My grandfather (who was born in New York state) always said Cincinnata, for Cincinnati. I have no idea why.
One I hear a lot is WES-consin. Where did that come from? Locals don’t say it that way and it isn’t spelled like that.
[QUOTE=homeskillet]
The correct pronunciation is “Misery”. 
[/QUOTE]
That’s the one.
Missourah just makes me think someone’s mixed up Mizzou-RAH! from their Mizzou alumni brochures with the name of the state.
But, Rush is from Cape Girardeau, and that pronunciation’s pretty common down there. Not so much, over by KC.
And St. Louisians mangle so many of the French-derived names here that I don’t bother paying attention to their everyday assaults on language.
[QUOTE=Captain Lance Murdoch]
One I hear a lot is WES-consin. Where did that come from? Locals don’t say it that way and it isn’t spelled like that.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that one really bugs me (see my location). When the Badgers went to the Rose Bowl a few years ago, one of the football announcers kept referring to the state more like West-consin. I wonder if he thinks there’s an Eastconsin too.
And yes, I’ve only heard nonresidents call it that. The proper pronouciation is more like wi-SKAAN-sin
[QUOTE=Polycarp]
As I understand it, Little Rock is the capital of Ar-kan-SAW, but folks around Wichita go for a stroll on the banks of the Ar-KAN-sas River. Could be wrong, though; I await clarification.
[/QUOTE]
I grew up in Tulsa (through which the Arkansas River flows) and I never heard anyone pronounce it as anything other than Ar-kan-SAW. I guess if you’re in KAN-sas, you might say things differently.
For the longest time I was joking about somebody coming from out of state and mispronouncing “San Jose” in some completely horrible manner but I really didn’t think I would ever be a witness to this. At San Francisco International I heard somebody (with a Minne-sooota accent or somesuch) refer to the other airport in the area as “Sunjosie International” as in S-un-dzho-zie… :eek:
[QUOTE=Polycarp]
The 50th state has no “Wye” in it, but is Ha-wah-ee or Ha-vwah-ee-ee if one feels like being precise.
[/QUOTE]
Bolding mine. Just to clarify, since I can already hear Waikiki tourists mispronouncing it:
When the W in Hawaii is pronounced as a V, the V phoneme replaces the W phoneme; they’re not combined. Also, there are two Is, but only one is pronounced on its own. It’s “Ha-vai-ee”, though most locals don’t pronounce the W as V.
The “wai” (or “vai”) in the middle there isn’t really pronounced the same as the word “why”. “Why” is aspirated; you can hear the H in the word. “Wye” is actually closer than “why”.
[QUOTE=Fear Itself]
Tourist: "Pardon me, is your state pronounced ‘Ha-why-ee’ or ‘Ha-vie-ee’?
Hawaiian: It is ‘Ha-vie-ee’.
Tourist: Thank you so much.
Hawaiian: You’re velcome.
[/QUOTE]
The thing is, in Hawaiian, the W is not pronounced as a V when it’s the first letter of the word. You never hear anyone call it “Vaikiki” or “Vaimea”. So while I understood the humor of the joke, it really is based on a misunderstanding of the Hawaiian language.
I’m such a killjoy. 
[QUOTE=Ellen Cherry]
Lou-a-vull, yes. It’s been a matter of local discussion for years. You can even get a T-shirt
[/QUOTE]
My Kentuckian mother has this shirt. Really!
And it’s pronounced LOH-vl.
There is no vowel in the second syllable.
Saying Missouruh is mainly a rural pronounciation. That is of cource unless you’re running for office which means thats how you say it to sound common. It has been years since I’ve heard anyone say it correctly.
[QUOTE=Polycarp]
As I understand it, Little Rock is the capital of Ar-kan-SAW, but folks around Wichita go for a stroll on the banks of the Ar-KAN-sas River. Could be wrong, though; I await clarification.
[/QUOTE]
I’ll confirm this again. My father grew up in Wichita and has been very clear that it lies on the banks of the Ar-KAN-zas river. He makes fun of people from Arkansas (the state) for not being able to pronounce the name of their own state.
[QUOTE=Chance the Gardener]
Well, I’ve only been to Missouri once, and even then not for very long, but I’ve known Missourans who have discoursed on how to pronounce the name of their state. From what I can figure, if you’re from the southern part of the state, you’ll favor Missouruh, while those in the north tend to favor Missouree. It might also be a rural/urban thing; I don’t know. But this guy from somewhere near Joplin told me that it’s always supposed to be pronounced Missouruh no matter what, so I took his provincialism with a grain of salt and went on saying Missouree.
This isn’t like the Hawaii thing, which seems to be more driven by people who like to show others that they know how to pronounce things the way the locals do in the local dialects and languages, so they insist on inserting the glottal stop. I don’t understand this, except as a kind of pretention. I mean, I can do it, too, but I don’t, because I believe in local dialects, which means mine. These people don’t tend to do this with all place names, either, saying Pariss instead of Paree, Myeunik instead of München, Egypt instead of Mishr. They’re curiously selective. But go ahead and say Hawayee; it’s perfectly fine. And people know what you’re talking about when you say it that way.
[/QUOTE]
Well I am from the “Show-Me” state. I was born & raised in the Southern tip of MO. Lived In St Louis 20 yrs. Now live in the beautiful Ozarks.
Most people in the Southern part ( the Mason_Dixon line runs through Malden, MO.) pronounce it Missou— rah. St Louis being Yankees say Missou-ree.
It’s kinda like soda or pop. Better yet if you go down to Dixie they say soft drink or sodie pop.
[QUOTE=Lightray]
That’s the one.
Missourah just makes me think someone’s mixed up Mizzou-RAH! from their Mizzou alumni brochures with the name of the state.
[/QUOTE]
My husband went to Mizzou
Anyway, this is just more anecdotal evidence, but my husband grew up in Manchester, MO (not so far from St. Louis) and he says “Missour-ee”. He’ll say “Missour-uh” as a joke pronunciation.
[QUOTE=brewha]
Yeah, that one really bugs me (see my location). When the Badgers went to the Rose Bowl a few years ago, one of the football announcers kept referring to the state more like West-consin. I wonder if he thinks there’s an Eastconsin too.
And yes, I’ve only heard nonresidents call it that. The proper pronouciation is more like wi-SKAAN-sin
[/QUOTE]
I admit, I don’t say WEST-consin, but I do pronounce it Wes-consin. I don’t even think I can SAY wi-SKAAN-sin Unless I’m “doing” Fargo.
– Ellen, Southerner-ish
[QUOTE=Lightray]
And St. Louisians mangle so many of the French-derived names here that I don’t bother paying attention to their everyday assaults on language.
[/QUOTE]
So very true. I did a lot of phone answering at a pizza place back in high school and some streets we delivered to - Bardot, Versailles, Moule. If someone from one of these streets called and we already had their address, I would still make them say it. “You live on what? Ver-sales? You mean Ver-sai?” just to make them feel stupid. There were 2 big neighborhoods we delievered to with French street names, another neighborhood having Forte de France, Rue de Renard, etc and people would just totally butcher them. Not to forget Gravois, Choteau, etc.
[QUOTE=Polycarp]
The name of the state, as defined by the pronounciation espoused by its lifelong residents, is Mihz-zoor’-rah
[/QUOTE]
Only some lifelong residents; other lifelong residents pronounce it Mih-zoor-ee. Most of the Kansas Citians I know don’t give it the “uh” at the end.
[QUOTE=myskepticsight]
So very true. I did a lot of phone answering at a pizza place back in high school and some streets we delivered to - Bardot, Versailles, Moule. If someone from one of these streets called and we already had their address, I would still make them say it. “You live on what? Ver-sales? You mean Ver-sai?” just to make them feel stupid. There were 2 big neighborhoods we delievered to with French street names, another neighborhood having Forte de France, Rue de Renard, etc and people would just totally butcher them. Not to forget Gravois, Choteau, etc.
[/QUOTE]
Local pronunciations extend to street names too – most famously, Houston Street in New York City, rendered, like the name of the early local resident which it commemorates, with a first syllable of HOUSE, not “hoose-ton” like General/Texas President/Senator Sam’s surname. At the risk of perpetuating an urban legend, I understand that Binghamton New York has a neighborhood where the streets are named after German Classics Revival writers, composers, and artists – but the pronunciations are butchered, so Beethoven Street begins with a BEET and Goethe Street sounds like “goatee.”
[QUOTE=homeskillet]
The correct pronunciation is “Misery”.
[/QUOTE]
I used to live in Kirkwood, MO. Or as we called it, “Jerkwood, Misery.”
“Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
Look away, you rollin’ river.
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
Look away, we’re bound away,
Across the wide Missouri.”
Somehow it doesn’t sound right unless you say --EE.
[QUOTE=badbadrubberpiggy]
Anyway, this is just more anecdotal evidence, but my husband grew up in Manchester, MO (not so far from St. Louis) and he says “Missour-ee”. He’ll say “Missour-uh” as a joke pronunciation.
[/QUOTE]
I am obliged – nay, compelled – to have you ask him what high school he went to.
'cause I went to Parkway South, class of '85; it’s in Manchester.
I’ve never heard the “uh” ending around the KC area.
About the Arkansas thing, I’ve always understood the state to be pronounced Arkansaw and the river to be the Ar-KAN-zass. That’s how I’ve heard them spoken, though I’ve never come across a good explanation for it.