I wonder how they react

[Alpo]

There are two ways to pronounce Nevada.

 

Correctly - where the first A sounds like the a in at.

 

And incorrectly - and most of the country seems to say this - where the first A sounds like the word ah.

 

And I wondered, the other day, how natives react to people living there that mispronounce the name. Not tourists in Vegas - I'm sure they expect that. But somebody that lives there. Has a job there. Has lived there for at least a couple years. And still pronounces it wrong. Do they just ignore it? Or do they correct him?

 

I was in Wichita one time, and I said something about El Dorado. I was immediately corrected. The town is El Doraydo. It's still spelled like El Dorado, but it has a long A. And then I said something about the Arkansas River, and again I was immediately corrected. It's the Ar-Kansas River.

 

Apparently in Kansas they are proud of not knowing how to pronounce place names. Just wonder how they react in Nevada?

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

2 minutes ago, Alpo said:

There are two ways to pronounce Nevada.

 

Correctly - where the first A sounds like the a in at.

 

And incorrectly - and most of the country seems to say this - where the first A sounds like the word ah.

 

And I wondered, the other day, how natives react to people living there that mispronounce the name. Not tourists in Vegas - I'm sure they expect that. But somebody that lives there. Has a job there. Has lived there for at least a couple years. And still pronounces it wrong. Do they just ignore it? Or do they correct him?

 

I was in Wichita one time, and I said something about El Dorado. I was immediately corrected. The town is El Doraydo. It's still spelled like El Dorado, but it has a long A. And then I said something about the Arkansas River, and again I was immediately corrected. It's the Ar-Kansas River.

 

Apparently in Kansas they are proud of not knowing how to pronounce place names. Just wonder how they react in Nevada?

Local pronounciations aren't that unusual.

 

Around here, it's not only the Indian place names that throw the visitor or recent transplants off (although,  they are quite creative butchering those), it's towns like Buena Vista and Lafayette.

 

If you say them right, the we know that you either ain't from around here or you're from the town in question and are trying to put on airs.

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

do you mean like  ..... rodeeo  and  rodayyyyo ..... ?  

[Creeker, SASS #43022]

It drives us INSANE.

To the point of near violence - especially on National news stories to hear the anchor mispronounce our name.

 

We also hear it in TV shows or movies where the protagonist is supposed to be out here and saying it wrong.

 

The Nevada DMVs (every location) have an entire wall - floor to ceiling; that provides the correct pronunciation phonetically.

 

Saying the names of places incorrectly is not only rude - it immediately identifies you as an out of town goober.

 

Charlotte Michigan is Shar Lot.

 

Prescott Arizona is Pres Kit

 

Hurricane Utah is Hurr a kin

 

And Nevada is

Na Vad (rhymes with bad) Uh

 

NEVER EVER EVER

Knee VAD (sounds like the impaler) Ahh

[Rip Snorter]

Actually some places the locals mispronounce names.  When in working in Binghamton, NY, Beethoven Street was Beth oven and Goethe Street was Go Thee.

[Black Angus McPherson]

7 hours ago, Alpo said:

There are two ways to pronounce Nevada.

 

Correctly - where the first A sounds like the a in at.

 

And incorrectly - and most of the country seems to say this - where the first A sounds like the word ah.

 

 

 

21 minutes ago, Creeker, SASS #43022 said:

 

 

And Nevada is

Na Vad (rhymes with bad) Uh

 

NEVER EVER EVER

Knee VAD (sounds like the impaler) Ahh

 

Apparently, there are FOUR ways to pronounce Nevada.

I think I usually say Na-vah-duh, or, maybe sometimes Na-vad-uh (rhymes with bad, and correct per Nevada resident Creeker).  I don't think I've ever said Na-vay-duh, but I've heard it said.  It would have never occurred to me to say Knee-vad-uh (or -ah)

 

BTW, aren't vad (rhymes with bad) and vad (sounds like [Vlad] the impaler) the same thing?

 

And, for the record, Missouri is Missouree, not Missourah.  Nobody eats Spaghettah or Cannolah, do they?  

 

Angus

[Creeker, SASS #43022]

1 hour ago, Black Angus McPherson said:

BTW, aren't vad (rhymes with bad) and vad (sounds like [Vlad] the impaler) the same thing?

 

 

Bad is an "A" sound.

mad, sad, dad, lad etc.

 

Vad (like Vlad) is an "O" sound.

Bod, mod, sod, clod.

 

Now I have been pronouncing Vlad as Vlod my whole life - now Im wondering if I have been wrong on this one...

 

 

Creeker; Battle Born Silver State resident. 

Ha, I know how to say all those words correctly.

 

[Alpo]

55 minutes ago, Creeker, SASS #43022 said:

We also hear it in TV shows or movies where the protagonist is supposed to be out here and saying it wrong

There was a TV show several years back. Las Vegas. James Caan ran a casino. Two of the main characters - Mary and Danny - were Las Vegas locals. Grew up together, met and became friends when they were 2 years old. Mary said a like bad and Danny said ah like his throat hurt. Born and bred there.

[Bart Slade]

I've always chalked it up to an "east coast" thing, belittling the westerners by purposely mispronouncing the names.   Nevahda, Ore-ree-gone, WaRshington....all drive me nuts when I'm visiting the east coast.

 

Of course, my daughter-in-law is from San Francisco - and she winces every time I refer to it as 'Frisco.   

[Utah Bob #35998]

They do the same thing with Colo Rah Do.

We have some towns that are confusing. Buena Vista is called Byoona Vista. Ouray is Youray.

The town of Mancos rhymes with Spank Us

[Creeker, SASS #43022]

One of worse things I have ever heard and caused me to nearly spit up in the theater.

 

Now mind you - it is solely because of where I am from.

 

There is a film; The Road to Wellville, it is a HIGHLY fictionalized and ridiculous telling of the history of John Harvey Kellogg and the Battle Creek Health Sanitarium.

Starred Anthony Hopkins, Dana Carvey, Matthew Broderick.

I worked at the Sanitarium as a teenager when it was soley a mental health facility.

(again, WORKED there - not a resident).

So I always had an interest in the history from when it was known as a world famous health spa/ retreat/ detoxification center.

 

Anyways, at the time of the story - in Battle Creek there was a lake where there was a "Coney Island" type attraction; amusement rides, horses diving into water, food vendors etc.

(Sadly long since burned down and dismantled before I was born).

This lake was named Goguac lake.

Pronounced GO Gwak (rhymes with quack).

 

The actor discussing their visit to the attraction says they went to

GOG You Akkk lake.

 

I know full well no one else knew or cared and since the movie flopped HARD - very few have ever seen it.

But it grates on me to this day that no one bothered to check the pronounciation and get it right.

[Utah Bob #35998]

I saw a 1930s movie once here everybody in the cast called Miami, Meeami.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

And it's Spo-Kann, not Spo-cane.

 

I tried a jury case a few years back in Spokane. Month-long trial. My co-counsel was from Texas, but she'd been out here for several years. Only toward the end did she say Spo-cane. Got a few laughs.

 

But the real shibboleth here is Puyallup....

[Choctaw Jack]

One of my oldest pet peeves is from the old McCloud tv series starring Dennis Weaver.

He was supposed to be a Deputy Sheriff from Taos, New Mexico.

He pronounced it

Tay-oss.

Couldn't watch very long, usually changed the channel after the first mis-pro nunciation.

 

[Alpo]

Got a town just down the road from me. We got a river that runs into the bay, and a town is built there where the river and the bay come together. And they produce the best oysters in the world.

 

Apalachicola.

 

The first A is pronounced like at, the second one like uh, the third one like at and the last one like uh.

 

There's a section of country a couple of States north of us called Appalachia. The third A in that word is pronounced ay.

 

There's a pretty good Charles Bronson spy thriller called Telefon, and in the movie this guy tries to crash a helicopter loaded with explosives into a secret government installation in Apalachicola. He doesn't succeed - they shoot him out of the sky.

 

But on the news that night they report about that helicopter crash at Appalaychicola Florida. Instead of pronouncing that third A like at, like they're supposed to, they pronounce it ay, like they're talking about the poor country in Kentucky - Appalachia - or that mountain trail that goes from Georgia to New York - the Appalachian Trail.

 

I enjoy the movie. I've got it on disc and watch it frequently. And I always shudder when that newscaster pronounces the word wrong.

[Clay Mosby]

Back 15 plus years ago when the wife and I were still riding our Goldwing, we spent the night at a TINY hotel in Lee Vining, CA. We met this delightful young couple from Germany one a tour of Americas National parks. They told us they were having a wonderful time, and really liked the Red Rock Canyon in "Naa-VAA-daa" emphasis on the middle syllable. They also told us they had enjoyed Ooo-Tah as well.