# Mangled pronunciation of cities and other things near you **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 3, 2002, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008 "2002-05-03T04:20:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Washte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Washte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washte)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/41 "2002-05-03T15:32:21Z")
Before moving to England I lived in Northern California. FAR north. About 450 miles north of Frisco (YES California extends that much further north). The county was Del Norte, which is Spanish and should be pronounced Del Nor- **tay**. However, even the locals called it **Nort** - which drove me nuts. There is a town 20 miles nearby called Gasquet. Not Gas-kit, but Gahz-gee (kee). As many of the place names are either Spanish in origin, or Native American, it is all too common to mispronounce the names. As those of you in Hawaii are all too familiar as well - if it doesn’t look like it ought to be pronounced, it will be pronounced wrongly. Perhaps when **Kal** and I take our road trip next month we’ll go through **Wore-sester-shire** (Worcestershire), **Looga-bore-ooga** (Loughborough) and **Lie-cester** (Leicester)… 😃 I’m still learning over here, but haven’t made too much an arse of meself yet… Thank the Gods! ---
**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/42 "2002-05-03T16:26:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gallows fodder \* > \*\*Lancaster, Pennsylvania is not pronounced LAN-CAS-ter. It’s LANK-us-ter. Thank you. > > That said, how do you pronounce Wilkes-Barre, PA? Anyone? I say Wilks-Bear. Is that…wrong? \*\* I went to school in Scranton, and I recall it as Wilks-Burr. But I’ve heard -Bear too, it might be somewhere between the two. The cities of Concord NH and Concord Mass. are conkrd (much like conquered), not con-cord. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/43 "2002-05-03T16:56:20Z")
Washingtonians like to laugh at visitors trying to pronounce things like: Sequim (squim) Puyallup (pew-AL-up) Yakima (YAK-i-maw) ---
**Author:** ![RedNaxela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ad7895/32.png) [@RedNaxela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedNaxela)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/44 "2002-05-03T16:58:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > **Around here visitors often say Boise as “boy-zee.” The correct pronunciation is "Boy-see."** Phooey! That ruins a great limerick, then… There was a young fellow from Boise Who at times was exceedingly noise; So his friends’ joy increased When he moved way back east To what people in Brooklyn call Joise. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/45 "2002-05-03T17:05:28Z")
In Oklahoma, there’s a town called Vici, which is pronounced VYE-sigh. There’s a county here in Montana called Pondera County: it’s pronounced PON-de-ray. (I’m almost sure it’s a corruption of the French Pend Oreille.) Not to mention Ravalli (Ruh-VAL-lee; the second ‘a’ is short). Oh, and the town of Moscow, Idaho is pronounced MOS-coe. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/46 "2002-05-03T17:07:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quasimodem \* > \*\*…is pronounced by the locals as **Pahntz duh Lee-ahn** , and it’s been pronounced that way for so long that it has become more or less accepted and even shortened, as in “take a left on Pahntz…” > \*\* _Sniff_ I used to work at the Old Spaghetti Factory near Peachtree & Pahntz. 😃 ---
**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:** [May 3, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/47 "2002-05-03T17:08:09Z")
A character on TV once said he grew up in “mun-ACH–ee, New Jersey.” If you grew up there, you might know it’s pronounced “MOON-ack-ee.” There is not, nor has there ever been, a place in Massachusetts called “kwin-cee.” It’s “KWEN-ZEE.” It is not dainty, put some muscle into it. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/48 "2002-05-03T17:12:43Z")
I bet you think it’s called **Miz-ZOOR-ree** , don’t you? No SIR-ree… If you live in these parts, it’s **M’ZUR-ruh**. ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/49 "2002-05-03T18:27:17Z")
Every time I go home, my parents ask, “So how’s DEE-troit?” **Heavy** emphasis on the “De.” ARGH! Everyone around here I know pronounces it “Dih-troit”, and almost runs it together like one syllable. I grit my teeth whenever I hear the other pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/50 "2002-05-03T19:26:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > \*\*There’s a very popular street here called “Manchaca,” yet everyone pronounces it “Manchac.” Somehow, no one notices the extra A at the end. > > I live off of Burnet. I prounouce it “Burn-et,” along with a third of the people in town. Another third pronounce it “Burnit,” while the final third simply call it “Burnt.” > > I’m not even going to get into all the German or Hispanic named streets and their mispronunciations. I don’t get people in Texas. \*\* Manchaca Road is pronounced that way because it goes to a town called Manchaca, which is pronounced “Man-shack”. The school, however, is Manchaca Elementary, prounounced “Men-sha-ca”. We all know there’s an “a” on the end, we also all know it’s silent, as long as you’re talking about the town or the road. There’s something amusing about hearing somebody speaking in fluent Spanish about where they’re going, and they throw “Man-shack” into the middle of it when they describe the road and the town. As for Burnet, the road is named after a person, and it’s pronounced “Burr-net” kinda like Carol Burnett pronounces her name. The town outside Austin is Burnet, pronounced like “Burn it.” If memory serves, you can’t take Burnet Rd to Burnet, TX. And then there’s Buda, where I went to high school. People who aren’t familiar with it tend to want to call it “Buddha”, but those who know better pronounce it correctly, “Byoo-duh”. Why all these differences in pronounciation? Mostly because the first people to settle some of these towns didn’t pronounce the names correctly, and then that incorrect pronounciation became the accepted way to say it after time had gone by. This is also why the Guadalupe River can be pronounced either way: “Gwad-a-LOO-pay” or “Gwad-a-loop” or even “Gwad-loop” or “Gwad-loopy”. **Elvis Rojo** , just don’t start trying to correct people who’ve lived there their entire lives. They’ll get really annoyed. Now, I moved from Austin to Frisco, TX last year, and some of the towns up here give me the same problem. There’s Corinth, which the locals pronounce “CAR-rinth”, Palestine, which is pronounce “Palis-TEEN” and a couple of others I can’t think of right now. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/51 "2002-05-03T19:40:04Z")
If you live in New Jersey, then you know that the capital is pronounced **Trent’n**. Everyone else (including those heretics in Trenton, Delaware) pronounce it **Tren-ton**. In a similar case, I’m told that **Houston** street near Greenwich Village in Manhattan is pronounced “how-ston”, not “you-ston”. It was named long before Sam was born. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/52 "2002-05-03T19:41:28Z")
\*\* Kalashnikov\*\* wrote, about Wilkes-Barre: > [@](#): > > I went to school in Scranton, and I recall it as Wilks-Burr. But I’ve heard -Bear too, it might be somewhere between the two. My parents used to live in Mountaintop (one word, BTW), down the road from Wilkes-Barre, and they heard both pronunciations. But they also heard even locals call it “Wilks-Barry.” I guess no one could make up their minds on what the town is really called. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/53 "2002-05-03T20:24:54Z")
My dad’s from Scranton and he taught me that Wilkes-Barre is pronounced Wilks-Barry. Almost like Wilkesbury. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/54 "2002-05-03T20:34:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > **Edinburgh.** > > It’s not **Edinborough**. It’s either **Edinbrurr** (for non-Scots) or **Embra** (for Scots). I once heard a local New York City anchorwoman call it EE-den-burg. It was years ago, and I still haven’t gotten over it. And I’m not even Scottish. ---
**Author:** ![Molly\_Coddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bcef8e/32.png) [@Molly\_Coddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molly_Coddle)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/55 "2002-05-03T23:03:33Z")
In Virginia\> Spotsylvania \> Spots-ill-vain-ya Bumpass \> Bump-iss Dumfries \> Dumb-frees Middlesex \> Middles- ex In Pennsylvania\> Lancaster\> Lank-aster Littiz \> Lit- its ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/56 "2002-05-03T23:07:26Z")
Where I grew up, we had two weirdly pronounced towns: **Milan** (My-lin) **Orion** (Or-ee-un) Both in the Quad Cities area. Colin ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/57 "2002-05-03T23:25:23Z")
As previously mentioned, all Spanish names in California provide the opportunity for manglement. The most common one I hear is where tourists get it right and locals got it wrong: the largest city in Marin County is San Rafael, pronounced ra-FELL by the locals, and Ra-fa-yell by visitors. When I was a kid, I thought there were two different cities near San Diego–one on the map named “La Jolla”, and another one I heard of, called “La Hoya”. Turns out they’re the same place. ---
**Author:** ![fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ba0ec/32.png) [@fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fish_in_the_sky)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/58 "2002-05-04T02:11:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\*We also have Berlin (BER-lin) and Almond (“Al-” as in Weird \_\_ Yankovic) \*\* Holy crap! I grew up in Almond! And this is the SECOND time it’s been mentioned on the boards! It’s a tiny village of 500 people!! The locals pronounced it EL-mund, so my family makes a point of saying AHL-mond, like the nut. My relatives make fun of the town by saying EEEEEEL-mind. 😃 But right now I’m going to school up north, in the town of Ashland, which is in the Chequamegon Bay area. Chequamegon is, of course, pronounced shu-WA-mi-gin and not CHECK-a-ma-gon or che-QUA-me-gon or whatever other godawful mispronunciation the tourists spew out. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/59 "2002-05-04T02:13:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > \*\*My dad’s from Scranton and he taught me that Wilkes-Barre is pronounced Wilks-Barry. Almost like Wilkesbury. \*\* * * * My folks are from Williamsport and they say the same thing your dad did. Is there a bottom line on this city’s name? ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Kahuna_Burger)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008/60 "2002-05-04T02:39:18Z")
For the last time people, the second c in “Connecticut” is silent. You’d think people would know this by now. Oh, and nobody around Hartford has a New England accent. Maybe in the eastern part of the state, but being equidistant from New York and Boston makes the accents cancel out, so nobody says “Hahtfuhd.” Another reason why I hate United, someone in a commercial says that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mangled-pronunciation-of-cities-and-other-things-near-you/107008.md?page=4)