"Bombardier" is French for 'bomber', an aircraft built to drop bombs; certainly a curious choice for a commercial aircraft supplier.

The company is named after Joseph-Armand Bombardier, who built his first snow vehicle at 15.

http://www.bombardier.com/en/about-us/history.html

> Today’s Bombardier grew out of a young mechanic’s inventive genius and entrepreneurial spirit. Born in 1907, Joseph-Armand Bombardier builds his first “snow vehicle” at the ripe age of 15. His motivation? To help people travel across the snow-covered roads of rural Québec in Canada.

> In 1937, J.-Armand achieves his first major commercial success with the launch of the seven-passenger B7 snowmobile.

Sure, that's what they want you to think.

That's actually a perfectly reasonable explanation of how they ended up with such a name, but it's still unfortunate.

Bomb bar dee eh

Yes. I actually also speak French (after a fashion) and recognize its actual pronunciation. But for folks who don't, their phonetics lead them astray. I've flown on a number of flights where the incorrect pronunciation was used by the flight crew in describing the safety features of the plane.

Bombardier makes you think you're the one dropping the bombs (since that's what the word means), not the one going boom.