Does that make you feel ill? Annoyed?
OW!! Stop hitting me!
My great-grandmother was born in Oregon in 1891. Her family had been there since the territorial days, when her grandfather settled there from Kentucky. She died in Eugene in 1981, aged 90, having spent more than 80 of her 90 years in the state (in her 20s she spent a few years in San Francisco). She was, in short, about as Oregonian as it’s possible to be, and she pronounced it “aw-re-GON” until the end.
So there.
And by the way, the seat of Story County, Iowa is a little town called Nevada, and they pronounce it “ne-VAY-duh.” Which is weird and hard to stop saying once you’re used to it.
Does that make you feel ill? Annoyed?
OW!! Stop hitting me!
Since we’re being all nitpicky, the town in Connecticut is pronounced New HAV-en, not NEW Haven. I grew up near there, and there ain’t nothin’ new about it. In fact, it’s almost one word: NaHAVen.
Yes, watching The Gilmore Girls makes me want to claw my ears off.
And they pronounce New Haven incorrectly. (ba-dump)
Sorry 'bout the double post, I got an “error” message and tried again. And both messages posted, go figure!
<sigh>
Although those of us in the know pronounce it “t’ranna,” if you say “to-RON-to” we will giggle, but forgive you.
I sometimes hear ignorant newcomers pronounce “ODD-uh-wa” as “ot-TA-wa,” which is in all probability the way the originators meant it to be. But, as with “tott-en-HAM,” “AY-gin-court,” and “RONCE-es-valles,” we have anglicized it into ugliness, and we would appreciate it if you did the same. Thank you.
Yup, the OHR-gun pronunciation is most usual, the middle E sound tends to drop out. Now, the reason why this is REALLY funny is that the state of Oregon has some interestingly named towns, which if you pronounce the name of the state correctly become incredibly funny–especially if you’ve been dipping into the Beaster bud…
E.g.;
Drain, Oregon
Monitor, Oregon
Needy, Oregon
Sisters, Oregon
Canby, Oregon
Bend, Oregon
And so on… get a good road atlas and have yourself a giggle fit sometime! 
Oh, I hate it when that happens. Living in NYC, I say “Houston” as in Houston Street the correct way, which is How-ston. Every time I have to say “Houston” as in Texas, I have to pause and think very carefully.
I missed this earlier.
When people start pronounced Florida as “flor-EE-da” and New Mexico as “New MAY-hico”, I’ll take that argument seriously.
I don’t need no steenking road atlas.
I used to pick berries just outside of …
Boring, Oregon.
I used to swim at the school pool in …
Ione, Oregon.
And if you want a real pronunciation exercise, try …
Irrigon, Oregon.
I missed this earlier.
When people start pronounced Florida as “flor-EE-da” and New Mexico as “New MAY-hico”, I’ll take that argument seriously.
So did she pronounce that city’s name you-GENE (which is correct, according to Oregonians* I’ve known) or YOU-gene (as in the male first name)?
- which, just to confuse matters further, is pronounced or-uh-GOE-nee-uhns (at least in my experience)
Yes it is.
Look, just because you live in a state doesn’t mean you get to decide how everyone pronounces it. Long Islanders don’t get to force us to say “Lon Gisland.” Germans don’t get to complain that we’re not calling it Deutschland. OK, you’re from Chicago, but that’s still not the point. AFAIC in Boston Oregon is properly pronounced Or-e-GAHN and Nevada NevAHDA. And an Aunt is not an insect, it rhymes with taunt.
People who do not live in a place are actually permitted to pronounce the name of that place differently from people who live in the place. Example: Paris, (France). OK, it’s not just accent but language that makes the difference here, but the principle is the same; You’re not automatically wrong if you pronounce a place name differently from the folks that live there.
Never heard it said that way before.
Btw, I’m from the east and always pronounced Oregon as most easteners do. Took living in Washington to be “corrected”.
You can bite me about Nevada though.
And, I’m another vote for residents not having any special say about how it should be pronounced… otherwise Washington would become “Warshint’n”.
What if I say “ne-VAY-duh”, “or-EGG-in” (like “oregano” without the ‘O’) and “ill-een-WAH”? That cool?
The people who live in Amarillo, Texas, pronounce the ls even though the place is obviously named after the Spanish word for yellow. I guess the Spanish got it wrong. 
Eugene Origun. I have had to teach countless Ohio relatives the actual pronunciation.
I’m not from Chicago (although I do live here and like it very much), I’m from California. A state that does, in fact, border both Nevada and Oregon, so I have a little knowledge of what I’m talking about.
Sadly, I am not in any possession of any stormtroopers that can carry out my carefully-detailed plans to force everyone to pronounce things the way I think they ought to be pronounced. This is Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share, and I’m sharing a mundane pointless thing: that y’all are pronouncing these two states’ names wrong.
Besides, I don’t really expect anyone in Boston to pronounce anything particularly well.