I am hardly every around other pipe smokers other than on this forum. The few times I met up with another piper I heard them pronounce it as GRAY-boh. I always pronounced it gruh-BOH. I know this is a silly question, but I just don't want to sound like a newb everytime I talk to someone about them. Especially since I collect vintage ones. Thanks.
How to pronounce Dr. Grabow.
- Thread starter lurch76
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Don't feel bad. I used to pronounce Latakia Luh-tah-key-uh. But most people forgave me quickly when they learned that I'm a Texan.
Best,
Pipestud
Best,
Pipestud
Gray-bo is the right way to say it. I also pronaounced it and Latakia incorrestly to start with, for the same reason, only seeing it typed. 
Long "A" long "O" is how I've always heard it. Although a buddy of mine did pronounce it as you have been, that is until I told him how everyone else says it! LOL!
This is a good thread cause there are still many words in the pipe world that im iffy about my pronunciation.
latakia was my first i must have spelt it wrong once cause for a while i was calling it Lat-Kia lol
latakia was my first i must have spelt it wrong once cause for a while i was calling it Lat-Kia lol
I've assumed it was Gray-boe. Like everyone else, I don't know any pipers in person so I haven't heard anyone say them, just read them. Also, the latakia is another word that I had no clue if I was pronouncing correctly until I went and looked up the pronunciation of the city which it originated from: La-tuh-key-uh ("La" as in Laugh. "Tuh" as in Tongue).
Yes Lurch, and I've been wondering if some of the tongue bite reported might be due to this also. I see on the Facebook sites people taking pictures of themselves with big billowing clouds of smoke coming out of their nose or mouth. I guess that if you've never been around other pipe smokers, you wouldn't know that most pipe smokers would never blow that much smoke. In fact, you'd probably never see smoke coming from any other pipe smokers that I grew up watching. Not that there's just one way to smoke, or a right and wrong, but if someone quietly buys a pipe and a pouch and goes back to the privacy of their room, and tries to learn how to smoke without ever seeing someone smoke, they might be more inclined to treat a pipe like a cigar or cigarette, puffing too hard and too frequently, or making big smoke, and scalding their tongues.
I am amazed I didn't set things on fire when I started. I never saw anyone smoke one before. I would pack the tobacco as tight as I could and keep lighting it to keep it going. I had tongue bite bad, and I am amazed I didn't burn through the pipe. I would even keep taking off the stem to make sure it wasn't clogged. haha Thanks to sites like these, it has become an enjoyable hobby now.
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