# Beat this for hard-to-understand pronuciation **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 8, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656 "2014-07-08T18:04:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656/81 "2014-07-12T06:35:14Z")
Not places but a 50-year-old joke for kids. Two poodles and a mutt were getting acquainted and the mutt asked them their names. First poodle: I’m Fifi. F-I-F-I. Second poodle: I’m Mimi. M-I-M-I. So what’s your name? Mutt: Fido. P-H-Y-D-E-A-U-X. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656/82 "2014-07-12T21:48:19Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > No, that is roughly the right pronunciation for the small city of Nacogdoches, Texas. It is pronounced like “Nak-a-DOCHE-es”. It has 4 syllables with the emphasis on the 3rd syllable. > > Natchitoches, LA only has 3 syllables and is simply pronounced roughly “Nak-i-Dish” with a minor emphasis on the first and third syllable. They are only about 2 hours apart by car and part of the same general region. People that grew up between them (like me) would never get them confused in conversation even without the state designation because they are pronounced so differently even though most people can’t spell either of them to save their lives unless they live in that zip code. Thanks! Now that you mention it, I have heard of “Nak-i-Dish” but I didn’t make a connection…:o ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656/83 "2014-07-14T16:22:10Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > My mother’s version was “WOO-stuh.” I felt all uppity when I decided to add a version of “sher” to the end when I was old enough to be all rebellious and shit. > > So I tend to say “Woo-stu-shur” – or A-1. 🙂 Well, you are right and your mom is wrong 😃 If it were “WOO-stuh” it’d be spelled “Worcester”. Even Leftenant Chumley Fanshaw knows the “shire” isn’t silent :). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656/84 "2014-07-14T16:26:57Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > That’s the point. It’s spellt how it’s pronounced. It avoids the issues as outlined on these pages. > > Aborigines didn’t have much of a written culture, so when their place names are used, the spelling adopted was ‘what you see is what you say’. Except, “Yungaburra” versus “Younger-borough”… there’s no ‘R’ in the second syllable of “Yungaburra”. I’ve heard an extra R being added when eliding (is that the right word?) a word ending in A to another word beginning with a vowel - e.g. Diana Andrews becomes Dianer Andrews - but I’ve never heard it when the next syllable is a vowel (Diana Jones is just Diana Jones). Then again, I don’t speak any variant of the Queen’s English, just mid-Atlantic non-accent, so what do I know :D. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656/85 "2014-07-14T18:07:40Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > It’s Glos-ter here too. > > Do people _really_ pronounce the other Bangors in the US as “banger”? I heard that on Jeopardy once… If you tried that in Maine people would look at you like you had two heads. Its Bang-gor, dammit. Bang-or? I hardly know-er! (sorry, couldn’t resist) Tourists in San Diego often ask how to get to La JOWL ah. (La Jolla, pr. la-HOY-ya) ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656/86 "2014-07-16T08:57:30Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Except, “Yungaburra” versus “Younger-borough”… there’s no ‘R’ in the second syllable of “Yungaburra”. That’s because there is no 'R" sound in the second syllable when pronounced in Australia (or UK for that matter). ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656/87 "2014-07-16T15:48:37Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I grew up in MA, and we always pronounced it “wis-ter” You only thought you pronounced the R. You really said “wista”. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656/88 "2014-07-16T16:41:49Z")
Thorough, NM. Pronounced threw. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-for-hard-to-understand-pronuciation/692656.md?page=4)