# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/21 "2011-10-22T16:14:27Z")
I grew up in Eastlake, an eastern suburb of Cleveland. We always used to pronounce it Ky-ah-HOG-a. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/22 "2011-10-23T19:31:14Z")
east side native, and definitely pronounce it using the first “four syllables with a HO” option… Lived there from 1958-1972, so this pronunciation is nothing new. But aren’t East Siders allowed to be Browns fans too? ---
**Author:** ![clnilsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@clnilsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clnilsen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/23 "2011-10-23T21:18:10Z")
ky-uh-HOGE-uh… And I grew up in West Akron / Medina. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/24 "2011-10-23T22:30:18Z")
My feet are almost wet, and it’s ky-HO-guh. We leave out a syllable because we can. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/25 "2011-10-24T05:30:52Z")
> [@clnilsen](#): > > ky-uh-HOGE-uh.. And I grew up in West Akron / Medina. Same here (not quite as far west as that). I assume I pronounce it that way b/c that’s how the newscasters said it. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/26 "2011-10-24T06:19:28Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > The “Cuy” is pronounced to rhyme with “buy” – so /KY-a-HO-ga/ for the river and the county. This for me, though I don’t live especially near Ohio and don’t remember ever hearing it spoken out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/27 "2011-10-24T07:16:43Z")
I grew up in San Diego, where there’s a town out in the mountains called “Cuyamaca” and pronounced “kwee-a-macka”. I assumed the place in Ohio worked the same way. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/28 "2011-10-25T01:00:06Z")
Westsider, with a sense of humor. I tell my out of town visitors it’s pronounced _key-YOO-kuh_ ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/29 "2011-10-25T01:27:31Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Westsider, with a sense of humor Hey, you’re an Akronite. What would you know? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/30 "2011-10-25T02:27:01Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Hey, you’re an Akronite. What would you know? Only 4 years. I hail from Stow, however. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/31 "2011-10-25T15:29:29Z")
I’m in California, and have never been within 500 miles of the Cuyahoga river. I pronounce it “ky-uh-HOGE-uh” (in my head anyway, since I don’t think I’ve ever had occasion to say the word aloud). ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/32 "2011-10-25T16:06:01Z")
The first one. I’m from Columbus. My SO from Niles says it that way as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/33 "2011-10-25T17:13:03Z")
Ky-uh-hoag-uh for the river, but I voted cu-hoag-uh because for the city, I always pronounce it like the Pretenders song in my mind, and that choice looked so lonely in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/34 "2011-10-25T19:08:49Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > 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. Which of course was played at the beginning of “Major League”, which is the definitive Cleveland movie, so that settled it for me. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/35 "2011-10-25T21:49:37Z")
Raised in southern Ohio, I pronounced it ki-uh-HO-ga until going to college in Springfield and meeting my first Clevelanders; I must have met more westsiders than eastsiders, because I learned to pronounce it ki-uh-HAWG-uh, and still do today. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/36 "2011-10-25T22:19:19Z")
Is #1 supposed to indicate a hard ‘g’ or a soft ‘g’? I pronounce it “Kie-a-HOE-ga”, which I think is your #1. That’s also how it’s pronounced in one of my favorite Adam Again songs, [_River on Fire_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch6xaXDk3Ok). _I could be happy, and you could be miserable I’ll pull a metaphor out of the air: Cuyahoga River on fire._ ETA: D’oh! Just saw **Thudlow Boink** beat me to the song. ---
**Author:** ![Duggy\_Fizzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Duggy\_Fizzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duggy_Fizzle)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/37 "2011-10-26T00:24:26Z")
There is no long “o” sound!! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/38 "2011-10-26T16:32:55Z")
East Sider born and bred. I say it with hog, not hoe. I rarely ever heard anyone say it with hoe. It was almost always hog. The East Side-West Side cultural divide is notorious, but I’ve never heard of it being a difference in pronouncing the river. ---
**Author:** ![Snowcarpet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowcarpet/32/257_2.png) [@Snowcarpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowcarpet)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387/39 "2011-10-26T16:51:12Z")
“ky-uh-HOGE-uh” I live in Akron, and my street dead ends into the river. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuyahoga-one-river-many-pronunciations/600387.md?page=1)