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Mispronouncing your town's name


Alpo

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3 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

Conetoe is pronounced kah-NEE-tah!! <_<

 

Here in Orygun, that's a hot springs resort on the Warm Springs rez. B)

 

Kah-Nee-Ta

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Prescott and Prescott Valley,Arizona: Both are PRESSkit, rhymes with biscuit.  

 

Then there's Buena, Washington.  NOT bwyana like Spanish, but BYOO Enna.

 

And don't even tackle Puyallup, Washington without a guide.

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4 hours ago, Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L said:

Reminds me of the TV commercial a few years back where the guy wanted to buy a ticket to Pahoenix, Arizona. 

My town is pronounced by the locals as Hurracun or even as Herkin.

Then there's this little gem in California called Port Hueneme, pronounce Wyneemee.

After that commercial aired I started calling Phoenix “Pa-Ho-nicks” just so people would look at me weird trying to figure out what I was saying. It kind of ticked my wife off, which made it even more fun. :D

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Guy was passing through Fuquay-Varina, NC and pulled into the Burger King for lunch.  After he ordered he leaned over the counter and quietly asked the girl, "How do you pronounce this place?"  She replied, "Bur-gur King."

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3 hours ago, Trailrider #896 said:

Most folks from around Colorado pronounce it "P WEEB lo. The town on the Western Slope spelled Montrose, I would have called MON-Trose is called "MONT-ROSE".  How about that town in Southern Illinois... Cairo. Now the Egyptians say "KY-ro", but in So. Illinois it's "KA-ro", like the syrup. Also in Illinois, it ain't "San Ho-ZAY", it's "San JOSE"!


 

A bit further south along the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois, is the Missouri town of New Madrid.

 

Pronounced "MAD'-rid", not "muh-DRID'", which is in Spain.

 

The fault line of the same name, the New Madrid Fault Line, responsible for the 1811-1812 earthquakes, and still seismically active today, is pronounced like the town:  New MAD'-rid.   Most news anchors get it wrong when talking about recent tremors.

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8 minutes ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Pronounced "MAD'-rid", not "muh-DRID'", which is in Spain.

 

Same for Madrid, NM.

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18 hours ago, Alpo said:

 

That town in Virginia is pronounced Nor-fuk. But about half the people on the show pronounce the second syllable like it's spelled. Not even like you would normally pronounce folk - fohk. But they pronounce the L - foLk.

 

 

Add in that the Norfolk here in Nebraska is pronounced Nor-fork.

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4 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:


 

A bit further south along the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois, is the Missouri town of New Madrid.

 

Pronounced "MAD'-rid", not "muh-DRID'", which is in Spain.

 

The fault line of the same name, the New Madrid Fault Line, responsible for the 1811-1812 earthquakes, and still seismically active today, is pronounced like the town:  New MAD'-rid.   Most news anchors get it wrong when talking about recent tremors.


That fault line was responsible for the earthquake that formed Reelfoot Lake in upper west Tennessee.  The quake caused the Mississippi River to flow backward for several days!

 

New Madrid is one of the most active fault lines in North America!!

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

 

Here we pronounce it North.


So do we, but occasionally we miss a keystroke and it gets misspelled.  <_<

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14 hours ago, Stump Water said:

 

Same for Madrid, NM.

And don't forget my hometown of Madrid, IA.  You always knew when someone wasn't from the area when they mispronounced Madrid. 

 

BS

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On 6/27/2024 at 5:59 PM, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

 

That's how we know whether you're from around here or not!

I was raised in Toppenish (nearly silent e) on the Yakima Indian Reservation. (Also spent some time at Fort Lewis near Tu-COMB -uh  Spanaway was a cinch). We pronounced Yakima "Yak uh MA".  Now I'm told the locals pronounce it "YAK i muh".

 

I'm constantly annoyed by people who live here and still pronounce our towns Press Cott...especially on things like radio commercials.

 

Also Prescott has a Courthouse PLAZA!  Folks, it is NOT Courthouse SQUARE!  It's a rectangle!

 

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Utah has some dandies. too.  My favorites are Tooele and Tipanogos.

I knew a college professor (originally from New Hampshire but thirty years in Logan) who insisted on calling Tooele "Toolie".  It's tuh Willa.

 

Want to try Timpanogos?  There's wonderful cave there that's a National Monument and I've heard people who have lived within a few miles of it who still don' know how to say it.

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On 6/27/2024 at 5:19 PM, Stump Water said:

Fuquay-Varina, NC

A boss (& good friend) of mine once asked me how you pronounce this.  I answered "very carefully."

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Hmmm... Let me think... Places in Ohio...

 

Rio Grande, pronounced Rye-oh Grande

Bellefontaine, pronounced BELL fountain, 

Cadiz, pronounced CAD-is

Houston, pronounced HOUSE-tun

Versailles, pronounced vur-SALES

 

And my personal favorite, Russia, pronounced ROO she

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I once had one of our judges try to catch me with the "Louisville" bit. Since my parents were from Kentucky, and I have a bit of a soft spot for the state, I just gave him a mock confused look and said "Frankfort," but the city on the Ohio is "LUU-uh-vul." 

 

Some other fun Kentucky names (I've spent a fair amount of time in and around Inez):

 

 

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2 hours ago, DocWard said:

Hmmm... Let me think... Places in Ohio...

 

Rio Grande, pronounced Rye-oh Grande

Bellefontaine, pronounced BELL fountain, 

Cadiz, pronounced CAD-is

Houston, pronounced HOUSE-tun

Versailles, pronounced vur-SALES

 

And my personal favorite, Russia, pronounced ROO she

My Mom, (from Columbus) used to pronounce Hawaii Ha WOY a.

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  • 4 weeks later...

My initial reaction was that's because the town has been mentioned on the news every year for decades. 'Punxsutawney Pete', and 'here we are in Punxsutawney Pennsylvania to see the groundhog', and things like that.

 

Then I think of how the intelligent people refer to the towns around me.

Blountstown - pronounced like blunt, but some idiot on the news insists on pronouncing it ow like you hit your thumb with a hammer. blOWntstown.

 

The world's best oysters come from Apalachicola Bay. That third A is pronounced like the A in the word at. In the movie Telefon, there's some attempted sabotage at a military installation there, and on the television news in that movie they pronounce that third A like bay. Like Appalachian trail.

 

And of course we have that town in Alabama - Mobile. Mo-beel. Frequently heard on the news as mobile - mo-bull.

 

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17 minutes ago, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

Monticello Ga

Pronounced 

Mont- tuh- sell-o

 

not

Mont-tuh-chel-o

 

 

 

I was in college before I learned the Jefferson lived in Mont-ta-chello.

 

I grew up thinking it was Mon-ta-sello. I mean, hell, how else would you pronounce it?

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2 hours ago, Alpo said:

And of course we have that town in Alabama - Mobile. Mo-beel. Frequently heard on the news as mobile - mo-bull.

It's my understanding that the first Mobile Homes were made there, and that they're properly pronounced Mo-beel homes, because of the town, NOT mo-bull because they're movabile. After all, how often have you seen or even heard of one being moved? VERY rarely.

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5 minutes ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

that they're properly pronounced Mo-beel homes,

They're properly pronounced "trailer houses". :P

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I get a kick out of all of you getting uptight about pronunciations of towns you are familiar with. 
I learned Phonics in English classes, not mispronounced local dialects or trends due to  someone’s desires that I somehow telepathically know these silly names because I stand on the earth in these locales. 
 

Years ago I lived in Lancaster (lan-caster) PA.

The locals call it Lank-ester spoken quickly. I derived so much joy in pronouncing it phonetically just to watch them get agitated. 

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More from The Buckeye state: Toledo Ohio is Ta lee doh..  Spain is Tol ay doh.  Lima Ohio is Lime ah. In Spain it’s

Lee mah. 
I worked with a former Louisiana state trooper who always pronounced both Lafayette CA and LA as Laugh at it!  
 

Seamus 

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Contoocook NH....I just let em go...I've heard it pronounced dozens of ways. That's why I went with "Tooky", to make it easy:rolleyes:

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On 6/27/2024 at 7:54 PM, Blackwater 53393 said:

New Madrid is one of the most active fault lines in North America!!

 

 

Naw! The most active fault area is on the East coast, in the District of Columbia! An earthquake from a fault line can destroy buildings, and possibly result in the loss of life and property.  The quakes emanating from DC can wreak havoc all over the country and the world! :o:wacko:

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