AKA, the common mispronunciations of place names and other local features that identify somebody as a visitor or recent transplant.
The word in the thread title is the classic for Pacific Northwesterners. “Puyallup” is correctly pronounced “pyoo-AL-up.” People who have never tried to say it before mangle the word in all sorts of amusing ways.
Also entertaining are attempts at “Poulsbo,” “Okanogan,” “Chelan,” and “Sequim.” And don’t get me started on “Pend Oreille.” Plus there are cities sharing a name with a more famous counterpart but whose local pronunciation is different; here in Washington, you say the final S in “Des Moines.”
I’m posting because I heard a new one on the radio yesterday, during a pledge drive: The town name of “Mukilteo” came out as “muck-ul-TAY-o” instead of “muck-ul-TEE-o.” Er, yeah, so, when’d you get off the bus?
So… how do you know when someone ain’t from around your parts?
Here in NYC, pronouncing the name of Houston Street the same way you pronounce the city in Texas definitely marks you as new to the area (it’s HOUSE-ton here).
In my experience, anyone who pronounces New Orleans as “New Or-Lee-Uns” or “New or-LEENS” can be assumed, with close to 100% accuracy, to be from somewhere other than south Louisiana. Locals tend to say the name like “New Orlins,” “Norlins,” or “Nawlins.” Also, Lafayette is “LAF-fee-et”, not “LAH-fee-et.”
A lot of Long Island towns are named for Native American tribes, and they must be tough for visitors. Troublesome names would include Wantagh (WAHN-taw or WAHN-tah, depending on whether or not you have the local accent), Copiague (COE-payg) and Hauppauge (HOP-og). Montauk (MON-talk or -tawk) is one of many place names that are phonetic, but probably look intimidating.
Cervaise don’t forget Stillaguamish, Snoqualmie, Sammamish, Kalamath, Skagit, and the favorite of home brewers Willamette.
My favorite of the area though is Nooksack. Nooksack. It’s fun to say. Nooksack.
Not from Wisconsin:
New Berlin: It’s not pronounced like the city in Germany, but like New BUR-lin - accent on the first syllable.
Stoughton: Pronounced with a long “o” sound in the first syllable. A tornado hit there last year and I was cringing, hearing a local reporter mangling the name with a short “o” sound instead.
Not from Illinois:
Cairo: Pronounced - though I cringe to say it - CAY-ro.
DesPlaines, DuPage, Armitage: To sound like you’re from here - not so hard in this instance, admittedly - don’t say them with the proper French pronunciation, Americanize them. (IIRC, a Chicago-set film within the last few years had a character using the Francophone pronunciation of Armitage, instead of “AR-mi-tidge” - very grating for a local to hear.)
Here in Massachusetts it’s P’b’dee, not Pea-Body, like from Rocky and Bullwinkle. And “Medford” is “Med-fah”.
In upstate New York, it’s “Chie - Lie” (Rhymes with “Sky High” or “Pie in the Sky”), not Chili, like the bean. Equal accent on both syllables. And “Nunda” is “Nun - day”.
In New Jersey, the capital is “Tren’n” The “t” and the “o” disappear in the nasalization. We don’t care how Delaware or anyone else pronounce the same spelling.
Natives pronounce it Ky-a-HOG-a, visitors pronounce it Ky-a-HAWG-a, except for some natives who pronounce it Ky-a-HAWG-a, and some visitors who pronounce it Ky-a-HOG-a.
Huh. The hint book for SimCity 2000 was written by a couple of Pacific Northwesterners who used Puyallup in their examples. They said it’s pronounced “PILE-up”.
o/`Pico and Sepulveda! Pico and Sepulveda! Pico and Sepulveda! Pico and Sepulveda!
Doheny…Cahuenga…La Brea…Tarpits!
TARPITS!
La Jolla…Sequoia…La Brea…Tarpits!
TARPITS!
You can keep Alvarado, Santa Monica, even Beverly Drive.
Vine may be fine
but for mine
I want to feel alive!
And settle down in my
La Brea Tarpits…
TARPITS!
…where nobody’s dreams
come true… o/`
Sorry…I was possessed by the spirit of Felix Figueroa…
Oh, and to MsRobyn for getting the jump on me with the LANG-k’ster thing…
to MsRobyn for getting the jump on me with the LANG-k’ster thing…