Weirdly pronounced places...

[RedCloud]

So where did that levee break?

Near Illinois or near Illinois?

Hard for me to tell as one place has the high fructose the local folks guzzle down like water and the other has the sand bags they need!:shrug:

What other places baffle our ability to pronounce them or have evolved an unexpected pronunciation?

[WolverineDG]

1. Gruene, Harlingen, Weslaco nt

[kentauros]

7. For that matter,

Mexia and Whon :D

[hobbit709]

8. Or the way Refugio is pronounced.

[kentauros]

14. We do have some difficult ones

:D

I remember coming across Whon in one of those Texas Atlas books (The Roads of Texas, I think) and thinking "Whon?! Did they mean 'Juan' and didn't know how to spell it?"

As a matter of fact, yes!
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnw47

[WolverineDG]

25. Rivera

my favorite, now that my memory has been jostled, is Palacios.

:)

dg

[alarimer]

78. Then there is Bexar county.

Pronounced "Bear" when it should be "Bay-har" or maybe it's just a lazy way of saying it, I am not sure.

But I sure didn't know how to spell it the first time I heard it. One of things I do at work is conduct surveys of fishing activity at boat ramps and one of the questions we ask is what county people live it. I could not for the life of me find Bear county on the list until someone clued me in.

[meow2u3]

118. Don't forget Montague County, TX

When I lived there, they always pronounced it MONT-aig, instead of MONT-a-gyoo. Shakespeare must be spinning in his grave listening to North Texans mangling Romeo's name :evilgrin:

[jpak]

99. it's furry

:D

[WolverineDG]

26. I've been to Mexia

but never heard of Whon.

Kinda like the old Aggie DPS trooper joke...pulled someone over in Waxahachie but let him go so he could catch up to them in Waco.....

:rofl:

dg

[freshwest]

61. Ah, Mexia. Got lost years ago driving to Houston with a car full of people asleep during the night.

Got turned around and asked directions at a motel. They told me to turn at 'ma' 'hey' 'ya' but I didn't expect it be to be spelled Mexia. So I drove by it and a few hours later had to ask directions again. All because I didn't know how to spell it. Weird, no one woke up while I was driving all over creation that night, so they never knew and I sure wasn't going to tell.

:shrug:

[dixiegrrrrl]

89. Mexia is a teen-y community a few miles from me. Pronounced "Mex-y"

[Flying Dream Blues]

101. There's an old joke about Mexia...

A man traveling through Mexia stops to get a bite to eat. In the burger joint, he asks the woman at the counter, "How do you pronounce the name of this place, anyway?"

She looks at him funny and says, real slow, "It's DAY-REE QUEEN, hon."

:)

[Luciferous]

73. Boerne

[Brickbat]

2. Norfolk, Osceola, Lino Lakes, Kissimmee, Owatonna...

[geardaddy]

116. Mahtomedi, Shakopee, Waseca, Laq Qui Parle, etc.

[Kali]

3. Gila Bend and Ajo AZ

Willamette River in Oregon

[burrfoot]

4. Thonatassassa, FL

[OmahaBlueDog]

106. I've ridden bikes through it twice. I still can't figure out how to say it.

[Richardo]

5. El Dorado, AR

Dor-AY-doh :eyes:

[Aristus]

6. My home of Puyallup, Washington.

If you can't pronounce it, we know you're not from around here. ;-)

BTW, it's 'Pyoo-AL'-upp'.

[SOteric]

112. You can do it at a trot...

You can do it at a gallop,

You can do it real slow so your heart don't palpitate...

[Aristus]

129. Just don't be late...

DO THE PUYALLUP!

:D

[MiddleFingerMom]

9. Elephant Butte, New Mexico

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[abq e streeter]

13. A suburb of Truth Or Consequences

[Manifestor_of_Light]

10. Bexar County, Texas.

Any one who says Bex-ar is run out of town.

It's Bay-er, like Bayer aspirin.

Normangee. NOR-man-gee, not Nor-MAN-gee, which Sandy Rivera once said on Channel 11, KHOu.

Mexia is pronounced Mah-hair. Home of the famous Anna Nicole Smith.

Iraan, Texas. Pronounced Ira-ann.

[WolverineDG]

27. Or Burnett

and Boerne.

It's Burn-it, durn it. Learn it!

dg

[Texasgal]

128. Or how about

Manor, TX... pronounced May-ner...or Manchaca, Tx. --- Man-chack. :rofl:

[skygazer]

11. Worcester, Mass

Pronounced sort of like Wuster but sort of like Wooster and a little like Wister. And if you're from around there, you'll know just what I mean.

[valerief]

56. I like to pronounce Quincy (normally Kwinzy) like Kwinky. nt

[Gormy Cuss]

102. Never the long o as in Wooster, but definitely stuck somewhere between the other two.

Then there's Woburn (WOO-bun) not to be confused with Waban (WAH-ban...)

[abq e streeter]

12. Had a girlfriend from Vici (vye-cye) Okla.

Don't wanna sound like no dang furriners now.

[Tikki]

15. Oh, Hi....and since you mentioned it....

Ojai. :)



Tikki

[dimbear]

16. Tucson. We're so used to it we don't notice how weird it's spelt.

Furriners have trouble with it, tho.

[XemaSab]

17. Tuolumne, Mokelumne, Cosumnes,

and so forth. :P

[TorchTheWitch]

18. Lake Chagoggagoggmanchauggagogg chaubunagungamaugg in Webster, MA

That's meant to be all one word but DU made me put in a space or it wouldn't post. Apparently, DU doesn't like 45 letter words.

Actually, the Dept. of the Interior has it listed simply as Lake Chaubunagungamaugg as that is it's actual name. The 45 letter long version was apparently invented by a reporter in the 1920's who said that this Native American lake name meant "You fish your side, I fish my side, nobody fish in the middle". In fact, Chaubunagungamaugg translates to "Fishing Place at the Boundaries - Neutral Meeting Ground". Most people call the lake Webster Lake, but the locals seem to take great pride in rattling off the real name as well as the much extended made up version.

Yes, I can say the kooky long version three times fast. On road trips to visit relatives in MA when I was a kid we spent much time racing each other on how fast we could say it over and over without messing up. After all these years I can still spit it out just as fast.

It's easiest to learn to pronounce it in sections. Phonetically, the kooky long version is Chagog-agog Man-chag-agog Chabun-agung-gamog.

[eShirl]

19. non-Mainers usually pronounce Bangor, Maine incorrectly

should be pronounced "Bang Gore" instead of "Banger"
with equal or near-equal emphasis on the two syllables

[charlie and algernon]

21. hah! Bangor, PA is pronounced "Bang 'er"

As in: "Bangor? I hardly knew her!"

[meow2u3]

115. I live 3 miles from Bangor, PA, in Pen Argyl, PA

My town is called Pen Argyl, PA, pronounced "pen AR-jill." Out-of-towners pronounce it Pen Argyle, as in the socks, just as I thought it was before I moved there.

[geardaddy]

119. Really, AR-gill?

That's weird. But then they pronounce the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines, dez-PLAINZ

[GreenPartyVoter]

74. Or almost 3 syllables.. Bang-go-ah. Kinda hahd to write it out, really. :^)

[jpak]

100. it's like fingernails on the blackboard

yup

[geardaddy]

117. That's close to how you say the original in Wales

Bahn-gor (with a trilled "r")

[sarge43]

20. Coos County NH - COOus

Tripoli Road Campton NH - TRIPOlie Rud CAMPtin NUHAMshah

Berlin NH - BURlin

Concord NH - KAHkurd

[Deep13]

22. Ohio is full of weirdly pronounced names.

Toledo: tah-LEE-doe instead of toe-LAY-doe

Genoa: jen-OH-ah

Medina: meh-DEYE-nah instead of meh-DEE-nah

Conneaut: CON-ee-ot instead of CON-oat

Tousaint: TOUW-saint instead of TOO-sont

Milan: MY-lan

[av8rdave]

28. I would have to add Lima, Ohio to the list

I originally assumed it was "Leema" (like the city in Peru).

It's actually L+eye+ma.

[Deep13]

29. Yeah, forgot about that one. nt

[elleng]

51. And isn't there a 'Payru' (Peru) somewhere?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

59. Peru, Indiana. Home of Cole Porter.

[elleng]

67. WOW!Another opening Another show,

in Philly Boston and Baltimo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWHrWCSsUxk

We open in Venice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s_lTT-0pr4&feature=related

[fizzgig]

85. here is what somone told me about pronouncing city names in ohio

assume it's not pronounced the way it's spelled or the way it's pronounced in other cities of the same name

[dmr]

111. Another pronounciation for Toledo

Toe-Lee-Doe

That's how we in Michigan say it.
:hi:

[charlie and algernon]

23. Wind Gap, PA is said as "Wing Gap"

[femmocrat]

58. Ebensburg and Windber...

Pronounced as "Evansburg" and "Wimber" by the locals.

[1gobluedem]

24. Saline, MI, is pronounced SahLEEN

Instead of SAYleen. Milan, MI is pronounced MYlan, instead of MihLAN, Charlotte, MI is prounouned SharLOTT instead of SHARlitt, and Traverse City, MI, is pronounced TRAVerse instead of TraVERSE

[av8rdave]

30. Mackinac Bridge, Island and City in Michigan

Pronounced "Mackinaw"

[1gobluedem]

37. The city actually IS spelled Mackinaw

The bridge and island are Mackinac

[av8rdave]

39. Right you are!

Thanks for the correction.

[Burma Jones]

31. New Madrid, MO is pronounced New MAD-rid

Like Hagrid

[rurallib]

44. We have a MAD-rid in Iowa

along with a ne-VAY-da
and Tripoli here is pronounced Tri-po-lah

[hifiguy]

32. Cholmondeley, Cheshire, UK

Pronounced "Chumley" like the big dumb guy on "Pawn Stars."

[whistler162]

33. Houston St. in New York and Houston in that place called Texas

The street is pronounced emphazing the O while the city is pronounced emphazing the U.

[kentauros]

34. In other words

House-ton and Hugh-ston ;)

Although anyone visiting here might get the wrong pronunciation by listening to our newscasters. For them (for whatever weird reason) it's "Yewston". I'd like to drill this Eddie Izzard bit into their brains as an example for the fact that there's an 'H' in it ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9IzDbNFDdP4#t=48s

[freshwest]

66. Fought with some New York emigrants about that one. They surrendered after a year or two.

Love Eddie Izzard!

[meegbear]

35. Swampscott MA ...

Most people say 'Swamp-Scott'. People in Lynn, the city next to it and surrounding pronounce it 'Swamp-Skit'. I am one of the latter.

[BillStein]

36. NJ has a couple..

like Buena Vista, pronounced "B'yoona Vista"...

they also have Morristown in the North, and Mauricetown in the South, both pronounced the same...

but my favorite is Forked River, pronounced "Fork-ed River". According to natives, it's because "you don't say Nake'd, do you?"

[LynneSin]

38. You know I went to Intercourse when I was 6 years old....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercourse,_Pennsylvania

[BillStein]

82. heading there tomorrow to pick up some furniture

Intercourse, which is right near Bird-In-Hand

[KamaAina]

40. Norwich, CT; Warwick, RI

NORR-ich, not NOR-witch; WARR-ick, not WAR-wick.

[astonamous]

41. Tooele, Utah...

Do you pronounce it: Too-lee

or Too-ill-ee


The correct pronunciation is: Too-wil-ah, but those of us who grew up there back in the days before the housing boom in the 90's pronounce it Twil-lah.

[vanamonde]

103. Not far away, Mantua

Not Man'-two-uh as the Italians would say, but Man'-ooh-way as the Utahans say.

[Glorfindel]

42. Vienna, GA is pronounced "vy-EE-nah"

Tchoutacabouffa River in Mississippi is "CHOO-tah-kah-buff"
Saucier, MS, is pronounced "SO-sher" or "SO-shah"

[Orsino]

81. Also in Georgia, "Armuchee" is pronounced Ar-MUR-chee. n/t

[Arugula Latte]

43. Aloha, Oregon --> pronounced "A-low-aah" -- no "h" sound

[Lance_Boyle]

45. Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Now that is a fucked-up name.

[TK421]

130. Bala Cynwyd

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bala_Cynwyd,_Pennsylvania

[MorningGlow]

46. Never, ever travel to Western NY without a pronunciation guide

Avon = AH-von (not AY-von)
Charlotte = Shar-LOT
Lima = LYE-ma
Medina = Med-EYE-na
Geneseo = Gen-ess-EE-oh
Chili = Ch-EYE-lye
Bergen = BUR-geon
Le Roy (home of Jello) = Leh-ROY, although locals often say LEE-roy
Nunda = Nun-DAY

And, of course, Rochester must be pronounced through the nose, biting down on the "R" and swallowing the last syllable: "Raaaaaahchstr"

I could go on. And on. We're weird. :P

[frogmarch]

47. Cairo, Nebraska is also pronounced KEH ro, and

Pierre, So. Dak. is pronounced Peer. Anyone who pronounces it like the French name Pierre is not from South Dakota.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

49. Yep. It's always been /peer/ to me.

I remember seeing the name pop up on an old episode of Cheers and they pronounced it /pea-yare/.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KamaAina]

52. Kansans actually pronounce the Arkansas River, and the town of Arkansas City

as ar-CAN-ziss. Seriesly. But not, so far as I know, the state just beyond Mo. to their southeast.

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KamaAina]

53. Connecticut.

After Mom and I moved up there in '75, Grandpa never ceased to delight in irking me by calling it CONNECT-ee-kit.

[elleng]

50. Lake Memphremagog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Memphremagog

Fergot all about this one!

[Faygo Kid]

55. Rachel blew it by calling Mackinac(w) Mackinak a few weeks ago.

Like nails on a chalkboard to a true Michigander. Love her, but somebody should have caught that on her staff.

Hope she gets to visit MackinaW Island one of these days. She won't regret it.

[Patiod]

57. DuBois and Conshohocken, PA

not pronounced "du bwah" as it should be. Conshohocken isn't weird, but NO ONE can pronounce it.

True story: I used to live in Conshohocken. I called Virginia Tourism for some maps to civil war batttlefields, and gave the woman my address.

VA tourism: "That's a weird name, Conshohocken"
ME:"Big words from someone working in Rappahanock"

She did have to laugh at that.

[BillStein]

83. of course

Conshohocken is on the Schuykill River... good luck with that one if you didn't grow up here

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

60. Montevideo, Minnesota.

Pronounced MON-tuh-VID-e-o instead of Mon-te-vid-AY-o, as in Uruguay.

[krispos42]

110. And let's not forget Edina

Ee-dinah, not Ed-ina

:-)


And Faribault is pronounced "Fair-boh" according to Wikipedia, although I think I called it "Fair-balt" when I was out there.

[geardaddy]

120. Edina

Ever
Day
I
Need
Attention

[XemaSab]

62. Mahn-row and Woo-din-ville

in Washington State. :)

[madamesilverspurs]

63. Pueblo

Supposed to be pronounced pweb-loh, but in Pueblo, Colorado, it's pee-ebloh.

Over on the west slope, Buena Vista is not bweyna but byoonie.

And I've always wondered why it's Mississippee but down the road it's Missourah.


-

[El Supremo]

70. Arvada, CO

Huerfano and Romeo are also mispronounced.

[distantearlywarning]

64. Hubby & I used to drive through a little town in Northwest Texas named Dumas

The locals pronounced it "DOO-maass".

We had a different version we saved for ourselves in the car. :evilgrin:

[distantearlywarning]

65. Also Duquesne, PA, which caused no end of consternation for me when I first moved here

Pronounced "Doo-CANE"

On edit: you can also tell the new transplants to Pittsburgh by how they pronounce the name "Carnegie" (as in Carnegie Mellon University or Andrew Carnegie".

Out-of-towners tend to put the emphasis on the first syllable: CAR-nay-ghee

Locals put the emphasis on the second syllable: car-NAY-ghee

[femmocrat]

68. Don't forget North Versailles!

Pronounced "Ver-SELLS".

I can't stand when the local TV news get new people who don't know how to pronounce our local towns. Someone should clue them in before they go on air.

[doc03]

98. Many people in the Wheeling WV area call Pittsburgh

(Picksburg) and Washington PA (Worshington).

[El Supremo]

71. That town in Wyoming

Dubois

[El Supremo]

69. Palestine, Texas

It's Pales-teen.

Got lots more from Texas. Mostly Spanish mangles.

[Zorra]

72. Moenave, Moenkapi, Shipaulovi. nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

75. Hands down the winner is

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales. And yes, it's for real!

(Darned DU wouldn't even let me post the town's name in the subject line! LOL)

[geardaddy]

121. That's actually a made up name for the tourist industry.

The locals just call is Llainfair P G.

[Rhiannon12866]

132. I've been there and I can't pronounce it... Can anybody?

There's also Llangollen, one of the prettiest towns in Wales. It requires what I think is called a glottal stop, learned how to pronounce it from the locals... :) :hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

76. In Minnesota:

Wayata: Wy-zetta
Mahtomedi: Mada-mee-dye
Shakopee: Shock-a-pee
Lake L'Homme Dieu: Lake La Homma Doo
Mankato: Man-kaydo
Kandiyohi: Candy-yo-high


And if you pronounce Nicollet with three syllables, it's obvious that you're from somewhere else. It's "Nicklet."

[geardaddy]

122. Bang on Lydia,

I can always tell a radio announcer who's not from here or anyone else who didn't grow up here who uses three syllables for Nicollet. I always cringe at the pronunciation "nic-O-let"

[Lydia Leftcoast]

77. In Oregon:

Tualatin: Too-walla-tin
Yachats: Ya-hots
Estacada: Esta-kayda
Depoe Bay: Deepo Bay
Philomath: F'lo-m'th
Chemeketa: Sha-mecka-ta
Siuslaw: Sye-OOS-law
Terrebonne: Tera-bahn
Willamina: Willa-mynah
Menucha: Manookah
Wallowa: Wuh-LA-wa

[CottonBear]

79. Cairo, GA = "Kayroh", Houston Co., GA = "Howston', Talliaffero, Co., GA = "Tolliver Co."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliaferro_County,_Georgia
http://taliaferrocounty.georgia.gov/03/home/0,2230,8350160,00.html;jsessionid=70EF9BB4F3F5AEB65A263A5C91C04C6D

[trof]

80. Arab, AL (AY-rab). Versailles, KY (ver-SALES)

[BillStein]

84. almost forgot

Newark DE, home of the University of Delaware, pronounced New-ark, not New-erk like the city in NJ

[UrbScotty]

86. Eyjafjallajökull - The volcano in Iceland that erupted last year (nt)

[lunatica]

87. Yosemite trumps everything

If you don't hear it pronounced you'll never say it right. I still have to think about it before I say it out loud.

[baldguy]

88. Chili, NY

It's not



and not

[WildEyedLiberal]

90. Haha - Cairo IL was going to be my answer to this thread before I clicked on it

Also in Southern Illinois are the towns of Vienna (pronounced VY-enna), Athens (pronounced with a long 'a'), and Olney (pronounced AWL-ney). There are more, I think, but those are the ones that pop into mind immediately. Southern IL is an interesting place - but it's gorgeous hiking country, and they have some nice vineyards too. It's worth a trip if you're interested in hitting up a national park (Shawnee Nat'l Forest spans much of the southernmost part of the state) that isn't clogged with tourists.

As a trivial aside, So. IL is often referred to as "Little Egypt," largely because of the classical bent of the names of many of the towns (Cairo, Thebes, Athens, etc).

[Grantuspeace]

91. Tucumcari, Kuala Lampur, Kinshasha, Rabat, Sheboygan

Walla Walla, Des Moines

[kentauros]

92. Whakatane, NZ

Pronounced as the natives do as "fawk'a-taw'nee" but it really sounds like "fuck a tawnee" :P

[Grantuspeace]

93. Albuquerque, Poughkeepie, Punxsutawney

Alex, I'll take geography for 2000.

[Paulie]

94. Devon Ave. in Chicago, Il

It's De-Von, not Dev-on. And the S is silent in Illinois. :D

[Hepburn]

124. Oh, man, he ILL-IN-NOISE thingy really gets to me!

I am so glad you mentioned that. :hi:

[MicaelS]

95. Palestine, Texas

Pronounced PAL-S-TEEN.

[LeftishBrit]

96. Lots of places in the UK

Worcester (Wooster); Gloucester (Gloster), etc.

In Oxford, there is Magdalen College, pronounced 'Maud-lin'.

[muriel_volestrangler]

97. And Edinburgh, pronounced Edinborough

Strange when the pronunciation inserts extra syllables. Or the written form just became permanently shortened.

[OmahaBlueDog]

104. Nebraska has many pronunciations that are counterintuitive for someone who grew up in the east.

"Papillion" is Americanized, so it's "pa-pill-yun" instead of the French "Pa-pee-yon"
"Beatrice" is pronounced "bee-AT-riss" instead of how you normally pronounce the feminine name "bee-uh-tris"
"Norfolk" is pronounced "nor-fork"
"Kearney" is pronounced "car-nee" instead of "keer-nee" or "cur-nee"

In South Dakota, the Capitol, Pierre, is pronounced "peer" instead of the French "pee-air"

[krispos42]

107. Dammit, we both mentioned Pierre at the same time!

:D :banghead:

[OmahaBlueDog]

109. Great mids think alike

:hi:

[krispos42]

105. Pierre, South Dakota

Pronounced "Pier".

:shrug:

[OmahaBlueDog]

108. Boca Raton, FL

The fastest way for people to know you're a tourist is to say Boca "Ruh-Tawn" (with the second word rhyming with "baton")

The natives just call it "Boca", but when they say the whole name, it's Boca "Rah-Tone" (with the second syllable of the second word rhyming with "bone")

[SOteric]

113. Point No Point, Washington

[Odin2005]

114. The MN city of Monticello is pronounced "mah-nuh-SELL-oh"

Never call it "mon-ti-CHELL-oh" unless you want to be laughed at.

[mzteris]

134. Ver-sales (Versailles), KY n/t

[geardaddy]

123. Hell, there are so many people I've met who can't even pronounce "Minneapolis"

I went to school in upstate NY and half time my classmates would get it confused with Indianapolis or Annapolis and pronounce it "Minneannapolis"

[Liberal Veteran]

125. Spokane which doesn't rhyme with cocaine.

Spo-can.

[Rob H.]

126. Biloxi, MS

I've heard national newscasters pronounce it "bye-LOX-ee" when the normal pronunciation is closer to "buh-LUCK-see". And a lot of people pronounce Boise, ID, as "BOYZ-ee" when it should be "BOY-see". (I didn't know that, either, until I lived there.)

[Bombero1956]

127. how about Billerica Massachusetts

pronounced Bill rica without the er and Ayer pronounced Ayah.

[ElboRuum]

131. Ypsilanti, Michigan n/t

[mzteris]

133. honey, the syrup is pronounced

KAY row...

[Skittles]

135. when I was 14 I lived in Bicester, England

pronounced BISTER

in my 20's I lived on Manchaca Road in Austin, pronounced MANSHACK