Post by BicycleBride on Apr 11, 2023 12:32:39 GMT -5
Louisville. There was an entire tourism campaign based on different ways people try to say it. Non locals tend to say loo-EE-vil. Some locals say a version of that with the accent on the first syllable but there is more blending of the sounds. Most locals and the rest of the state says lou-AH-vul or LUH-vul.
There is a subsection of older people (70s+) around me who pronounce Cincinnati with an UH sound at the end instead of the EE sound. Not exactly local but I’ve always been curious where that comes from.
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
What?! That is hilarious and such a big mistake.
Melbourne, Australia is pronounced Mel-bin. Brisbane is pronounced Bris-bin, which is not how it's said in the movie Jaws.
Also infinity Aboriginal words which make up the bulk of place names are pretty hard to read and get right.
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
I live in Brooklyn and I'm now doubting how I pronounce all of these
JOR-all-uh-mon Skimmerhorn or Skemmerhorn
Kosciuszko is more complicated. People from Brooklyn that are of Polish or Eastern European descent say "Ka-shoo-sko." But other native Brooklyn people say "Koss-key-yoo-sko.
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).
My H trying to say Billerica (he’s from CT) kills me. 😂
Growing up, locals had different names for most of the nearby highways. Not wildly different but it made OOT’ers a little nuts because the signs had the real names posted.
Some of the boroughs of NYC have renamed highways and bridges and I am personally offended.
I will never call the Triboro Bridge anything else, not even sorry.
I love tripping people up with Spuyten Duyvil because that’s not at all what it looks like (
This reminds me of a panelist on an NPR show that once pronounced tortoise as tor-toys because she said she has only ever seen it written and never heard anyone say it out loud.
Post by dancingnancy on Apr 11, 2023 13:01:24 GMT -5
I’m in NH so I’ll echo all the Mass ones and add that Concord is not pronounced like the grape jelly…it’s actually more like conquered. I think most people know about Bangor ME at this point. Another one is Saco ME….it’s sah-co.
Central Ohio here, and LOTS of Native American names.
The worst one is the Olentangy River. It's not "tangy" like BBQ sauce. It's "tan-gee."
I guess even better is the little town of Russia, Ohio. They INSIST it's pronounced "Rooshee" cause a while ago, they didn't want to be associated with Russia. LOL
I’m in NH so I’ll echo all the Mass ones and add that Concord is not pronounced like the grape jelly…it’s actually more like conquered. I think most people know about Bangor ME at this point. Another one is Saco ME….it’s sah-co.
I don’t think I know about Bangor. It’s not like “bang-er”?
I’m in NH so I’ll echo all the Mass ones and add that Concord is not pronounced like the grape jelly…it’s actually more like conquered. I think most people know about Bangor ME at this point. Another one is Saco ME….it’s sah-co.
I don’t think I know about Bangor. It’s not like “bang-er”?
Louisville. There was an entire tourism campaign based on different ways people try to say it. Non locals tend to say loo-EE-vil. Some locals say a version of that with the accent on the first syllable but there is more blending of the sounds. Most locals and the rest of the state says lou-AH-vul or LUH-vul.
There is a subsection of older people (70s+) around me who pronounce Cincinnati with an UH sound at the end instead of the EE sound. Not exactly local but I’ve always been curious where that comes from.
My grandparents always said "Cincinnatuh." They were from central Kentucky and moved to southwest Ohio in their 20s (grandma) and 30s (grandpa), I just chalked it up to being leftover from their southern accents. I have definitely heard it from others, as well.
Oregon - it’s not “Willa-mette”, it’s will-AM-ette
I'm an Oregon native, but went to high school outside of St. Louis. I remember having an argument with my senior history teacher over the correct pronunciation of Willamette. He insisted on going all-in with a French pronunciation and would not acknowledge he was wrong, in spite of the fact that I'M FROM THERE!!
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.
Also, it’s just Nordstrom, no “s” on that either.
Oh, and it’s not “the 5” or “the 90,” it’s just I-5 or I-90.
I've lived in two places where people say "the" before they say highway numbers - Buffalo/WNY, and Los Angeles. So you'll tell someone to take "the 405 north to the 101 south" whereas in other places they tend to say just I-95 or 95 or something.
This is a total tell for some TV shows. Especially ones set in DC but written in LA bc they are all “Take the 495!”
Yes, it drives me crazy. Trying out saying it about highways around here it sounds wrong, but saying it in regards to ones in CA sounds right. lol
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.
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.
DeSantis’ hometown of Dunedin is ripe for mispronunciation.
We vacationed not far from there recently and I could not figure it out! Legit asked a local.
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).
Ha! Just came in here to say the same. Billerica is near me, there was an MLB player (I think) from there and he gave an interview saying reporters always pronounce it Billy-ricka.
On the other end, the easy to pronounce towns are butchered by the people from there - looking at you Medford (or as everyone calls it there - "Medfed")
I recently learned it’s an OC thing to omit Ts in words.
Huntington is pronounced Hunnington Santa Ana is pronounced Sanna Ana but sometimes it just becomes one word Santana Westminster = Wesminster and sometimes Wesminister
And we’re also not consistent with our Js.
San Juan Capistrano and La Jolla have the Spanish pronunciation of J. but San Jacinto is pronounced like the J in Jiffy peanut butter. Junipero Serra is shortened to J Serra (Jay-Sara)