# How do you pronounce the names of cities? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 20, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726 "2003-09-20T01:45:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/21 "2003-09-20T09:51:50Z")
Tuh-HUNG-guh Lah-cun-YA-dah Lah-cre-SEN-tah Cam-uh-REE-oh and I’ll throw in a few easy ones, so you’ll guess area these are from: BUR-bank Hun-ing-ton BEECH Cat-ah-LEE-na I-land ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/22 "2003-09-20T09:53:51Z")
Thinking about it, that last one could be: Cad-a-LEE-na I-land Yeah. That’s usually how I say it. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/23 "2003-09-20T13:03:32Z")
If I hear one more person say BO-ga-ta, New Jersey, I’m going to scream. Unless it’s in Columbia, it’s ba-GO-da (like pagoda with a “B”). And there is no QUIN-cee Massachusetts. It’s KWEN-zee, with a hard first syllable. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/24 "2003-09-20T13:25:26Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Hah? 😕 > > JOHNNY has a Washington State fixation, to which I generally say – neener neener neener. 🙂 Hey, nothing wrong with Washington! It’s a helluva lot better than _here!_ Anyway, the title didn’t specify which cities. 😉 Ya gotta admit, though, that Washington has a lot of interesting place names. I’m used to SoCal names (since I’m a native), and I rarely hear anyone mispronounce them. But… Pasadena is Pass-uh-DEE-nah, not Pass-ADD-in-uh. Sepulveda is Se-PUHL-vih-dah, not Sep-uhl-VEE-duh. La Jolla is La-HOY-ah, not La-JOLL-uh. Cajuenga is pronounced ca-HWEYn-gah, not ca-JOON-gah. Point Mugu is pronounced Point muh-GOO, not Point MOO-goo. Port Hueneme is pronounces Port why-NEE-mee, not however else you may pronounce it. But the best mispronunciation I’ve heard of came from a co-worker. He is a Texican who used to ride a bicycle to work. He was stopped on the street by an Hispanic man who wanted to know how to get to “STAH-tuh Co-YAY-hay”. Although my co-worker speaks Spanish better than he speaks English, it took him a moment to understand the guy was looking for State College Blvd. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/25 "2003-09-20T15:54:56Z")
Honest to god, I had a college American history prof who pronounced it “Salt Saint Marie”. When I pointed out to him his error, he actually said “Whatever”. I immediately lost interest in anything he would say in the future. In Mass, they say PEAbuddie, all run together, instead of Pea-body, with an almost equal accent on all syllables, like normal humans. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/26 "2003-09-20T16:00:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\*If I hear one more person say BO-ga-ta, New Jersey, I’m going to scream. Unless it’s in Columbia, it’s ba-GO-da (like pagoda with a “B”). > \*\* I better tell my Col **o** mbian friend he’s been pronouncing his home city wrong. 😉 “Bogot **á** ”, according to his accent, is more of a “Boh-go-TAH” or “Boh-geh-TAH”; and thanks to hanging around him enough, that’s my pronunciation as well. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/27 "2003-09-20T16:17:55Z")
Also in Washington State is a city prounounced Spo-KAN, not Spo-KANE or SPO-kuh-nee. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/28 "2003-09-20T16:23:45Z")
We have some fun ones in Wisconsin: Omro (OMM-row, furriners like to say OHM-row) Oconomowoc (Oh-CON-a-ma-wok) Shawano (SHAW-no, not Sha-WAH-no) Two Rivers (pronounced by locals as “Trivers”) Rio (RYE-o) Then of course, we have all the wonderful wubbleyou names, which always mess people up: Waukesha (WAW-keh-shaw) Waunakee (WAW-na-kee) Waupaca (Waw-PAC-a) Waupun (Waw-PON) Wausau (WAW-saw) Wausaukee (Waw-SAW-kee) Wautoma (Waw-TOE-ma; in Waushara [Waw-SHARE-a] County, about an hour east of Tomah [TOE-mah], good for more confusion) Wauwatosa (Waw-wa-TOE-sa) and (my favorite) Weyauwega (Why-a-WEE-ga). Gotta love those Indian names . . . ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/29 "2003-09-20T16:36:40Z")
Whoops, forgot Kaukauna (Kaw-KAW-na). True story: A friend of mine who was living in Kaukauna at the time was traveling in Hawaii. Some Hawaiian airport person looked at her ID and said, “Ah, Ka-oo-ka-OO-na! What island is that on?” Last weekend we saw Lou and Peter Berryman at a local concert, where they performed their [“Sesquicentennial Minute.”](http://members.aol.com/berrymanp/alyrics/01sesq.html) Peter was so disappointed when I told him my friend’s story after the show; he thought he was the first one to recognize Kaukauna’s tropical possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/30 "2003-09-20T16:49:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > Anything with “uy” in it, the “uy” rhymes with “eye.” I’m not aware of any exceptions to this: Stuyvesant, Schuylerville, etc. True for new york. But the Schuylkill River that flows through eastern Pennsylvania and empties into the Delaware in Philadelphia, and the county named after it, are, I’m told, SKEE[sup]L[/sup]-kill, as in a homicidal biathlete. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![whistlepig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@whistlepig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whistlepig)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/31 "2003-09-20T16:57:30Z")
The capitol of Montana is pronounced: Hell-In-Uh not Hell-Lean-Uh Yeah, we’re ignorant hicks who have never read classical literature. Everyone here has a story about being told how to pronounce THE NAME OF THE PLACE WHERE WE LIVE by some telephone support staff in Georgia or some place far away. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/32 "2003-09-20T17:04:11Z")
And there’s also LAUGH-ay-yet, Louisiana. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/33 "2003-09-21T04:37:58Z")
Bi-LUX-ee, MS. No matter how it’s spelled, it isn’t Bi-LOX-ee! 🙂 A friend once told me that someone she knew who’d recently moved to Misssissippi pronounced the town of Pascagoula (Pas-kuh-GOO-luh) as Puh-SKAG-yoo-luh. I guess it would be confusing to someone new, but I thought this was hysterical! There is a town in Texas that is spelled Refugio, but is pronounced Re-FYU-rio. How and why it they dropped the “g” sound and replaced it with an “r” sound is anybody’s guess! Before I moved to Louisiana, I always said New OR-lens, but when I moved back to Texas a year later, I was saying New OR-lee-uns (I lived in a small town about 30 miles away from NO and I heard this version a lot). ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/34 "2003-09-21T04:55:27Z")
Also on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is the town of Gautier, where my friend in the Navy lives. It’s pronounced Go-SHAY. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/35 "2003-09-21T05:00:08Z")
This should possibly go in the “Misconceptions About the USA” thread, but as a non-American, I find it _very_ heartening to learn that you butcher your placenames every bit as much as the rest of the English-speaking world. And I mean “butcher” in a good way - it’s the right of the citizens of a city to decide on the pronunciaton themselves, and the outsiders can go jump. I’d always assumed weird ways of saying placenames were the preserve of rural England and Australia. Good stuff! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sinshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sinshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinshine)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/36 "2003-09-21T05:00:57Z")
Van-COO-ver. Pretty straight-forward. I actually live in the bedroom community of Coquitlam. Go ahead. Try it. I’ll be back to giggle. ---
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/37 "2003-09-21T05:19:24Z")
Lower Peover = Lwr Peever Little Peover = L’il Pee-over (odd this) Manchester = Man-chis=ter Altrincham = Alt-ring-am Timperley = Timp-ley Rochdale = Wharra-dump Liverpool = Hoos-nicked-me-car (or) Al-gerrof-at-edge-ill Newcastle = Si-thi-hen Oldham = Owd-am :):):)😉 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/38 "2003-09-21T05:21:36Z")
I’m going to be awfully new to all that once I move down to the states, but I’ve always been really curious as to why (even though it’s not a city) NYC people pronounce Greenwich, Grenich. How did that come about??? ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/39 "2003-09-21T05:22:59Z")
**Scarlett** , you forgot Manitowoc. 😉 Winibigoshish is, I think, my favorite place name here, but there’s also Mahtomedi, Wanamingo, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, and Koochiching. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726/40 "2003-09-21T05:59:03Z")
There’s only one way to pronounce Chicago. Some Midwestern accents (although I’d think a Michigander would be more likely to do this than an actual Chicagoan, sorry Super Fans) make the a very nasal so it comes out as Chicaaago, but that’s a difference in accent, not actual pronunciation. I’ve occasionally heard Tel Aviv pronounced with the accent on the first word, which I find bizarre. It’s not TELaviv, it’s Tel AvIV. In Hebrew, the accent is almost always on the last syllable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-names-of-cities/202726.md?page=3)