how do you say bowie

Myself, I say bow-ee, long o.

It's largely a regional thing. Down south, they tend to say boo-eee, short o. Up north, we tend to say bow-ee, long o.
 
It is, of course, a man's name, Jim Bowie. My understanding from authoritive sources in that Bow-ee is correct.
 
We did this here a while back, search back a month or two, AND if you look over on the shop forum right now on page two, you'll find a similar thread.
 
I know the bowie blade style was named after a Jim Bowie, but why exactly? Did Jim Bowie design/use it?
 
I read something in some throwing-knife book about Mr. Bowie.

It said something like:

"... youth went to the metalsmith with plans for a specific knife he'd designed in his spare time. A heavy blade, solid brass handle to *blah blah description of the knife we all know*... and it was made. Little did he know that he had created the finest fighting knife ever made. The bowie knife was carried by many American soldiers in the Vietnam war.. "

I think the book was "The Art of Throwing Knives", a thin little red book by some old guy who started the Tru-Bal throwing knife company IIRC.

I'm sure there's a hundred people here who can tell it better than me..
 
The late Harry McEvoy, a very accomplished knife thrower/maker, author, etc., was the founder of Tru-Bal.
No one really knows what the first Bowie knife looked like, or who made it. In no small part, the Bowie knife we know is an interpretation by Sheffield England and American cutlers. Several events in the life of Jim Bowie made the large knife he apparently used in said events legendary.
 
I have always pronounced it the way you do also (i.e., lonnnnnng "O").

Sadly, I lost a $10.00 bet on it that may have been used for a deposit on an old BM Cocoon Sheath :( -arrrrrrgh-!!!! It definitely is "regional"..., and I suppose there is truly no "correct" way to say it, but the guy I bet with had a little hand-out/pamphlet type thing from a tour of the Alamo..., and I guess Jim Bowie did pronounce it like the things that float in the ocean :rolleyes: ~~> Booooooey??

After I payed the bet.., another guy told me that he was absolutely positive that it was pronounced as many of us do with the long "O"...(he's a Professor of Literature at UCLA).., so I want at least $5.00 of my bet back....Oh well?

It will always be one of those fun things in "Knifedom" I guess, but if my last name was "Bowie"....it would have a long "O" sound...so there!



"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
I've always pronounced it boo-wie just because that was probably how Jim Bowie pronounced it himself. Bowie number one was supposedly made by James Black and though there is enough speculation to say that he didn't many of his trademark features are found on it. Many bowie knives were made by many differnt makers in the south, most of which were commissioned by James Bowie's brother Rezin. Rezin was the collector. It is unlikely that any of the knives that show up today were ever really used by Bowie in the sandbar fight. It was most likley a large butcher type knife that was made by a local blacksmith. The one that is the most likely candidate was featured in Knives 2000. It was very plain except for some cross hatchings on the handle slabs. All the knives that came after that knife have certain similarites all of which can be found in that original butcher knife. The most accurate reproduction, although a very upscale version is the Searles bowie witch keeps the same profile. (Just for argument, Searles, as far as I can figure, is French and pronounced accordingly, should be serl or serls with the "s" as quiet as possible.)
 
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