# Cuyahoga: one river, many pronunciations **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387 "2011-10-21T19:34:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/1 "2011-10-21T19:34:06Z")
The Cuyahoga River; famous for its former flammability, and serving as a virtual Berlin Wall among many in Northeast Ohio who see crossing it as akin to entering a portal to another dimension. How do you pronounce it\>? Let’s find out. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/2 "2011-10-21T19:36:49Z")
I don’t live near the river and I don’t hear it mentioned out loud very often, but my immediate inclination is KOO-yuh-HO-guh. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/3 "2011-10-21T19:40:40Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I don’t live near the river and I don’t hear it mentioned out loud very often, but my immediate inclination is KOO-yuh-HO-guh. That’s how I almost hear it. More like COY-uh-HO-guh. But that’s from the R.E.M. song more than anything. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/4 "2011-10-21T19:43:08Z")
The “Cuy” is pronounced to rhyme with “buy” – so /KY-a-HO-ga/ for the river and the county. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/5 "2011-10-21T19:48:25Z")
Yeah what **Giles** says. I live 2 minutes south of the county and cradled within the crook of the river. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/6 "2011-10-21T19:51:01Z")
Without reading any replies, I’m fairly sure it should be kie-yuh-hoe-guh. With a long i, as in “eye”. With stress on the “hoe”. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/7 "2011-10-21T19:55:49Z")
ky-uh-HOGE-uh or koy-uh-HO-guh - I couldn’t figure out the phonetic difference between these two? In any case, stress on the third syllable. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/8 "2011-10-21T20:26:30Z")
Ivoted \*ky-uh-HOGE-uh \*, and I live in Akiron. BTW, you’ll be glad to know my latest research shows the term “devil strip” appears in the Cleveland Plain Dealer three hundred times before “tree lawn” shows up in 1903. So, it ain’t just Akron. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/9 "2011-10-21T20:44:59Z")
Apparently the first (transplanted to Indiana, but lived in Parma for a few years and North Olmsted until 2001) West Sider checking in. My dad’s theory, however, is that it’s lifelong residents of Northeast Ohio who pronounce it our way, transplants who opt for the “long O” variant. He was disappointed when one of his former students who had gone with the “hawg” pronunciation when he taught her switched to “hoag” after she was hired as a reporter (and eventual anchor) by one of the local TV stations. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/10 "2011-10-21T21:23:57Z")
Voted for the REM option, although the phonetic spelling doesn’t quite match (ie what Giles said) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/11 "2011-10-21T22:46:21Z")
My wife, (born and raised in North Royalton, where her family still lives) calls it ky-ah-HO-gah, although the first syllable actually comes out somewhere between ky and kwy. I’ve actually known people who insist it’s pronounced “kwah-gah.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/12 "2011-10-21T22:52:13Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > The “Cuy” is pronounced to rhyme with “buy” – so /KY-a-HO-ga/ for the river and the county. This is the way I pronounce it, because I’m most familiar with it from the [Adam Again song “River on Fire.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ch6xaXDk3Ok#t=67s) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/13 "2011-10-21T22:59:41Z")
East side. Ky-uh-HOGE-uh. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/14 "2011-10-21T23:18:01Z")
Columbus – Ky-uh-HO-guh is how I’ve always heard it. Except in “My City Was Gone,” of course. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/15 "2011-10-21T23:56:51Z")
How is the HOGE of ky-uh-HOGE-uh supposed to be pronounced? Is it the G hard or soft? Anyway, I’m not from Ohio, but the pronunciation I use is ky-uh-HO-guh. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/16 "2011-10-22T00:19:57Z")
Having grown up in Pennsylvania, I find myself siding with the east siders. Is it true it is an Indian word for crooked? ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/17 "2011-10-22T00:29:05Z")
West Siiiiiiiiiiiiiide! I don’t think the ‘g’ gets emphasized quite like you’ve spelled it out. I’ve heard it as _ky-uh-HOE-gah_ or _ky-uh-HAW-gah_, which is a subtle difference. I’m not sure I pronounce it consistently one way. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/18 "2011-10-22T03:14:46Z")
I don’t know of any East Side/West Side difference. It seemed to me that when I was a kid 30 years ago, it was usually hawg-a, with the hoag-a pronunciation being a recent thing. But then I watched some Youtube clips of old Cleveland newscasts from the 1970s and the one time they said it, it was hoag-a. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/19 "2011-10-22T03:45:24Z")
The only time I’ve heard the river mentioned was in the Randy Newman song “Burn On”, and he seems to pronounce it kuy-uh-HO-gah on the original LP version. (Don’t bother looking it up on YouTube–all the versions have poor sound quality and he’s not exactly consistent with the pronunciation in concert.) ---
**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:** [October 22, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/20 "2011-10-22T06:42:00Z")
SE Ohioan: ky-a-HOE-gah. The a/schwa gets a bit swallowed at times into ky-HOE-gah. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387.md?page=2)