>
>> A: SRAM is the conglomeration of our founder's [sic] names, Scott, Ray and sAM. The initials
>> provided a simple way to come up with a corporate name that could be trademarked and directly
>> translated into languages other
> than
>> English. It is not pronounced S-RAM, SchRAM, or SkRAM. Just SRAM.
>
> As I understand it acronyms are not words, so there's no correct pronunciation.

As *I* understand it, acronyms *are* words:

M-W: Main Entry: acronym Pronunciation: 'a-kr&-"nim Function: noun Etymology: acr- + -onym
Date: 1943
: a word (as NATO, radar, or snafu) formed from the initial letter or
letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term

It's not even clear to me whether SRAM can be called an acronym or not.

In any case, the OP asked how it is pronounced, and it seems to me that the two most obvious
possibilities are:

1) pronounce it how the company, which made up the word, says it's pronounced

or

2) pronounce it however you damn well feel like it

I have no problem with people who prefer the latter, but presumably they're not the ones asking for
advice on the matter.

Of course, I'm deliberately ignoring option 3: pronounce it how most other people do. Then you'd
probably say something like ``ess-ram''. Personally I'm happy with their products and perfectly
willing to play along with their somewhat odd choice.

--
Benjamin Lewis

F u cn rd ths u cnt spl wrth a dm!

 

[Benjamin Lewis]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:

> SRAM is pronounced "SRAM"? That's terrible! The all-caps strongly suggests an acronym, and the
> pronounciation "S-R-A-M".

How do you pronounce ``NATO''?

> Achilles tendonitis is making me angry!

Ouch. Still hurting then, huh? I feel a tinge of guilt, somewhat lessened by the fact that you were
in front of me for about 104 out of the 105 km.

--
Benjamin Lewis

F u cn rd ths u cnt spl wrth a dm!

 

[Ray Heindl]

Benjamin Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:

> Robin Hubert wrote:
[snip]
>> As I understand it acronyms are not words, so there's no correct pronunciation.
>
> As *I* understand it, acronyms *are* words:
>
> M-W: Main Entry: acronym Pronunciation: 'a-kr&-"nim Function: noun Etymology: acr- + -onym
> Date: 1943
>: a word (as NATO, radar, or snafu) formed from the initial letter or
> letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term
>
> It's not even clear to me whether SRAM can be called an acronym or not.

To a serious pedant, the proper term would be "initialism". But very few people would not know what
you meant if you called it an acronym, though some might pretend not to know.

On some newsgroups, such as alt.usage.english, the meaning of "acronym" is roughly equivalent to the
topic of helmets here.

--
Ray Heindl (remove the X to reply)

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Benjamin Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:

> Ryan Cousineau wrote:
>
> > SRAM is pronounced "SRAM"? That's terrible! The all-caps strongly suggests an acronym, and the
> > pronounciation "S-R-A-M".
>
> How do you pronounce ``NATO''?

As it is spelled. The difference is that the "sr" consonant sound is almost unheard of in
English. There are lots of words that have "sr" as consecutive letters, but I'm wracking my
brains for an example of an English word that uses this as a vocalised digraph. It is an unusual
sound in normal English.

Before reading the SRAM page, I always assumed their name was said "S-RAM", because I couldn't make
any other pronunciation make sense.

> > Achilles tendonitis is making me angry!
>
> Ouch. Still hurting then, huh? I feel a tinge of guilt, somewhat lessened by the fact that you
> were in front of me for about 104 out of the 105 km.

Well, yes. Schadenfreude happens. It's getting better as I have stopped using my leg. . The shoe
cleat and seat will be adjusted accordingly for the next ride.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Patrick Lamb]

On Tue, 04 Feb 2003 13:06:10 -0800, Benjamin Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:

>From their web site:
>
>FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
>
>Q: What does SRAM mean?
>
>A: SRAM is the conglomeration of our founder's [sic] names, Scott, Ray and sAM. The initials
> provided a simple way to come up with a corporate name that could be trademarked and directly
> translated into languages other than English. It is not pronounced S-RAM, SchRAM, or SkRAM.
> Just SRAM.

Does this mean you should never pronounce the name? Either write it on a scratch piece of paper, or
ask the sales person for Shimano or Campagnolo?

Pat

 

[Benjamin Lewis]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:

> Benjamin Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> Ouch. Still hurting then, huh? I feel a tinge of guilt, somewhat lessened by the fact that you
>> were in front of me for about 104 out of the 105 km.
>
> Well, yes. Schadenfreude happens.

It's not that, it's just that it's harder to feel guilty about ``dragging someone along'' to
something if they end up dragging *you* the whole way, of their own volition.

--
Benjamin Lewis

A small, but vocal, contingent even argues that tin is superior, but they are held by most to be the
lunatic fringe of Foil Deflector Beanie science.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, Patrick Lamb <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Tue, 04 Feb 2003 13:06:10 -0800, Benjamin Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >From their web site:
> >
> >FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
> >
> >Q: What does SRAM mean?
> >
> >A: SRAM is the conglomeration of our founder's [sic] names, Scott, Ray and sAM. The initials
> > provided a simple way to come up with a corporate name that could be trademarked and directly
> > translated into languages other than English. It is not pronounced S-RAM, SchRAM, or SkRAM.
> > Just SRAM.
>
> Does this mean you should never pronounce the name? Either write it on a scratch piece of paper,
> or ask the sales person for Shimano or Campagnolo?
>
> Pat

Silly Pat. You just order it online!

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Benjamin Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:

> Ryan Cousineau wrote:
>
> > Benjamin Lewis <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>
> >> Ouch. Still hurting then, huh? I feel a tinge of guilt, somewhat lessened by the fact that you
> >> were in front of me for about 104 out of the 105 km.
> >
> > Well, yes. Schadenfreude happens.
>
> It's not that, it's just that it's harder to feel guilty about ``dragging someone along'' to
> something if they end up dragging *you* the whole way, of their own volition.

Heh. Well, I didn't expect the problem. After all, everything else on my body feels fine. My legs
never gave me any serious trouble, during or after the ride.

Yeah, I don't think I can blame you for drafting behind me and arriving home with two working
ankles.

Actually, I didn't mind at all. I consider it one of the positive aspects of cycling that riders of
different ability can ride together by exploiting drafting effects. If we had been joggers of
similar respective abilities, out to run a marathon, we wouldn't have been able to run together
without the faster runner slacking off considerably. As it was, I rode hard, you rode hard, and we
arrived back at the same time.

Note to self: you're too damn' competitive.
--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Bran Everseekin]

Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]> spake thusly on or about Wed, 5 Feb 2003
20:32:09 UTC

-> but I'm wracking my brains for an example of an -> English word that uses this as a vocalised
digraph. It is an unusual -> sound in normal English.

hrmm does sri lanka count only thing that came to mind and its not exactly english

--
I hurt before the ride so fibro gives me a head start on the rest of the pack. silver lining?
[email protected]

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] wrote:

> Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]> spake thusly on or about Wed, 5 Feb 2003
> 20:32:09 UTC
>
> -> but I'm wracking my brains for an example of an -> English word that uses this as a vocalised
> digraph. It is an unusual -> sound in normal English.
>
> hrmm does sri lanka count only thing that came to mind and its not exactly english

Good example! But it only reinforces my theory that the "sr" digraph is foreign to English.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club