# BMW nickname - Bimmer or Beemer???



## jet190rs (May 28, 2005)

Are they 2 different nicknames, or are they the same nickname with 2 different spellings?
Are they both pronounced like the letter "B" and then "mer"?
Or does bimmer rhyme with dimmer?


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## Patrick330i (Sep 30, 2002)

:dunno: 

bimmer = automobile
beemer = motorcycle

welcome to the fest. :angel:


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## BMWenthusiast (Feb 27, 2005)

i think the name of the site tells you


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## CC 330i (Jun 1, 2005)

You forgot "Beamer".


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## silverado (May 27, 2005)

Isn't it always pronounced "beemer" though?


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## SergioK (Aug 14, 2002)

Not always.


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## operknockity (Apr 19, 2002)

: popcorn: .


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## Tangent (Jan 18, 2004)

silverado said:


> Isn't it always pronounced "beemer" though?


That's what I always thought but apparently it is indeed supposed to be pronounced like dimmer. Considering that it's a nickname for "BMW" which everyone I know says as "Bee Em DoubleYou" and _not_ "Bih Em DoubleYou" I think it sounds stupid saying it like "dimmer", but that's what most people insist it's supposed to be. :dunno:


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## silverado (May 27, 2005)

Tangent said:


> That's what I always thought but apparently it is indeed supposed to be pronounced like dimmer. Considering that it's a nickname for "BMW" which everyone I know says as "Bee Em DoubleYou" and _not_ "Bih Em DoubleYou" I think it sounds stupid saying it like "dimmer", but that's what most people insist it's supposed to be. :dunno:


Well, people continue to talk to me about my car as a "beemer"... I don't know I'm going to correct them and tell them that it is a bimmer.


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## MikeCTM2 (Jun 21, 2005)

*beemer vs bimmer*

the uneducated layman will always say beemer. but for those who know better, like owners, they should always say bimmer. and bimmer should be pronounced as part of the word family, or rime, '-immer'. (just like the common german word).

right now i'm taking 'reading methodology' -an education class for future teachers. it focuses on anaylitical, synthetic, and holistic phonemic awareness and phonics instruction. from what i've learned so far studing phonics, the /i/ sound in bimmer would have to be pronounced as a short i. those that are Phonemically Aware can see that bimmer is a two syllable word. where does it break apart? with the double m it'd have to be between the m's. therefore the first syllable would end with a consonant and the vowel sound would have to be short. so obviously, if you look at beamer or beemer, the word breaks apart after the double vowels. and as we know 'when two vowels go walking the first does the talking' and moreover, the first syllable is ending with a vowel which ussually gives a long vowel sound. examples include 'laser', 'paper', 'reply', 'user'

phonics is not just for emergent readers. fluent readers can use them too. sound out each phoneme individually and then blend them together. lastly ask, does it make sense graphophonically?


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## silverado (May 27, 2005)

An interesting short read on the subject:

http://www.bmwccbc.org/misc/tech-and-trivia/bimmer.html


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## Passenger (Apr 26, 2005)

LMAO
Doesn't anyone find it hilarious that folks can have quite heated discussions about the "correct" usage of a _nickname_ ?


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## shaftdrive (Mar 10, 2005)

Passenger said:


> LMAO
> Doesn't anyone find it hilarious that folks can have quite heated discussions about the "correct" usage of a _nickname_ ?


 Maybe.

But, personalizing it a bit, if your acknowledged, long-standing, traditional nickname in your group setting was, say, "Tiger", would you really still consider it hilarious if newcomers (i.e., people who didn't care or know enough to speak properly in your group setting) started to refer to you as "Tigger" instead?

The whole point is that these refer to distinctly different things.

Put it another way, as you are aware, many people can't distinguish "gold" from "brass". To them, a "gold plated contact" is the same as a "brass plated contact". In some settings, this amazingly uneducated lack of distinction is perfectly well and good; however, in others, the difference matters greatly. Just like no self-respecting biker would ever "drive" a beemer (or "ride" a bimmer for that matter), it depends on the crowd you hang with. If they don't need clarity, that is, if they can help you despite your lack of subtle distinction in your conversations, then it's perfectly OK. If you sound like a dork every time you speak, and, if they have to constantly ask, "which BMW are you talking about today?", then it's probably not OK in that crowd setting to mix up these terms of distinction when the difference matters. (By the way, I perfectly understand that the difference may not matter TO YOU, but, it matters greatly to those who are trying to understand you.) Just like the actual model and year and color of a BMW may matter to those trying to help us, the distinction matters greatly when it matters.

Very many of us both ride and drive BMWs. When, on a nice day, as we run off to the playground with the kid in tow, we hurredly yell out the door to the wifey "We'll take the beemer today", it has a specific meaning to her which is wholly different than "We'll take the bimmer today". She doesn't have to wonder or guess (or doublecheck by looking out the window) to know, by our 'woids, exactly "which BMW" we took that morning to the playground.

We told her which one. She understood right away. We knew she understood. THAT's the distinction! It's called communication with words.

See a complete thread on this same Beemer/Bimmer subject at General BMW -> How do you remember to use BEEMER vs BIMMER?
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98367

Note: These two self-explanatory photos below are from links in related Bimmerfest threads.


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## German Boy (Jan 7, 2006)

*Bimmer vs Beemer again*

Because Germany makes BMWs and because no one in Germany pronounces it Bimmer, shouldn't people call the cars BMWs instead of Bimmers? Also, Germans call them Beemers very occasionally but would never call it a Bimmer. And since Germany should get credit for the cars, shouldnt they get to choose the names? American's wouldn't like it too much if they gave American cars nicknames and said everyone should call them by this nickname.


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## Moderato (Nov 24, 2003)

Just say it whatever way makes you happy. :thumbup:


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## BMRFRAU (Jan 7, 2006)

I was wondering the same thing but still prefer to call it Beemer. Just back from a trip to Germany, you are right--nobody called it Bimmer. They don't even call it "The Ultimate Driving Machine", although the meaning, I guess, is somewhat similiar: Freude am Fahren.


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## Fast Bob (Jun 4, 2004)

I have been driving BMWs for almost 30 years, since the days when they were such a rarity that owners would flash their lights in acknowledgement when approaching another BEEMER from the opposite direction.... the term "bimmer" evolved with the yuppie-scum of the late `80s....so, sorry guys, they`ll *always* be BEEMERS to me.... 

Regards,
Bob


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## tgravo2 (Dec 7, 2002)

I can't bring myself to say bimmer. The sound has no relation to me of sounding like BMW where beemer or beamer on the other hand stresses the sound of the letter "B" which goes along with saying BMW.

If I ever told someone I had a new bimmer, they would look at me like I'm stupid. If I say Beemer, they know exactly what I'm talking about.

The funny thing is that I use the spelling Bimmer, but say Beemer. :dunno: suits me fine 


I think I might make it a poll just for fun


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## operknockity (Apr 19, 2002)




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## Moderato (Nov 24, 2003)

tgravo2 said:


> I can't bring myself to say bimmer. The sound has no relation to me of sounding like BMW where beemer or beamer on the other hand stresses the sound of the letter "B" which goes along with saying BMW.
> 
> If I ever told someone I had a new bimmer, they would look at me like I'm stupid. If I say Beemer, they know exactly what I'm talking about.
> 
> ...


 :stupid:


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## Cowboy Bebop (May 17, 2003)

or contrary to what MileCTM2 said, you can take the word of BMW:

according to Rob Mitchell, director of corporate communications for BMW, the nickname for a car made by BMW is "Beemer" (never "Beamer"), first used with BMW motorcycles. "Bimmer" (pronounced the way it looks) is a frequently used (and acceptable) alternative.

IIRC the whole Bimmer, rhymes with dimmer thing, was started by the BMWCCA in Boston (pronounced BassTon), and we all know that they don't speak rea english there anyway!l

regardless, it is slang, and anything that floats your boat is just fine... it's your fecken car!


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## SteveinBelAir (Dec 28, 2005)

I agree. It is 'Beemer'. I don't care what some club says it should be. Nobody says Bimmer in Germany, England or any other European country or part of the world for that matter. Now I'm here in the US I'm supposed to say Bimmer? Slap me silly. 

'Bimmer' sounds a bit daft to me!

Beemer it is.


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## Parrothead (Jan 2, 2006)

SteveinBelAir said:


> 'Bimmer' sounds a bit daft to me!
> 
> Beemer it is.


Amen to that! :thumbup:


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## Fast Bob (Jun 4, 2004)

silverado said:


> An interesting short read on the subject:
> 
> http://www.bmwccbc.org/misc/tech-and-trivia/bimmer.html


Yes....interesting in the sense that it originated in Canada, where "house" is pronounced "hoose".... 

Regards,
Bob


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## Tangent (Jan 18, 2004)

Fast Bob said:


> Yes....interesting in the sense that it originated in Canada, where "house" is pronounced "hoose"....
> 
> Regards,
> Bob


Well it's aboot time somebody was able to come up with a good explanation for the word bimmer...


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## Penforhire (Dec 17, 2005)

Having had several 2-wheel beemers I certainly make the distinction. The car is a bimmer. Yuppie scum comes with the territory.


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## woody underwood (Feb 9, 2004)

Just tell everybody you have a Bey Em Vey (Motorrader or Wagen)...that always is a good starter for conversation.


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## MikeCTM2 (Jun 21, 2005)

yeah, i guess i'm Yuppie-scum. i pump gas with the engine running while i run in and get a Starbucks, grab the WSJ, on my way to school (or to the wireless Internet Cafe), playing Learn-to-speak-German CDs. Yuppie chicks dig it though.


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## Moderato (Nov 24, 2003)

MikeCTM2 said:


> yeah, i guess i'm Yuppie-scum. i pump gas with the engine running while i run in and get a Starbucks, grab the WSJ, on my way to school (or to the wireless Internet Cafe), playing Learn-to-speak-German CDs. Yuppie chicks dig it though.


You really shouldn't do that just to impress girls.


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