I used to be close with some of the Centuri people,
I almost got a job there in the late 1970s!
I got to know Bob DelPrincipe (designer, graphic artist, electronics whiz) pretty well. We talked a lot about what goes into producing a kit.
I was curious though - How do you pronounce Centuri? Is it "Cen-chur-ee or Cen-tour-ee?
He told me it goes back to Lee Piester (Centuri Founder and President) when he was looking for a company name.
He liked the sound of "Alpha Centauri." (The name of the brightest star in the constellation of Centaurus.)
He dropped "Alpha" and removed the letter "A" from the word Centauri and got CENTURI. It's actually a good name for a rocket company. It implies space and has a futuristic feel.
So now you know - It's Cen-tour-ee Engineering. (The accent is on the second sylable.)
If I'm wrong on this, I'd be happy to be corrected!
Now is it Esstees, or Esstiss?
Chris, about your Estes question:
ReplyDeleteThe answer is "Yes."
Actually, way out here in the Wild, Wild West, there's a resort town in Colorado that calls itself Estes Park. As in, "ESS"-tuss.'
I have a vague sensation that the latter is the correct pronunciation. But Carl McLawhorn of Semroc fame could tell you for sure.
Jay "Tau Zero/Centuri Guy" Goemmer,
Twin Falls, Idaho, USA
Vern himself pronounces it pretty much as Tau Zero says, "ESS-tuss" (or ESS-tiss; when you're saying it fast, there's not much difference.
ReplyDeleteOf course, here in Atlanta, we've got "Ess-TEES" Heating And Air Conditioning. So there's some fork in the family tree somewhere where a cousin decided they didn't like it the way those other cousins pronounced it.