I went to high school just outside Monroe, NC. Like you, we knew folks were real outsiders if they called it “Mahn-roe.” While “Mun-ROE” was acceptable, the more countrified older residents tended to call it “MUN-roe.”
Both North and South Carolina have towns named Beaufort. In North Carolina, it’s “BOW-furt”; in South Carolina, it’s “BYOO-furt.”
There’s a small community in our county call Fuquay-Varina. It’s a local hobby to listen to outsiders mangle it (extra credit if they make it sound obscene!) The correct pronunciation is “FYOO-kway Vuh-REE-nuh.”
The nearby town of Bahama is pronounced Buh-HAY-ma, and not like a singlular of the Bahamas.
Prevent nasty stares. If you ever come to Calgary (Alberta), it is pronounced CAL-GREE, not CAL-GARY. We won’t hit you, but it is obvious that you are a transplant if you include the second A.
(And it is amazing how many people… especially from BC and Ontario, never learn the difference.)
I would like to know (so I don’t commit a similar assault on people’s ears)… St. Louis… do the local prefer Saint Louie, or Saint Lewis as the pronounciation?
Grew up across from Detroit in Windsor, Ontario… But for some reason Americans could never pronounce it… They always pronounced it “Canada”… We’re going to Canada… I’ve been to Canada… etc…
Windsor has streets that only the locals know how to pronounce… Windsor was a very French area in the past, and still has alot of French citizens… So you’d think that when there’s a street named PIERRE, people there could manage to pronounce it properly…
But Windsorites call it PEER-EE street… Huh? Where did THAT come from???
Then moved to Toronto, and as anyone from Toronto knows, it isn’t Toe-Ron-To… It’s TRAWNA…
And next to Toronto is a suburb called Scarborough, but people from Toronto always seem to pronounce it “Scarberia”… With apologies to any Scarberians who might be reading
And from an ex-Bangorite (ME)–
It’s BANG-gore, not BANG-gerr, Roger Miller notwithstanding.
My father, for some strange reason-and he’s lived there all of his 87 years–says Bann-gore, actually pronouncing an “n,” as I have heard others in his age cohort do.
I think I was the one who mentioned it last time! Going out for dinner tonight with my friends who live there, as a matter of fact. We’re going to Two Lakes* for the Italian Feast (giant antipasto platter, all-you-can-eat pasta and “Drunken Chicken”). I’m already hungry, and it’s only 3 pm!!
*Well, there used to be two lakes, one on either side of the restaurant. But they dried up and now they’re just big depressions in the landscape.
For some reason, every English speaker outside Canada insists on pronouncing it “Mawntreal”. It’s “Munchreal”.
Metro stations here are fun. Guy-Concordia is “Gee” (hard g), not “guy”. Lionel-Groulx is “grew”, not “gruel”. It might sound like the announcement lady is pronouncing De Castelnau “De Castelnoo,” but she’s not and it’s “De Castelno”.
The most fun is to watch a tourist try to pronounce Pie-IX (more often than you’d think, considering that the Olympic Stadium is there.) Pix-Ix? Pye-Icks? Pye-Nine? No, Pee-Neuf (which is how you render the name of Pope Pius the Ninth in French.)
Finally, if you cannot possibly pronounce Longueuil in French, at least say Longay and not Longale.
I wish I could remember the stuff from New Orleans. (Even “New Orleans” itself can be pronounced approximately twenty ways, about five of which are considered “correct enough, I guess.”) Stuff is not pronounced like it would be in French yet it’s not pronounced like it would be in English, either.
In Illinois, there are towns named after famous places, but are pronounced way different:
Athens (pronounced AYY-thens)
Cairo (pronounced KAY-row)
New Berlin (pronounced BURR-lynn)
The word “Illini” is used a lot in Illinois. Lot’s of businesses have it in their names (“Illini Headstone and RV Campers” for example). Most everyone I’ve ever encountered in IL says
“Ih-LINE-eye” but someone on a TV show who was obviously not from in-state pronounced it as “Ih-LEAN-eee.” What a rube!
And though I was born and raised in Illinois, I’ve yet to learn what the proper pronunciation is for Joliet.
Ok, there are some good ones in Massachusetts. Worcester, not surprisingly, has already been mentioned. Isn’t there a Leicester in MA as well? If so, it’s LEST-er, if I remember correctly.
So, a quick rule of thumb for Massachusetts: See an h in the middle of a town name? Skip over it. So:
Dedham is not, repeat, not pronounced “Dead-ham.” It’s Ded-em, thankyouverymuch.
Same holds true for Needham. That’s Need-em, to you.
Amherst, of course, is Am-erst. I’m not from Western MA, and I know that!
A last one, that I haven’t heard made too often, but worth noting:
People have been known to pronounce Dunstable as “Dun-STABLE,” with the stable pronounced as if it were, well, a stable for horses. This is wrong. Very, very wrong. The correct pronunciation is DUN-Sta-bul. You say “stable” you get disgusted looks from people/ And who can blame them?
Don’t forget Watervliet. I actually don’t know how to pronounce this, but I have family in Latham and Troy so I pass by it often and was hoping you’d educate me as to how you say it. I’ve heard it’s everything from Waterfleet to Waterville.
