Regional place names that aren't spelled the way the locals say them.

[SoTier]

Some place names have unusual spellings or are foreign words, so people naturally struggle with saying them.  OTOH, there lots of fairly straight forwardly spelled names that just have unique local/regional pronunciations.  Yesterday the Weather Channel asked viewers to send them the names places that aren't pronounced locally the way most people would think they would be said.   They got lots of replies, so I thought it would be interesting to do our own list of places that aren't pronounced locally the way most people would expect them to be.  

 

Here are some of my candidates:

For New York, I nominate the strangest pronunciation for any place name in the US, IMO:  Coxsackie, NY  which is pronounced "COOK-sock-ee".   

Also in New York's Hudson Valley is the town and hamlet of Coeymans, which is pronounced "KWEE-mans".   If you speak Dutch, you probably didn't need the phonetic spelling.

In WNY, the little hamlet of Napoli, is pronounced "Na-POL-eye" and Charlotte, a town in Chautauqua County, is pronounce "Shar-LOT".

Real Pennsyltuckians know that Kinzua as in Kinzua Dam and Kinzua Valley is pronounced "KIN-zoo".

In Nebraska, the little town of Beatrice is pronounced "Bee-AH-triss".   Norfolk, NB, the birthplace of the late great Johnny Carson, is pronounced "NOR-fork".

 

Anybody got any other interesting ones?

 

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by SoTier

[T&C]

Ybor city, inside Tampa. Pronounced "ebore".

[Gugny]

Bexar County in Texas is pronounced, "bear."

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Tarentum Pennsylvania (NE of Pittsburgh) sounds like Trenum, if you speak to a local from there.

[Gugny]

Kiln, Mississippi

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

P’budy — Peabody Mass 

Bill-ricka — Billerica Mass 

Wooster — Worcester Mass 

Bah-ston ….

 

 

 

 

LaRay — Luray Virginia 

buh-CAN-on — Buchanan VA - byoo·ka·nuhn 

Edited March 4, 2022 by SlimShady'sSpaceForce

[ExiledInIllinois]

Worcester, MA.

 

When did it become Wooster, OH...

 

Tchoupitoulas street (NOLA)...

 

 

ACTUALLY... Isn't there a word for this? The ability to ferret out any outsiders in a local culture?

3 hours ago, Gugny said:

Kiln, Mississippi

Anything in the God forsaken Midwest too.

 

Don't even ask how they say:

 

Bourbonnais 

Cairo

San Jose

 

Illinois.  You'll dig your ears out with red-hot pokers! 😆 

[That's No Moon]

Hockessin, DE  HO-kessin 

Newark, DE new-ARK 

Versailles, PA ver-SAILS 

Pequea Valley, PA PECK-way 

Wilkes-Barre, PA BARE-ee

 

 

 

[SoTier]

4 hours ago, Gugny said:

Kiln, Mississippi

 

Is the "n" silent or pronounced?

19 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

Hockessin, DE  HO-kessin 

Newark, DE new-ARK 

Versailles, PA ver-SAILS 

Pequea Valley, PA PECK-way 

Wilkes-Barre, PA BARE-ee

 

 

 

 

I think Americans in general call places named "Versailles" as ver-SAILS unless they're located in France.

[Augie]

John Ruggiero’s house.  I worked with him for years. They spell it Ruggiero but pronounce it Ruggerio. When I pointed out he mispronounces his own last name, he just shrugged. 🤷‍♂️ 

[SinceThe70s]

24 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

Hockessin, DE  HO-kessin 

Newark, DE new-ARK 

Versailles, PA ver-SAILS 

Pequea Valley, PA PECK-way 

Wilkes-Barre, PA BARE-ee

 

 

 

 

Newark, DE is the one I thought of. 

 

Any thread on city pronunciations is incomplete without Mianus, CT. I honestly don't know the correct pronunciation - but I know how I pronounce it every time I pass through (pun intended).

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 hour ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Worcester, MA.

 

When did it become Wooster, OH...

🌚  landing 

[Marv's Neighbor]

Spokane WA  Spoe-can

Puyallup WA  Pew ale up

Chili NY  Chi lai

Cheektowaga NY  No change there.

 

 

[That's No Moon]

4 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

Is the "n" silent or pronounced?

 

I think Americans in general call places named "Versailles" as ver-SAILS unless they're located in France.

Probably, maybe not in Louisiana or Maine.

[ExiledInIllinois]

On that note... Marseilles, Illinois is pronounced: "Mar-Sails." 

 

I guess that's NOT so bad and too overly hicky... 

 

Why does Des Moines get pronounced proper and then Des Plaines get botched?  For fear of sounding like Herve Villachaize? "De Planes! De Planes!" 😏 

 

Same with Versailles, Illinois... Ver-Sails.

Edited March 5, 2022 by ExiledInIllinois

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

Nevada, TX.

Palestine, TX.

Van Alstyne, TX.

Edited March 5, 2022 by \GoBillsInDallas/

[Pete]

11 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Newark, DE is the one I thought of. 

 

Any thread on city pronunciations is incomplete without Mianus, CT. I honestly don't know the correct pronunciation - but I know how I pronounce it every time I pass through (pun intended).

There was a plane crash in Mianus bridge(on 95).  Howard Stern when he was in NYC called ticket office and asked how much a one way ticket from la guardia to my anus cost lol

Edited March 5, 2022 by Pete

[Captain_Quint]

Down here in SC:

 

Eutawville is how it's spelled. Pronounced Utah-ville.

 

Tell me that's not the product of some illiterate redneck.  

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

6 hours ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

Nevada, TX.

Palestine, TX.

Van Alstyne, TX.

Pssst.  How are they pronounced?

 

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

8 hours ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

Nevada, TX.

Palestine, TX.

Van Alstyne, TX.

 

2 hours ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

Pssst.  How are they pronounced?

 

Nuh-VADE-uh

PAL-ess-teen

Van ALL-steen