# City names: local pronunciation vs everyone else **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849 "2014-07-11T13:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/61 "2014-07-13T02:36:12Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Nevada. Most everyone not in the SW United States assumes it’s pronounced “Ne-VAH-da” with the AH like in “father”. The locals pronounce it like the A in “and”. I’ve heard both pronunciations and have always wondered which was correct. > [@Flyer](#): > > Incorrect. Everybody who knows how the English language works pronounces it “Louis-ville.” > > An “s” in the middle of a name is always, always, ALWAYS pronounced, regardless of how many faux-educated people think differently. 😕 I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone pronounce the S in Louisville. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/62 "2014-07-13T02:53:46Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Lancaster, PA. > > Locals: Lank-aster > Others: Lan-Cast-er Lancaster, CA is pronounced ‘LAN-caster’. Locals also occasionally call it ‘Lan(d)-scatter’. FWIW, Antelope Valley dwellers call the San Fernando Valley, and especially Los Angeles, ‘Down Below’. (Lancaster is in the high desert – 2,432 feet at the airport – and you get to L.A. by going ‘down below’ the mountains. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/63 "2014-07-13T02:56:28Z")
Lima, Ohio is named after the bean, which I guess they grow a lot of in that area. Many people pronounce it Leema including one character in a movie who claimed to be from Leema, Ohio. Guess the movie people didn’t do their homework. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/64 "2014-07-13T03:07:12Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Nevada. Most everyone not in the SW United States assumes it’s pronounced “Ne-VAH-da” with the AH like in “father”. The locals pronounce it like the A in “and”. The Nevada tourist ads even spell it out that way. See the beginning of this ad - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc8k60k5Gmg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc8k60k5Gmg) Prague, Oklahoma is pronounced PRAYG. El Segundo, California is pronounced Ehl Suh-GUHN-do, not goon. Former mayor of Los Angeles Sam Yorty was notorious for pronouncing the city’s name as Los AN-jeh-leez. But, if I recall correctly, that’s an outdated pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/65 "2014-07-13T12:50:25Z")
**Lake Orion, Michigan** is pronounced Lake ORE-ian by locals. I don’t know how many out of towners they get, but I have to assume that they would pronounce it Lake Ore-I-an. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/66 "2014-07-13T13:11:17Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Former mayor of Los Angeles Sam Yorty was notorious for pronouncing the city’s name as Los AN-jeh-leez. But, if I recall correctly, that’s an outdated pronunciation. Yorty said Los ANGLE-eez, with a hard G. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/67 "2014-07-13T13:43:06Z")
Canberra has two syllables, though most people do in fact get it right. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/68 "2014-07-13T14:37:55Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > I spent an evening talking to some Canadians that kept mentioning their home. Some area called ‘Noo Flun’. It took me 3 hours or so before I realised that they probably meant ‘new foundland’. Strangely, I’ve met Newfoundlanders who pronounced it totally differently. Depends where you’re from on the island. Many are insistent it be pronounced very clearly, as “New FOUND land.” Most Canadians outside Newfoundland say “NEWF-und-land,” though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/69 "2014-07-13T15:09:15Z")
Years ago I read an account by someone who was relocating to Washington D.C., wo said that people recommended s/he look for homes in Merlin. The person couldn’t find the town of Merlin, and later discovered that people were telling him/her to look for homes in _Maryland_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/70 "2014-07-14T13:36:27Z")
I’ll always remember the 21 Jump Street where a character said “I grew up in Mun-au-chee, New Jersey.” Well, if you grew up there, or even spent two minutes calling the borough hall, you’d know it’s pronounced “MOON-au-kee.” ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/71 "2014-07-15T07:53:57Z")
Norfolk, Virginia Non-locals: Nore-folk Locals: Naw-fuk ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/72 "2014-07-15T15:38:58Z")
Arkansas City, Kansas: ar-kan-zas, not ar-kan-saw. Ditto the Arkansas River in that part of the state. Since street names have come up, Rio Road in Charlottesville, VA: Ri-o with a long I and a long O, not Ree-o. The story I heard is that it was Route 10 once upon a time, which got turned into R.10 on the street signs, which got pronounced Rio with the long I, and then they eventually changed the official name of the road to Rio. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/73 "2014-07-15T16:02:15Z")
Try the town on the Oregon coast: “Yachats”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/74 "2014-07-15T16:39:19Z")
The only place that comes to the top of my head is Berryville, but the locals have a bunch of different pronunciations. There’s BAR-ville, BARE-ville, BURR-ville, and even BARE-uh-ville and BURR-uh-ville. And the ville in all of those can be VIHL, VUHL, or VOOL (oo as in book.) The one thing it is not is Berry-ville, though, unlike in a lot of other places, there’s no acrimony if outsiders say it that way. I think it’s because that pronunciation is popular even just slightly out of town. I think the pronunciation is viewed as more of an accent thing. > [@DCnDC](#): > > Baltimore > Locals: Bawl-mer (Merlin. Hon. ;)) > Everyone else: Ball-ti-more Do they really completely leave out the /t/, or is it replaced with with a glottal stop? For example, some people would say I say “bun” for “button,” but I really say buh-nn [bʌ ʔn]. To put it another way, does it really sound like only two syllables, or does it (almost) sound like three? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/75 "2014-07-15T16:40:41Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > To share two that I had to learn the hard way after moving to the Northwest: > > **Puyallup** > How locals pronounce it: “Pyoo-all-ap” > How I pronounced it: “Poo-yall-up” Interesting. I have a friend whose MIL used to be the Mayor of Puyallup. When his wife says it, it sounds to me like “Pee-yall-up”. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/76 "2014-07-15T16:49:26Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Do they really completely leave out the /t/, or is it replaced with with a glottal stop? For example, some people would say I say “bun” for “button,” but I really say buh-nn [bʌ ʔn]. > > To put it another way, does it really sound like only two syllables, or does it (almost) sound like three? Y’know, IME it’s actually fairly uncommon to encounter someone with the full-on Baltimore accent. But those who do have it say it more or less just like that, with possible variations “Bawl-ah-mur” or “Bawdy-mer.” I find they tend to be primarily of an older generation. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/77 "2014-07-15T17:14:55Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Interesting. I have a friend whose MIL used to be the Mayor of Puyallup. When his wife says it, it sounds to me like “Pee-yall-up”. I think it sometimes gets shortened to “Pyallup” (there was an ad for a car dealer where a guy found a frog that said “pyallup, pyallup” but when pressed to perform, the frog says “bork”). There may be some dispute about the town south of Normandy Park, though. The city council rule that the final “s” in “Des Moines” is silent, but most locals still enunciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/78 "2014-07-15T17:46:55Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > Canberra has two syllables, though most people do in fact get it right. … what are they? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/79 "2014-07-15T17:53:44Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Lancaster, PA. > > Locals: Lank-aster > Others: Lan-Cast-er Same with Lancaster, Ohio. Lank-astir. Or Lank-stir. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849/80 "2014-07-15T17:55:53Z")
That’s how the original one is pronounced too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-names-local-pronunciation-vs-everyone-else/692849.md?page=5)