Say it loud, say it proud...

[2gigch1]

Places with Native American names are just as bad.

Consider Wicomico County, MD. Many people new to the area pronounce is Wee Ko Mee Ko. It's pronounced Why Com I Co.

Just for added interest, Maryland is the only state with two rivers with the same name . . . the Wicomico River in Southern Maryland on the Western Shore, and the Wicomico River on the Eastern Shore that runs through Salisbury . . . that everyone wants to pronounce like the steak. Saulsbury not Sal's berry, folks!

Don't forget Worcester County (Wus Ter), where people go out on the water (wood er), or even has people from Baltimore go 'down the ocean' (downy oshun), says the guy driving down to Princess Anne today.

[purple]

WH in them get pronounced more like PH or F, so Whangarei is actually Fangarei!

Unless your Whanganui and then you just drop your H. A lot of places starts with Whaka (means in the direction of) which sounds like f***a.

Not that most new zealanders get the pronunciation right anyway

[Jester]

But my favourite was a guy with a US Deep South accent who called up to ask for train times to a place in North Wales. "Which station?" I asked quite innocently.

"Oh you want me to say it, do you?"

Realising which one he meant, I said, "Ah I think I can guess. It's..."

He interrupted to say, "Oh alright then. It's Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantisilio gogogoch. Impressed?"

Sufficed to say he reeled it off flawlessly! I was very impressed!

I would actually pay money to hear a guy with a Deep South accent pronounce THAT correctly. I doubt I could do it, and I'm fairly bright, and with a basically neutral American accent. (Broadcasting major, hello!)

One of my favorite odd place names is Bexar county in Texas. People unfamiliar with it have no chance of getting it right. Hint: the x is silent. Yes, really. Look it up.

Arizona to a degree and Florida especially have some hellacious names for pronunciation, as both have many Indian names still in place. Few outsiders have a prayer of getting some of these names right.

[EricKei]

There's also a few French names around here (Bellefonte, DuBois) that let you sort out who's local and who isn't. The locals get it "wrong" and do it phonetically, while the out-of-towners pronounce it "right".

Same with southern Louisiana (and especially New Orleans). I've ranted on about those more than once, so I'll spare you the sordid details

[BlaqueKatt]

Places with Native American names are just as bad.

Chequamegon

Wisconsin is loaded with them*. We even have a website devoted to proper pronunciation, I give you: Miss Pronunciation!

*Madison had a mayor we referred to as "Mayor Dave" because no one could pronounce Cieslewicz.

[bhskittykatt]

Well these aren't super hard, but slightly interesting. We also have many Native American names.

People from out of state can't pronounce Puyallup, but if they listen to commercials for the fair they get it pretty fast....

♫Do the Puyallup!♫

I've even heard people mispronounce Skagit a lot. And I heard one guy pronounced Sehome as "Say-Homie", which I don't see how you get unless you're trying way too hard.

Nanaimo, Saanich, Comox, Osoyoos...

And where I work has a native name has been garbled soooo many ways. (And when people ask how to spell it, even I have to stop and think about it.)

[retro]

Can I ask you a question? I have an American friend that told me off for pronouncing St Louis with the French pronunciation (Loo-ee). Was she right to tell me off? She said it's pronounced 'St Lewis', and Louis in America is always pronounced Lewis.

This confused me as another American friend came from Louisville, Kentucky (pronounced Loo-ee)

Going back to place names where the locals don't pronounce it correctly, there's a town near me called Hirwaun. While it should be pronounced 'Hir-wine', the locals pronounce it 'Er-win'.

[vikingchyk]

Can I ask you a question? I have an American friend that told me off for pronouncing St Louis with the French pronunciation (Loo-ee). Was she right to tell me off? She said it's pronounced 'St Lewis', and Louis in America is always pronounced Lewis.

This confused me as another American friend came from Louisville, Kentucky (pronounced Loo-ee)

The simple answer is Louisville <> Louis, so the rule doesn't apply

The more complex rule is : the rules vary. e.g.
Des Moines, Iowa - 's' not pronounced.
Des Plaines, Illinois - 's' pronounced in the town name, not the state name.

HTH. oh, of course it doesn't.

edited to add: St.Loo-ee was still acceptable in the early to mid 20th century, and you do still hear it that way sometimes, but it's getting rarer, more used like an affectionate diminutive.

[retro]

The simple answer is Louisville <> Louis, so the rule doesn't apply

The more complex rule is : the rules vary. e.g.
Des Moines, Iowa - 's' not pronounced.
Des Plaines, Illinois - 's' pronounced in the town name, not the state name.

HTH. oh, of course it doesn't.

edited to add: St.Loo-ee was still acceptable in the early to mid 20th century, and you do still hear it that way sometimes, but it's getting rarer, more used like an affectionate diminutive.

Thanks.

That er, clears it up I think...

[AccountingDrone]

Same with southern Louisiana (and especially New Orleans). I've ranted on about those more than once, so I'll spare you the sordid details

Tchoupitoulas Street ... Metairie LA ...

[Ironclad Alibi]

Can I ask you a question? I have an American friend that told me off for pronouncing St Louis with the French pronunciation (Loo-ee). Was she right to tell me off? She said it's pronounced 'St Lewis', and Louis in America is always pronounced Lewis.

This confused me as another American friend came from Louisville, Kentucky (pronounced Loo-ee)

St.Loo-ee was still acceptable in the early to mid 20th century, and you do still hear it that way sometimes, but it's getting rarer, more used like an affectionate diminutive.

Here it is in the song Meet Me In St. Louis. Of course this is from the 1944 movie, and the song was written in 1904.

A Google search shows the preferred version is "St. Lewis".

As long as we speaking of Missouri, here are 20 Missouri Cities No One Knows How to Pronounce.

[EricKei]

Well, since you brought it up

What? CHA'puh-too-luss and MEH-try? The latter ain't so bad; most people do just say MEH-tuh-ree.

For the weird: street names Burgundy (bur-GUN-dee), Calliope (KAL-ee-ohp (rhymes with nope)), Terpsichore (TERP-sih-kor), and, of course, Clio (See-ell-ten)...

You want bad? Try the town of Natchitoches (say NAK-uh-dish) ^_^

[retro]

and, of course, Clio (See-ell-ten)...

What? Seriously? Not Clee-oh?

[XCashier]

People from out of state can't pronounce Puyallup, ...

Howdy, neighbor! My state doesn't have too many difficult names; the most difficult city to pronounce is probably Tualatin. We just have weirdly-named towns like Drain, Boring and Wankers Corner. (Not to mention the fact that North Bend is actually 200-some miles WSW of Bend...!)

[EricKei]

What? Seriously? Not Clee-oh?

Picture the name as it would appear on a street sign, in all capital, sans-serif block letters (it doesn't help that the local interstates are I-10 and I-610):

C L I O



Today's brush with illiteracy has been brought to you by the letters W, T, and F, and the number 42.