Pronunciation that marks an "out of towner"

[Wallflower]

I thought this could get fun ... Spinning off the "Today I Learned" thread, what local pronunciation do you hear mispronounced by others, immediately marking them as an out-of-towner?

A few I have:

• I live in upstate NY and if I hear "Al-bany" ("Al" like Al Bundy), I know they're not local. It's much closer to "All-bany" with a little "Aul-bany" slipped in.
• I lived in Denver for years and if you pronounce Galapago St. like the Galapagos Islands, I know you're not a local. (gal-a-PAY-go)
• My sister lived on the CA coast for years, in Lompoc. It's "Lom-poke", not "Lom-Pock." 

[dish2501]

There is a street in Chicago “Paulina”, but we say hard pa line ah.

And there is no S pronounced at the end of Illinois.

[k3am]

When people go to "San Fran."

[bee20]

Native names are always classics.

Puyallup

mostly rhymes with "few gallop".

[pandorica]

Too many towns to name in MA, but the two I think of first are Worcester and Peabody (driving around with my H trying to read highway signs is always a good time).

[icedcoffee]

When I lived in Boston it was "Wor-ce-ster" instead of "Wooster" that screamed out of towner.

[icedcoffee]

Jinks pandorica lol

[pandorica]

Apr 11, 2023 10:46:54 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

When I lived in Boston it was "Wor-ce-ster" instead of "Wooster" that screamed out of towner.

I've been trying to teach H for almost ten years. He's getting closer but still can't quite manage it 😅

[icedcoffee]

I can't think of much for DC area though.

[mrsslocombe]

I grew up in Central PA and there's a lot.

Lancaster is the most frequent offender-it's LANK-aster (almost LANGKaster)

Lebanon is "LEBnin"

Bethlehem is Bethlum.

Here in Brooklyn it's Joralemon, Schermerhorn, and Kosciuszko

[jinkies]

Wilkes-Barre, PA (pronounced like Barrie/Berry, not like a ballet barre)

[devonpow]

I’m in Boston so basically everything lol

Worcester, Leominster, Scituate, Chatham, Gloucester….

[Deleted]

Passyunk Ave in Philly (pronounced Pah-shunk not Pass-y-unk)

[gottadobe]

Bexar County TX
Pronounced "Bear"

[glitzy07]

Minnesota here.

I will never forget rewatching the pilot episode of Beverly Hills 90210 and hearing Brenda pronounce her supposed home town of Wayzata as "Way-zahta" instead of "Why-zetta" like we all say it. The writers could easily have chosen a neighboring city with a much easier to pronounce name for the show. lol

[mpm]

When we first moved to Georgia I was at the DMV registering my car and was so confused because I thought the person at the desk was telling me to write my check out to Cobb County. We were in DeKalb County.

[circa1978]

St. Louis has many French street names/neighborhoods that are absolutely butchered beyond the point of recognition. I grew up here and only just realized a few years ago that the street I had driven down thousands of times - Chouteau - was also the street I'd heard pronounced Show-doe my entire life. This article breaks it down pretty well:

news.stlpublicradio.org/arts/2014-02-27/pard-my-french-st-louis-peculiar-way-of-saying-local-street-names

[CurlyQ284]

Anything French that is pronounced French anywhere in the United States will out you as an out of towner 😂

[BlondeSpiders]

I forgive folks for not knowing Puyallup, most transplants can't get it right either. Like many states, we have many tribal names that would be hard for anyone who didn't grow up saying them: Enumclaw, Sequim, even Spokane.

It's how they say Mt. Rainier that's a dead giveaway. It's pronounced rain-EAR. Non locals say RUH-near.

[sugarbear1]

I was going to say Peabody and Worcester for sure.

In Washington, Sequim always gets people. It's pronounced "Skwim."

[dreamcrisp1]

When people pronounce Toronto with the 2nd T. They even made a whole movie on a guy from Toronto and mispronounced it. 🙄🫠 do more research people!

Also many cities in the Netherlands.

Gouda is not pronounced with a G sound.

[mcppalmbeach]

I can’t think of any in Florida off the top of my head, but when we dine with people who see dolphin on the menu and assume people are ordering flipper I know they aren’t from here.

[frlcb]

Apr 11, 2023 10:54:44 GMT -5 mpm said:

When we first moved to Georgia I was at the DMV registering my car and was so confused because I thought the person at the desk was telling me to write my check out to Cobb County. We were in DeKalb County.

Were they saying de-cobb? Or De-cab? 

Anyone that says Hotlanta is 100% not from Atlanta. 

And pretty much anyone that says all the letters in Atlanta. Its basically 'Atlanuh'

[pinkdutchtulips]

Apr 11, 2023 10:43:29 GMT -5 k3am said:

When people go to "San Fran."

equally offensive to the ear, "Frisco"

[orangello]

Oregon - it’s not “Willa-mette”, it’s will-AM-ette

[gummybear]

The hardest one around here is probably Schuylkill (river and expressway). Honestly I don't think people even try if they don't know (it's Skoo-kill). A lot of the pronunciations around here have more to do with the accent/intonation we have - it's kind of a mush mouth blend with an odd accentuation of certain vowels. When we got a new meteorologist on our ABC channel I wasn't even paying attention or watching (just background listening) and I immediately knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that she had either grown up here or spent a good amount of time here by the way she pronounced Poconos and coast. Which is pretty uncommon for a newscaster since they work hard to mask any accent.

[Jalapeñomel]

Apr 11, 2023 10:41:05 GMT -5 dish2501 said:

There is a street in Chicago “Paulina”, but we say hard pa line ah.

And there is no S pronounced at the end of Illinois.

And yet there are two S pronounced at the end of Des Plaines. 

[countthestars]

Another MA town my husband couldn't remember - Haverhill. He called it Haver (like to have something) Hill instead of Hay-ver-ul

[quesyrah]

Apr 11, 2023 11:07:27 GMT -5 mcppalmbeach said:

I can’t think of any in Florida off the top of my head, but when we dine with people who see dolphin on the menu and assume people are ordering flipper I know they aren’t from here.

What is dolphin?

I admit if I saw dolphin I would think it was dolphin lol.

I’m from CA if it matters.

[BlondeSpiders]

Apr 11, 2023 11:03:59 GMT -5 dreamcrisp1 said:

When people pronounce Toronto with the 2nd T. They even made a whole movie on a guy from Toronto and mispronounced it. 🙄🫠 do more research people!

Also many cities in the Netherlands.

Gouda is not pronounced with a G sound.

An old coworker of my H had this conversation with me once. So I try to pronounce it Tor-ONN-no whenever I can. I am constantly puzzled by Canadians who say ToronTo.