I was born in California and pronounce Nevada like Nehváda. But Recently I moved to the East Coast Where people say it like Navauda or Nevawda. There is a similar phenomenon with Oregon. I was wondering what the correct pronunciation is (Spelled Phonetically) and what could cause this wierd difference. Anyone know what im talking about.
Hey, Steve McQueen pronounced his name Nuh vay da Smith in the movie.
You can’t argue with Steve McQueen.
He’s dead.
Hmmm…
The East Coast? Where they Pahk the Cah? Is it possible that you’re simply hearing the local accent (for lack of a better word)?
Personally, i’ve lived in Lost Wages for the past 13 years and everyone i know, to a person, pronounces it nuh va duh (think banana).
Curiously, i used to live in a small town outside of Ames, Iowa where Nevada was pronounced nuh vay duh.
Go figure…
California native here, and everyone I know pronounces it Nevahda, just like you would pronounce Colorado like Colorahdo.
octothorpe where is Lost Wages?
Lost Wages is a nickname for Las Vegas.
A rule of thumb for anything in the West is to pronounce something with the shortest, least accented vowel sounds you can come up with.
When it doubt, we just pronounce everything as a schwa out here. Or so I’ve been told by people who say they speak “properly.”
But the mixtures of all the different accents (both from non-English and English speakers) makes West Coast pronunciations all very flat.
And while we’re on the subject…
It’s ORE-egun, not Or-e-GONE.
—Ferrous, and East Coast transplant who learned the hard way.
Um, please disregard the first of the three “d”'s in that last post.
Thats how I pronounce Oregon as well.
The “correct” pronunciation is relative. If you live in a place, there’s a chance you’re not going to pronounce its name the way non-natives will. For example, neh VA duh is what we said in the Pittsburgh area, but I’ve heard East Coasters say neh VAW duh. Oregonians insist it’s OR eh gun, but most of the rest of the country goes with OR eh gon. Natives of Missouri have upbraided me for saying mih ZOO ree instead of mih ZUH ruh, and Canadians insist on keh bek instead of the American kweh bek, while a true Québecois might insist on kay BEK.
Since it’s impractical to catalogue what all the locals insist on calling their homelands, you’re better off going with what your own locals call their homelands. There’s nothing disrespectful about not learning the nuances of a dialect or language thousands of miles away. It sure beats having to pause and switch accents in the middle of a sentence, doesn’t it? Bending over backward to adopt such habits is either pretentious or simply excessive (and possibly patronizing) consideration. When you’re in the south, you expect a southerner to speak like a southerner. So why shouldn’t you speak in your own manner?
Neurotik
Got the Lost Wages bit from the Steely Dan song Show Biz Kids: “Goin’ ta Lost Wages, Lost wages…”
As an aside, Steely Dan got their name from a dildo mentioned by William S. Burroughs in his book Naked Lunch.
Finally: Thanks Ferrous, i will.
Expect the worst, that way you’re never disappointed.
Chance the Gardener makes a good point in his response:
I agree, it doesn’t matter to me how you pronounce Nevada, as long as you’re not ‘aping’ the local pronunciation/dialect.
Expect the worst, that way you’re never disappointed.
I would think it polite to pronounce place names as the people who live there do. If not, at least don’t go into the bars.
Well, sure. When you’re there, respect the local language as much as possible. When in Toronto, I’ll refer to keh bek, for example, but return to my usual manner when I’m back in New York. I know how locals can be; everywhere I’ve been has had obnoxious, intolerant locals. Even New York does, if you’ll believe it. Five years I’ve lived here, and I’ll still slip up and say pop instead of the local idiom, which is soda. Boy, do I catch it then.
Ah, cut the tourists a break. Let 'em come to the bars and talk funny. I don’t mind that. It’s the hundreds who make the streets impassable just so they can gaze at the hole where the World Trade Center used to be who are getting on my nerves, but that’s a whole other story…
[Moderator Hat ON]
Not a Great Debate. Shoo, shoo! Go hang in IMHO, and don’t forget say hi to Czarcasm and TVeblen.
[Moderator Hat OFF]
/neh va’ duh/ (second syllable short a, third syllable ‘uh’ sound schwa-like) not /nuh vaw duh/.
And, at the casinos, bet markers are “checks” not “chips”. And gratuities are “tokes” not “tips”.
(furthering the hijack of this thread…)
Please toke your dealer with a few checks every so often.
Get rated, and you may get comped. (Give the casino your name, allowing them to monitor your play at the tables and they may notice how much you spend, and reward you with meals/shows/room)
If you win a big jackpot, it’s good to have your social security card on your person; otherwise the casino will take IRS withholding up front.
Prostitution is illegal in Las Vegas; indeed in the entire county Las Vegas is in (Clark County. The law is based on, IIRC, the population of the counties in Nevada). People will laugh at you if you ask about it.
AmbushBug
So should we start saying “Deutschland” for Germany, “Nippon” for Japan, “Zhongguo” for China, etc.? What about India, where they speak many languages. “Bharat” (Hindi) is by far the most common way of referring to the country there, but the preferred language of inter-lingual communications is English.
I think you mean just English-speaking places, no?
BTW, I say Nuh-vad-uh, with a “short” a. Nuh-vod-uh sounds to me like the speaker is making a half-assed attempt to imitate the Spanish pronunciation of the word, even though English is undoubtedly the predominant language there and the Spanish would say something like Nay-bhah-thah anyway.
If I had any ability with the language, yes, I would say Deustchland or Pah-ree, but I don’t have that French-vowel-Tuesday thing down.
I wouldn’t try to pronounce Chinese, or I would be beaten up.
For the record, I’m fluent in French (written and spoken, so I can do their vowels and the proper throat-issued R sound), and I have a smattering of German. Regardless, when speaking English, I won’t say pa REE or mohn ray AHL in place of PAIR iss or mon tree all. Sure the spelling doesn’t change when you write Paris, but in English, I’ll write Montreal instead of Montréal. Likewise, in English I’ll write and say Bavaria instead of Bayern and Vienna instead of Wien. Moscow or Moskva? Warsaw or Warszawa? Prague or Praha? Rome or Roma? Florence or Firenze? At what point do you start confusing people?
Here’s a point of interest: in bilingual Belgium, the capitol is known alternatively as Bruxelles in French and Brussel (I think) in Flemish. The name of the country is Belgique in French and Belgei in Flemish. Try telling them which one is right!
Good for you!
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I see… FOUR D’s!!!
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