# Correct pronounciation of the word "Arizona". **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2008, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365 "2008-02-27T13:00:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/21 "2008-02-27T18:21:11Z")
Unlike our neighbor _ **Nevada** _, we don’t get all bent out of shape if people pronounce Arizona slightly differently… ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/22 "2008-02-27T21:33:13Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] Ah, yes. The state of Ah-ri-zo-na. Is that anywhere near the country of Eye-rack? :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] No, it’s right next to Cahl-E-four-knee-uhhh. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/23 "2008-02-27T22:07:01Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] Now you know. [/QUOTE] And knowing’s hoff the bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/24 "2008-02-27T22:20:43Z")
[QUOTE=IrreverentTone] And just east of Phone-ix in Ahrizona there is a city known as Mess-a where half a million people live. [/QUOTE] Do any of them ever take the 3:10 to Yumm-ma? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/25 "2008-02-27T22:23:23Z")
\*\*Correct pronounciation of the word “Arizona”. \*\* Yew-TAH. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/26 "2008-02-27T22:24:56Z")
[QUOTE=St. Urho] No, it’s right next to Cahl-E-four-knee-uhhh. [/QUOTE] And next to that is Oh-RAY-gun, where they grow o-RAY-gun-o. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/27 "2008-02-27T22:32:35Z")
Um… A Bulgarian corrected your pronunciation of the name of an American state??? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/28 "2008-02-27T22:32:55Z")
[QUOTE=sturmhauke] And next to that is Oh-RAY-gun, where they grow o-RAY-gun-o. [/QUOTE] :smack: No. Oh-RAY-gun-o comes from Messy-co. A bit further south from Oh-RAY-gun. I think they grow APP-pills in Oh-RAY-gun. ---
**Author:** ![IrreverentTone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@IrreverentTone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IrreverentTone)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/29 "2008-02-27T23:42:44Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] Do any of them ever take the 3:10 to Yumm-ma? [/QUOTE] Probably. On their way to Los Ange-leez. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/30 "2008-02-28T00:44:32Z")
‘Arizona? There ain’t nothin’ there but jack rabbits and loco weed!’ ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/31 "2008-02-28T01:19:03Z")
I’m still trying to figure out if it was the first “a” or second. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/32 "2008-02-28T01:36:41Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] No the big city there is Fon-nix, after all they are hooked on it. [/QUOTE] Which is right next to MEE-Sah. Where I believe Jar Jar Binks lives. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/33 "2008-02-28T01:37:07Z")
Despite what some people seem to believe, I do not live in Worshington state. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/34 "2008-02-28T05:43:55Z")
[QUOTE=Snickers] And Tuck-son, too. [/QUOTE] One of the issues with growing up in another language and mostly reading about the states in English, as opposed to listening to people talk in the language, is that sometimes the way you pronounce things in your head is really messed-up. -I thought Tuck-son was a city in the same state as that place Too-san I kept hearing about, as above. -From grade 6 geography, I learned about the corn-growing states: Kansas, and Arr-Kansas (_watch out for those prairie pirates, mateys!_) -From the naughty bits in the SF novels I read when I was 13, I learned of the allure of ladies’ thigs (rhymes with twigs) although I was damned if I knew precisely what bit of anatomy they were referring to… -Being French Canadian, though, I was proud to know that New-Orleans was pronounced Nyu Orl-ee-anns. Good thing we finally started getting American cable channels… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/35 "2008-02-28T07:46:22Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Um… A Bulgarian corrected your pronunciation of the name of an American state??? [/QUOTE] Yup. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/36 "2008-02-28T16:35:06Z")
Well at least she doesn’t live in “Our-kanzaz” (Arkansas) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/37 "2008-02-28T16:35:18Z")
I wouldn’t know, being that I was borned in Ioway. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/38 "2008-02-28T21:41:13Z")
Okay, I certainly agree that she (she?) should not have corrected you, but it’s also possible that she’s not familiar with the western American flat “a” (as in “tan”), which you hear in native pronunciations of Colorado (not “colorahdo”), Nevada (not “nevahda”), Montana, California and, yes, Arizona. ISTM that if you thought or were taught that the only proper “a” is a nicely rounded “ah”-sounding “a”, and if you hear Nevahda and Colorahdo (now common pronunciations), you might reasonably think it had to be Ah-rizona. Still wrong, of course. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/39 "2008-02-28T21:49:40Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] The secretary at my school, who doesn’t speak English (or Spanish, for that matter)\ [/QUOTE] According to Wikipedia anyway, the word Arizona is of either Basque or O’odham origin. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365/40 "2008-03-03T09:18:27Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Mark Lindsay must not be big in Bulgaria. [/QUOTE] Yeah, you should secretly broadcast that [song](http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Classics-Silverbird-Mark-Lindsay/dp/B00000092J/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1204535539&sr=8-1) off your iPod FM transmitter to an appropriately placed radio in her office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-the-word-arizona/439365.md?page=3)