How do you pronounce Garand?

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The dictionary says both pronunciations are acceptable with the first one preferred: http://www.bartleby.com/61/99/G0039950.html But they are talking about the M1, not the man. Sometimes a thing will take on a life of its own in the English language.

I would go with what Intune heard and Hatcher said as far as pronouncing J. C. Garand's name, but I'm still calling the M1 a "Guh rand".
 
I've never personally heard a guy who actually carried one in WWII refer to it as anything but "guh - RAND."
 
Personally, I would respect the Garand family's way of pronouncing it, but sometimes people won't know what you are talking about when you say "Gare and", so you have to sigh and say "Ga RAND" just to keep the conversation going. . .:rolleyes:
 
After collecting data from each of the above posts, it has become clear as mud that the answer to how Garand is pronounced is........








........Nobody knows, because everyone says it differently, including the dictionaries.
 
MR JOHN GARAND PERSONALLY TOLD ME IT WAS CORRECTLY

Pronounced, GAIR und.
It is my contention that any shooter worth his salt should endeavor to pronounce the names people, inventors, writers, etc, and all of the articles and artifacts in his sport correctly.
The sport of shooting is one where ignorance is damnsure NOT bliss.
 
Lest we forget, John Garand was French-Canadian and was born in St. Remi. Darn if no one in that town (except for my buddy the gunsmith) knows about him but no one knows where the family farm was. City Hall burned years ago so no one knows.

Will Terry: since you met the "MAN," please tell us more about him & the circumstances under which you met him.

Cracked butt: thank you for your plain Anglais pronunciation. I'll have to practice "em wun" all night long.:p
 
Thanks Wil. It's Gair-und from now on for me. I was wondering if anyone here had heard Garand speak at some time or another. When someone corrects me, I'll now be able to say that I have it on good authority that that's how the man himself pronounced it. :D
 
Hi, guys,

I never heard the man pronounce his own name, but the colonel who introduced me to him at an AOA convention pronounced it GAR-und, with the first syllable as in "Gary". Mr. Garand did not object, so I assume the colonel was correct.

Most WWII and later GI's called the rifle just the "M1", and that term was always used for and understood as referring to the rifle. I served too late for WWII, but I never heard any soldier call the rifle anything else. If a soldier said, "I have a problem with my M1", you knew he was not referring to anything but the M1 Rifle. Early on, people like Hatcher called it the "Garand" to distinguish it from the Springfield or the Johnson. Today, only newbies call it a Garand.

The M1 Carbine was always "the carbine" (pronounced "CAR-bean") unless an armorer wanted to distinguish specifically between an M1 carbine and an M2 carbine.

Jim
 
Most WWII and later GI's called the rifle just the "M1", and that term was always used for and understood as referring to the rifle.
Click to expand...
This gentleman agrees
M1poster.gif
 
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