pronunciation?: "men-ox" or "my-nox"

I hate to sound ignorant, but I was just wondering how everyone pronounced "Minox." I don't know anyone else with a Minox camera, but I have heard it pronounced both ways by the few people I've encountered who seem to even know what a Minox is.

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I'm a little embarrassed to post this, since I am hereby admitting that I don't know how to pronounce the name of the camera I've used for 17 years. I absolutely LOVE the Minox 35mm cameras, and I don't think I'll ever use any other, though my current one is beginning to act up after 12 years.

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My first Minox was given to me by my sister as a high school graduation present in 1982. It was stolen from my car during a spring break trip in college, so I bought my current 35GT while traveling in Europe in 1987. I've used it ever since, without being confident about what I was calling it. For a long time I said "men-ox" because that is what I think my sister called it, but more recently I've been saying "my-nox." Can anyone help me?? Thanks.

<p>USA/CANADA : 'Min nox' min like in 'mint'

<p> Germany/Europe: it is "Me nox" or "Mi nox" mi like in 'minute'

<p> Minox is also frequently used as short form of the drug Minoxidil, and pronounced as

"My nox"

I myself pronounce it the Germany way, Me-nox.

<p> When you pronounce Me-nox, people realizes you know.

<p> We are Me-noxers.

Thanks for the responses. But now I see the problems with discussing

pronunciation via written communication� Martin, you say "mi like in

�minute.� " Is that minute as in 60 seconds or minute as in very

small?

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From the answers, it seems that the first syllable vowel sound is not

a long i sound ("my nox"), unless you�re talking about the drug. I

had never heard the long e sound ("me nox"), but is that another

option ("me" as in "lend me your ears")? It sounds as if the safest

thing to do is go with "min nox" as in "mint" or "minimum" or "men."

Would you agree? (If you�re confused by "men," let me explain: in

the South, we say "men" as if it were "mint" without the "t"; I

don�t know if that�s incorrect in other parts of the country, but I

do know that my northern friends tell me "pen" and "pin" are not

pronounced the same way anywhere except in the South.)

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Then there�s the question of the second syllable. Is it "ox" as in

the singular of "oxen," or is it more of an "ux" sound, like in

"flux" or "lennox"?

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Sorry to be so persistent, but I just don�t want to embarrass myself

when talking to someone who know the difference. Any comments are

most appreciated. Thanks!

fbmatthews, mi like the minute in 60 sec.

Minox as min(t)nox is quite common. Ox is like oxen.

<p> Since there are great variations in accent even within English

speaking world on common words like tomato, so it really doesn't matter

to much, as long as the sales person don't ask you go the the next door pharmacy :)

The mi in Minox is s short one

Tom, Min nox is indeed quite common, just as Nikon Zeiss all has

American pronunciation different from its country of origin.

This seems to be a question of great interest.

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In germany, the Minox has the long tone at the beginning.

So, pronounce the "i" like in "Jeep", I would suggest.

The "ox" is short, something like "Campari on the rOCKS"

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That is, however, the sound that is heard from the women

answering the phone when you call the minox factory.

You're totally right. Europeans, especially Germans (like me)

pronounce things quite different from the rest of the world.

Most definitely, I would say Minox is pronounced like Meenocks. The I

is long, but the o isn't.

By the way, my own name is pronounced Oovah in German...

Donald Thayer Jr., whose father was the primary person responsible

for the introduction of the Minox into the US, and who, today is the

president of Minox Labs, pronounced it more like min-ox (min as in

miniature) than mee-nox when I spoke to him in person recently. The

company also answers the phone using min-ox pronunciation, to my ears

anyway. That is good enough for me. The videotape of Minox inventor

Walter Zapp that comes with the Minox CLX special edition, has Walter

speaking German and a translator in English. Walter pronounces it as

a slight cross, halfway between Min-ox and Mee-nox, but not over

emphasizing the long e sound in mee-, more like a min- sound with a

slight "e" twist to it. It is more a question of English v. German

pronunciation, and I would say either is correct, depending on your

langauge choice. The way I have always pronounced it is close enough

to Walter Zapp's way that I chalk the difference up to German

inflection, and I have always said it more like min-ox. The name was

a play on miniature, and in English, we say min-iature. Perhaps the

German pronunciation of miniature has more of a mee- ring to it?

"Munfraid" Salaschek (macs@12move.de) added a message to the Minox

Photography bboard(old):

Subject: Response to pronunciation?: "men-ox" or "my-nox"

Is anyone still interested? I just happend to run into this

discussion of 1999. "Miniature" in German sounds more

like "meeniature". That's why the original pronounciation would be

close to "Meenocks", but not quite: 1/3 Min(t)nox and 2/3 Meenox. All

right? - By the way, I don't use my Minox 35 any more, since I own a

Canon ixus. Now I know, why Canon doesn't use the name "ixus" in the

US - you'd never know, how to pronounce it.