Butchered pronunciation of city names

[mustang84]

List some city names you hear butchered on occasion

Pueblo, CO - I heard someone call it "Pweeblo" one time, I actually laughed at that one

Des Moines, IA (should be pronounced Deh Moyn...it's French so you don't pronounce the 's', yet some people in this state still say it wrong)

Sioux City, IA (should be Soo City, not Sooux City or Seeoux City)

Council Bluffs, IA (the lady on the local radio station in my hometown says "Consul Bluss"...come on, try at least)

Boise, ID (Boy-see, not Boyz-ee)

And not a city, but Buena Vista University in Storm Lake; nobody in this state seems to know the right way to say it unless they've taken Spanish...they say "Byoona Viss-ta" instead of "Bwena Veesta"

[Camino LS6]

Ask BV how to pronounce Dubois, as in Dubois,PA. :AH-HA_wink:

You might be surprised.

[FAPTurbo]

I dare anyone to pronounce Saskatchewan or Tuktoyaktuk properly in one go.

Edit: Spelling

Edited September 18, 2007 by Captainbooyah

[Camino LS6]

I dare anyone to pronounce Saskatchewan or Tuktiuktuk properly in one go.

I can handle the first, but the second I won't even attempt.

[Oracle of Delphi]

If you call it Wilmington, we know you're an outsider. It's pronounce Woman-ton here.

[Camino LS6]

If you call it Wilmington, we know you're an outsider. It's pronounce Woman-ton here.

Sort of like Phidefia

[mustang84]

How about Norfolk? I'm pretty sure the proper way to say it is the way it's spelled, but I always seem to hear it Nor-fik.

[Robert Hall]

There's a Buena Vista here in Colorado...I've heard both "Byoona Viss-ta" and "Bwena Veesta"..

An odd one here is 'Poudre'--name of a valley, a river, a mountain range.... some how, locals pronounce it 'Pooder'.

[Flybrian]

Ybor City is 'EE-bore', not 'WHY-bore'.

O'lando instead of Orlando.

[K.C.]

Its not a city, but I hate it when people say "Illinoise" instead of "Illinoy". Gets on my nerves.

I've heard Norfolk prononced Nawflk.

Southern cities that end in "ville" are said "Nashvlle" Louisville is "Looivlle"

Locals from Albany, Georgia call the town "Albaney" instead of Albany (like NY).

[Camino LS6]

And the obvious: Nawlins for New Orleans

[pow]

A lot of names here are in Spanish and are consequently butchered frequently..

Rancho Palos Verdes - "Rancho Palose Verdees"

Malaga Cove - "Mal-aga Cove"

Montemalaga - "Monty-mal-a-ga"

Miraleste - "Mirra-lest"

Calle Mayor - "Cally Mayer"

If you pronounce it using the Spanish alphabet, no one knows what you're talking about.

[vonVeezelsnider]

I can handle the first, but the second I won't even attempt.

TUCK-TEY-UCK-TUCK

[Camino LS6]

How about Los Angeles?

Who can pronounce that one properly?

[Camino LS6]

TUCK-TEY-UCK-TUCK

Has to be Inuit.

[Camino LS6]

Here's a local one:

Bala Cynwyd

Anyone care to make the attempt?

[scharmer05]

Some local ones

Minot, ND....pronounced My-not, even though a lot of the Minot locals will say My-nut. You know someone isn't from the area if you pronounce it min-ot, that is definately wrong. One of the city slogans is "Why not Minot" so I am convinced the only way it say it is My-not.

Hallock, MN....seriously, its pronounced just how it look....Hal-lock, not hal-lick.

McVille, ND....Macville, not micville

[scharmer05]

Pronounced Ro-So not "Ro-sue" (Roseau)

Row-Zow....like row row row your boat, zow pronounced the same way....definately not an "s" sound in there, its a "z"

[vonVeezelsnider]

Has to be Inuit.

Yep:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Tuktoyaktuk,+...c=addr&om=1

Another good one:

Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia

[Camino LS6]

Here's a local one:

Bala Cynwyd

Anyone care to make the attempt?

Just to tidy-up:

Bah -la Kin-wood

[K.C.]

There's a small small town called Delhi (prounounced Del-hi), not Deli. Can't remember what state though.

[Robert Hall]

How about Los Angeles?

Who can pronounce that one properly?

I pronounce it 'El Ay' (LA).

[Robert Hall]

Just to tidy-up:

Bah -la Kin-wood

Cynwyd sounds Welsh... (the vowel-starved country of some of my ancestors).

[Robert Hall]

There's a small small town called Delhi (prounounced Del-hi), not Deli. Can't remember what state though.

Michigan..I think I've been there...

and there's Milan, Michigan and Milan, Tennesee, neither of which are pronounced 'MeeLahn' like the Italian city..

The nearest town to my family's farm in Ohio is Gnadenhutten, often mispronounced...

[Camino LS6]

Cynwyd sounds Welsh... (the vowel-starved country of some of my ancestors).

Correct!

[DetroitNut90]

Baltimore: Bawl-timore; not BAAL-timore

Washington: WASHington; not WORSHington (my dad pronounces it like that, and it drive me crazy)

Laurel: Law-rel or Law-rl; not Loor-el, Lor-elle

Bowie: Boo-ee; not Bow-ee

Ellicott City: Elli-cut City; not Elly-cott City

Worcester County: War-chester; not War-sester

Annapolis: Uh-naapolis; not Anna-polis

Maryland: Meryl-lind; not Mary-land or Mary-lund

Salisbury: Salz-berry; not Saals-berry

Hagerstown: Haygerz-town; not Hag-erstown

Pocomoke City: Poh-ko-mohke; not Poh-ko-mohk-ee

Lemoyne, PA: Lem-oin; not Lem-oynee

[Camino LS6]

The nearest town to my family's farm in Ohio is Gnadenhutten, often mispronounced...

Translates as Nut hut?

[K.C.]

Boston = BAAAAAHHHSTON

[K.C.]

Far southern tip of Illinois. Cairo is pronounced Kay-ro (like the syrup), not K-eye-roe, like Egypt

[Robert Hall]

Translates as Nut hut?

I'm not sure...Dutch or German. Pronounced 'JUHnaydenhutten', though often shortened to 'Naden'. Used to have a great local ice cream shoppe with incredible peanut butter milkshakes..alas, long gone.

[Camino LS6]

I'm not sure...Dutch or German. Pronounced 'JUHnaydenhutten', though often shortened to 'Naden'. Used to have a great local ice cream shoppe with incredible peanut butter milkshakes..alas, long gone.

I would have guessed Scandinavian.

[Robert Hall]

I would have guessed Scandinavian.

Turns out it's German...according to Wikipedia,

Gnadenhutten was founded as a settlement of German and Lenape Native Americans affiliated with the Moravian church. This community remained neutral during the American Revolutionary War, but ninety-six of them were massacred in 1782 by American revolutionaries in retaliation for raids carried out by other bands.

A couple of well-known college basketball coaches came from there--Eldon Miller (Ohio State) and Bob Huggins (Cincinatti, WVU).

[Enzora]

Any Anglicized butchering of cities with non-English names. My skin crawls every time I hear someone refer to Amarillo, Texas. And I have no idea how we got "Florence" from "Firenze."

Random tangentially-related factoid: Sir Walter Raleigh never actually spelled his name the way the North Carolina city does. He used lots of other spellings, but never R-A-L-E-I-G-H.

[Camino LS6]

Ah yes, good old "yellow" Texas.

[AAS]

A lot of names here are in Spanish and are consequently butchered frequently..

Rancho Palos Verdes - "Rancho Palose Verdees"

Malaga Cove - "Mal-aga Cove"

Montemalaga - "Monty-mal-a-ga"

Miraleste - "Mirra-lest"

Calle Mayor - "Cally Mayer"

If you pronounce it using the Spanish alphabet, no one knows what you're talking about.

Not a city name, but Los Feliz (literally translating to "the happy") gets pronounced "Low-ss FEE-lez"

How about Los Angeles?

Who can pronounce that one properly?

I can (born in Mexico City, but not Mexican by blood), and so can a bunch of other Angelinos...

[the_yellow_dart]

How you pronounce Toronto gauges how long you have lived there:

To - Ron - To (3 syllables) : Under 1 year.

Trahn - To (2 syllables) : 2 - 20

Trahno (1 mashed syllable): 20+

[Drew Dowdell]

Ask BV how to pronounce Dubois, as in Dubois,PA. :AH-HA_wink:

You might be surprised.

It's Michael Jackson's favorite town. Do-Boys

[Drew Dowdell]

There is a town here called North Versailles. Anyone from outside the area calls it North "Ver-sigh"..... except Pittsburghers are so low class they've modified the name to actually be pronounced North "Ver-sales"

The best part is, if you call 411, the voice recognition prompt for city doesn't recognize North "Ver-sales", but it does respond to North "Ver-sigh"

[Hudson]

You've just got to love how Pennsylvanians screw up words.

Ask BV how to pronounce Dubois, as in Dubois,PA. :AH-HA_wink:

Here's a local one:

Bala Cynwyd

Lemoyne, PA: Lem-oin; not Lem-oynee

There is a town here called North Versailles. Anyone from outside the area calls it North "Ver-sigh"..... except Pittsburghers are so low class they've modified the name to actually be pronounced North "Ver-sales"

The best part is, if you call 411, the voice recognition prompt for city doesn't recognize North "Ver-sales", but it does respond to North "Ver-sigh"

There's DO-boys (not Do-bwah) and Bala Kin-wood and Le Moyn and North Ver-sails (I made a joke when I first read it off the post office and then learned that I pronounced it "correctly").

Let's not forget Worcester (pronounced the way it's spelled, unlike Wooster in Massachusetts) and Reading (past-tense, not REED-ing) and LAN-caster (not LanCASTer) and then there's a whole spate of Native American names like Schuylkill and Mocanaqua and Susquehanna and Lackawanna.

Also there are names in Massachusetts like Peabody (Pea-bdy...no "o" in the pronounciation), Glouchester (Glou-ster) and Worcester (Wooster).

But my favorites are not how they're pronounced by just the names like Jersey Shore (in Pennsylvania...not near the shore) and Jim Thorpe (named for the Olympian) and Truth or Consequences (an actual town in New Mexico) and Joe, Montana (an unofficial name change for the town of Ismay in 1993).

[Oracle of Delphi]

The nearest town to my family's farm in Ohio is Gnadenhutten, often mispronounced...

In proper German, Gnadenhutten, means - Huts of Grace. The Pennsylvania Dutch are not Dutch at all, but Germans. Deutsch is the German word for German. Over the years Deutsch was mispronounced as Dutch by the English speaking people of Lancaster County, PA.

When I am in Lancaster, PA (wife goes to the outlet stores there), I always make it a point to listen to the Amish speak. It's an older form of German, but still understandable to me. I like looking at their faces when I speak German to them, I normally get, you understand us? Of course I do! :AH-HA_wink:

[Robert Hall]

In proper German, Gnadenhutten, means - Huts of Grace. The Pennsylvania Dutch are not Dutch at all, but Germans. Deutsch is the German word for German. Over the years Deutsch was mispronounced as Dutch by the English speaking people of Lancaster County, PA.

When I am in Lancaster, PA (wife goes to the outlet stores there), I always make it a point to listen to the Amish speak. It's an older form of German, but still understandable to me. I like looking at their faces when I speak German to them, I normally get, you understand us? Of course I do! :AH-HA_wink:

Yes, the Amish are interesting to listen to...the part of Ohio I'm from has a large Amish population (36% of the population of Holmes County speak Pennsylvania Dutch, and Holmes County has the largest Amish population in the world).. but it is frustrating to get stuck behind a slow moving buggy when I'm out for a fast drive on the twisty, hilly backroads..

[Oracle of Delphi]

Yes, the Amish are interesting to listen to...the part of Ohio I'm from has a large Amish population (36% of the population of Holmes County speak Pennsylvania Dutch, and Holmes County has the largest Amish population in the world).. but it is frustrating to get stuck behind a slow moving buggy when I'm out for a fast drive on the twisty, hilly backroads..

Dover, Delaware has a large Amish population too. A woman was sentenced to life in prison, for running into an Amish buggy a few years back at more than 60 mph, killing the whole family and the horse. Sad!

[the_yellow_dart]

In proper German, Gnadenhutten, means - Huts of Grace. The Pennsylvania Dutch are not Dutch at all, but Germans. Deutsch is the German word for German. Over the years Deutsch was mispronounced as Dutch by the English speaking people of Lancaster County, PA.

One of my grandfathers is from the "Pennsylvania Dutch", but they're really Swiss. Guess that falls under the same umbrella.

[Cory Wolfe]

Ask BV how to pronounce Dubois, as in Dubois,PA. :AH-HA_wink:

You might be surprised.

It's Michael Jackson's favorite town. Do-Boys

For real. Outsiders think they're smart and will fit in if they pronounce it "Doobwah", but oh, how they are mistaken.

[AxelTheRed]

The city I live in, Swartz Creek. Not exactly butchered, but people who aren't from around here often say "Schwartz Creek". Irritates me.

[tmp]

Everyone already covered the LA neighborhood pronunciations, so all I have left are streets:

Rodeo Drive is Roh-DAY-oh, but Rodeo Road is ROH-dee-oh

Benedict Canon Drive is CAHN-yon, but Canon drive is CAHN-on

All of the street names that aren't trees are Spanish, but never pronounced with an accent.

Wilshire Blvd is pronounced WIL-shur, not wil-Shire

And if you want to fit in when you visit NYC there's the notorious Houston Street, which is pronounced HOW-stahn

[the_yellow_dart]

OH yeah - Toronto has an illogical street pronunciation too!

Strachan Ave.

Said "STRAWN". Why? I don't know.

[Sixty8panther]

Oooooookay. Here goes.

Bostonian English for those who are not from mASSachusetts.

Boston: Bah-Ston

Worcester: Woo-Ster

Dedham: Ded-hm

Glouster: Gloh-Stah

Chelmsford: Chelms-Ferd

North Reading: Nah-th Red-ing

Marlborough: Marl-Burh

[the_yellow_dart]

Chelmsford: Chelms-Ferd

Just like my hometown. Brantford = Brant-Ferd

[dimitri0917]

Every town in Maryland is said just like it's spelled, cuz no other languages or accents really affect Marylanders.

Only town near me that people could get wrong is Glen Burnie... I've never heard of another town called that. My friend from New Mexico called it Glen Brunei (Broo Ny) like the country and I died laughing at him.