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."
In my favorite podcast, Let's Go To Court, the two ladies are from Kansas City and say Albany incorrectly and it kills me a little each time I hear it.
Monticello- the "cello" should be pronounced like the instrument with a ch sound and not like sello.
Not here! It's pronounced with the -sello ending here. Not sure why.
A couple of these I don't understand but maybe because I grew up with them, lol: Edina Mahtometi Ely Faribault
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.
The veterinarian on Peppa Pig with a Northern English (I googled LOL) accent says it like this and it is delightful. I absolutely love when she comes on and her tor-toys gets stuck up in a tree.
Maybe it's my part of the world only, but y'all calling Sacagawea sack-a-juh-way-uh are so wrong. It's sa-cock-a-wee-uh.
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 (
OMG, one of my friends lived in Riverdale for 4 years and she still said "spooten doovil". It drove me crazy. But she was always a tad awkward and oblivious.
Hurrricane (pronounced Hurra-kin) and Tooele (too-il-ah) are two of ours that non-Utahns will never guess correctly.
Unrelated, but my principal had apparently never seen the word "tortilla" in print (how?) and pronounced it tor-til-la while reading a flyer about our faculty taco day during a recent meeting. He has been getting roasted daily for it since then. Thankfully he has a good sense of humor.
I’m a long islander currently visiting the south - first we were in South Carolina visiting my in-laws and now we are in Williamsburg, and every time I order a coffee I am asked from whereabouts I am from.
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.
The veterinarian on Peppa Pig with a Northern English (I googled LOL) accent says it like this and it is delightful. I absolutely love when she comes on and her tor-toys gets stuck up in a tree.
Maybe it's my part of the world only, but y'all calling Sacagawea sack-a-juh-way-uh are so wrong. It's sa-cock-a-wee-uh.
She is from Ireland! So maybe #regional and everyone shouldn’t have laughed at her lol
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 (
OMG, one of my friends lived in Riverdale for 4 years and she still said "spooten doovil". It drove me crazy. But she was always a tad awkward and oblivious.
Maine has so many Native American place names: Damariscotta and Sagadahoc are the ones I most often hear wrong, but there are dozens. People call Calais Ka-lay, like you would in the original French, when it’s “callus.” Bangor is “Bang-gore,” not “banger” or “Ban-ger.”
IDK, it’s Maine; why should anyone know this stuff? Local to Portland, we have so many new people—it would be very hard to get it all right.
I’m from Northern NY originally and there is a town called Madrid. Not many out of towners get that far north but if someone pronounces it like Madrid in Spain it’s a sure sign. Locals pronounce it MADrid.
yesssss this one drives me insane.
Along with Galway, NY pronounced as GAL-way rather than like GALL-way, as in Ireland.
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.
Post by mrsukyankee on Apr 12, 2023 1:34:07 GMT -5
London - Leicester Square. If you call it Lie-Kester instead of Lester, we know. Marylebone - nope, not Mary-Le-Bone, it's Mar-le-bon. (then again, my American accent means I'm taking for a tourist every single time - 19 years hasn't really changed it much)
I love this stuff - sometimes, it's all about the history of a place and sometimes it's just because people are quirky as shit and somehow decide on a new way to say something.
And it's funny how it gets in your head - I lived in Denver for 30 years and it took a long, long time to get used to Gal-a-PAY-go (Galapago) St., but now when I see something about the Galapagos Islands, I have to think twice to pronounce it correctly.
I moved back to NY State several years back and I've been retraining my brain to the places and pronunciation. It makes me feel like I'm finally getting settled back in when I don't have to think about "oh, it reads this way but you say it *this* way" about some place, it just comes naturally. LOL - And I'm still not there about some things.
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.
Concord, NC is pronounced conCORD and DH gives me a hard time when I use the NE pronunciation (I'm from NJ, but I guess my history and English teachers pronounced it consistently with the NE sounds). They pick funny times to use consonants in NC.
I am in NW Indiana. We have a town named Hobart, but it’s pronounced Hobert. Anyone that pronounces it HoBART is for sure not from the area.
This is interesting, my husband grew up in Munster and his family still lives in the area, but they all pronounce Hobart how it is spelled. My husband’s parents both grew up there so they weren’t transplants, I’m surprised they’ve been getting it wrong for their entire lives.
I’m from Northern NY originally and there is a town called Madrid. Not many out of towners get that far north but if someone pronounces it like Madrid in Spain it’s a sure sign. Locals pronounce it MADrid. We also have a Louisville which locally is pronounced LEWIS-ville. We’re also prone to the glottal stop so anything with a ‘T’ in it is different. It gets caught there in the back of your throat. Oh also: Norfolk is commonly pronounced Nor-fork. Lol.
And also Theresa is pronounced like Three-sa.
Chaumont (closer to where my mom lives) is Sha-mo. Lowville is pronounced "ow" as in "Ow, I stubbed my toe" not "oh" as in "low to the ground".
In fairness, there are a lot of out-of-towners close to my parents because of the army base, so people learn quickly, but I don't know that locals mind correcting them. Comes with the territory! I grew up outside of Buffalo, though. Also a lot of Iroquois names and whatnot - scajaquada, wehrle, cheektowaga, starin trip people up. Outside of Rochester Chili is pronounced like the vowel sounds in jai alai.
Maine has so many Native American place names: Damariscotta and Sagadahoc are the ones I most often hear wrong, but there are dozens. People call Calais Ka-lay, like you would in the original French, when it’s “callus.” Bangor is “Bang-gore,” not “banger” or “Ban-ger.”
IDK, it’s Maine; why should anyone know this stuff? Local to Portland, we have so many new people—it would be very hard to get it all right.
I've been wondering this, as someone who wants to move to the mid-coast - is it DAMrascotta or DaMARascotta? I've heard both. The second is intuitive, wikipedia implies the first, so that's what I've been using.
Maine has so many Native American place names: Damariscotta and Sagadahoc are the ones I most often hear wrong, but there are dozens. People call Calais Ka-lay, like you would in the original French, when it’s “callus.” Bangor is “Bang-gore,” not “banger” or “Ban-ger.”
IDK, it’s Maine; why should anyone know this stuff? Local to Portland, we have so many new people—it would be very hard to get it all right.
I've been wondering this, as someone who wants to move to the mid-coast - is it DAMrascotta or DaMARascotta? I've heard both. The second is intuitive, wikipedia implies the first, so that's what I've been using.
My grandparents had a place near there and pronounced the first. But they're Ohio natives who moved to S FL in the early 60s who said warshington. I'm not sure I'd count theirs as local pronunciation.
Re: actors and whether people put THE infront of a freeway name, SNL did a whole skit on that just a few years ago. It wasn't very funny and went on way too long, but as I was newly relocated from east coast to LA region, it was something I immediately noticed.
Colorado has some odd pronunciations of spanish locations. Buena vista, limon, salida... I don't remember ever noticing galapago even though I worked just a few blocks away.
In Atlanta Ponce de Leon Ave. is not said with the Spanish pronunciation. It's Pahnce duh Leon (Leon-the guy that works on your car, not the Conquistador).
Georgia towns:
Villa Rica Villuh Ricuh
Lafayette - La Faye Ette not Lahfee-ette.
Dahlonega - Duh Lon eh guh (does not sounds Talladega).
Grocery store: Krogers. It's just Kroger. No S.
Food: Pollo said "Polo" all the time here. No, it's more like Poy-Yo.
Quesadilla - Kes a Dill Uh
In SC, the county where Myrtle Beach is located. Horry County. It's not Whore-ree. It's Or-ee. Like in French. Some natives to the county will say Oh-ree.
I've been wondering this, as someone who wants to move to the mid-coast - is it DAMrascotta or DaMARascotta? I've heard both. The second is intuitive, wikipedia implies the first, so that's what I've been using.
My grandparents had a place near there and pronounced the first. But they're Ohio natives who moved to S FL in the early 60s who said warshington. I'm not sure I'd count theirs as local pronunciation.
Re: actors and whether people put THE infront of a freeway name, SNL did a whole skit on that just a few years ago. It wasn't very funny and went on way too long, but as I was newly relocated from east coast to LA region, it was something I immediately noticed.
Colorado has some odd pronunciations of spanish locations. Buena vista, limon, salida... I don't remember ever noticing galapago even though I worked just a few blocks away.
That skit it dead on though. To give most people directions to my house they take at least 2 freeways, usually 3.