S/O Place names that are pronounced differently

[YaelAldrich]

How to pronounce Massachusetts town names.  

 

[Zoo Keeper]

15 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

Really?!  I’ve always pronounced it with the “bang-gor”, I’m shocked to hear that’s not widely done???

 It's Bang-gore, not Bang-ger...most folks from away mess up that last syllable. 

After 20 years of me being part of his life, my dear father in law still says Banger.  Every single time.  I give up. 

[Carol in Cal.]

In Wisconsin, I understand, "Portage" is pronounced "PORT idj".

And in California San Rafael is pronounced SAN ruh FELL.

[moonflower]

San Jacinto in Texas, near Houston, is pronounced locally as San (rhymes with fan) Juh-cent-oh.  Not the Spanish pronunciation, which would be San (rhymes with won) Hah-seent-oh.

I guess if you win the battle you get to decide how it's pronounced.

Lots of things like that in south texas.

[Spy Car]

7 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

 

I don't know what to tell you. I am a third generation Angeleno, and it is pronounced kuh-wang-guh:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahuenga,_California

I'd suggest Cahuenga is more like kuh-wheng-guh.

Definitely not kuh-hung-ah.

There is Tujunga tuh-hug--ah, but it's a different place.

Oddy, in Beverly Hills there is a street called Cañon Dr. It has an énye so it ought the be pronounced can-yohn. But everyone says cannon. But one street over is the famous Rodeo Dr.  It is called Ro-DAY-OO in the Spanish style, not row-dee-oh (as in standard English). 

I enjoy hearing out-of-towners dealing with Cahuenga. 

Bill

 

 

[Carrie12345]

13 hours ago, Mainer said:

They know you're not from PA if you say Lan-cas-ter instead of LANC-a-ster. There's also Schuylkill County, pronounced Skoo-kull. I think. Still not 100% sure on that one.

Definitely skookull! Sometimes with a noticeable middle L. But no one agrees on how to say Wilkes-Barre.   I'm on the wilks burry bench. Newscasters are all over the place.

[mmasc]

Lots of beach towns in NC seem to be this way! 

Kure Beach—-some say cure-y, cure, and even ker (rhymes with her). Not sure what people are thinking with that last one😂 but I *think* the first is most used  

Topsail Beach—-if you’re from NC then it’s TOP-suhl. Not from NC and it’s TOP-sail. 

[Kanin]

31 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

Definitely skookull! Sometimes with a noticeable middle L. But no one agrees on how to say Wilkes-Barre.   I'm on the wilks burry bench. Newscasters are all over the place.

Haha, oh yeah, I totally said Wilks-Bar until I heard someone pronounce it Wilks-berry!  Ack!

[carriede]

I lived in Wichita, KS for a short time... the Little Arkansas and Big Arkansas rivers come together there to make the more well known Arkansas River.

But it's not called the Arkansas River there. It's the "are-Kansas" River. And the state of Arkansas is pronounced "are-Kansas" also.

[City Mouse]

There are too many in Texas to list. https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Most-mispronounced-Texas-city-names-5986103.php#photo-7340602

 

There is a street in northwest Houston that is spelled Kuykendahl and is pronounced kirk-en-doll. It was named for Mr. Kuykendahl who pronounced his name that way. 

[Matryoshka]

20 hours ago, J-rap said:

Worcester, MA.  We don't live there, but lived near there for awhile.  We were so confused at first by how people there pronounced it!  (More like Worster.)

No, no, no.  Worcester is pronounced like Wooster with a short oo (like book).  There is no R sound in the middle.  Ever.  Not even by rhotic people (I pronounce R's).  Well, we rhotic people do put the 'r' on the end.  But not in the middle.   

MA is full of confusing names - but we pronounce them like the British originals.  Worcester is pronounced the same in England (well, except the non-rhotic Brits wouldn't put the R at the end either...)

Here's a fun video...  And I found this funny also because most of these I wouldn't have even realized would be hard to pronounce.  Of course Billerica is Bill-RICKA.

 

[Lady Florida.]

Apparently Kissimmee, which I mentioned upthread, is one in the top ten of mispronounced U.S. cities.

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/americas-top-10-most-commonly-mispronounced-towns-and-cities

The other mispronounced cities in my state are usually either because they're of Native American origin and don't follow English phonetic rules or of Spanish origin but have been Americanized. 

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/entertainment/2018/06/29/15-florida-towns-youre-probably-pronouncing-wrong/741826002/

Edited December 3, 2018 by Lady Florida.

[Moonhawk]

On 12/2/2018 at 10:38 AM, Suzanne in ABQ said:

Prescott, AZ is pronounced PRES-kt (second syllable as in biscuit)  We really need a schwa symbol on these boards.

Local outrage continues here in the Albuquerque, NM area over the pronunciation of a little mountain town named Madrid (same spelling as the place in Spain), but long pronounced MA-drid (accent on first syllable).  It's been pronounced that way for a couple hundred years, but folks still want to come in and tell us we're wrong for not using the Castilian Spanish pronunciation.

 

I've noticed more and more people saying Press-cott recently instead of the PRES-kt you mentioned. It's gotten to the point I was beginning to believe I was wrong, lol, so thanks for bringing this one up.

My home town name is going through it's own battle. Sahuarita, pronounced as you would in Spanish (Sa-hua-rita). As more people move to the town it's becoming Saw-rita. I had someone correct me when I pronounced it as it should be. Similar things are happening with the street names: La Cañada is being pronounced like Canada the country, with no attempt at the ñ. I understand not being able to pull off an accent, but it got my goat when I was corrected. 

[Lori D.]

On 12/2/2018 at 10:14 AM, Lady Florida. said:

My oddly named friend from the other thread (Zona) is from Louisville, Kentucky. I always pronounced it Loo-ee ville. She says it's Loo-ville. 

My grandparents had an elderly friend from Kentucky who pronounced it: "LOW-vull"

 

Also, what's with the Thames River in England pronounced "TEMMS", rather than with a "TH" and a long A? Or Worchestershire Sauce pronounced "WORST-uh-chur Sauce"?

Edited December 3, 2018 by Lori D.

[Lady Florida.]

There's a city in my county (actually I think it was annexed by Melbourne, FL some time ago but the name still exists) called Eau Gallie. Eau is pronounced like beau, or as in eau de cologne - Oh Gallie. Sometimes I hear local newscasters call it Ooh Gallie. They never seem to have trouble with the Gallie part, which is pronounced galley, like in a galley kitchen.

Edited December 3, 2018 by Lady Florida.

[happi duck]

There's stuff named for a last name spelled "Throop".  Often people scoff at locals saying "Troop" but that's the correct pronunciation!  The "th" is like the "th" in "Thomas" or "Thames".

[wintermom]

On 12/2/2018 at 3:58 PM, bolt. said:

Calgary: Cal-garry to outsiders, Cal-gree to locals.

That's exactly what I was going to say. 

Toronto to outsiders, Torono to locals

[StephanieZ]

Any "hollow" in Appalachia is pronounced "holler" Say it like "hollow", and we'll know you don't really know here. . . Likewise, we SPELL it "hollow" . . .  spelling it "holler" just looks silly, lol. 

[Guest]

Westminster, MD. Despite the phonetically logical spelling, people say “West-Min-i-ster.” Nope. Three syllables. West-min-ster. It was named after Westminster Abbey in England. 

[carriede]

19 hours ago, tbog said:

 

Like by people in Arkansas? I’ve never heard someone call it that. Ive always heard it said Ark an saw. 

No, by people in Kansas or at least in Wichita. I thought it was a bit self/state-centered. 😉

[hornblower]

On 12/3/2018 at 4:07 PM, Quill said:

Westminster, MD. Despite the phonetically logical spelling, people say “West-Min-i-ster.” Nope. Three syllables. West-min-ster. It was named after Westminster Abbey in England. 

one of the municipalities in Greater Vancouver is New Westminster BC & while people pronounce it correctly, many struggle with spelling it & put in the extra i.

I think it's because people don't know the word 'minster' (which is a type of church) so they default to minister.... Our New West was BC's capital for a short bit.