# One word that pinpoints your home state **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 1, 2016, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860 "2016-07-01T12:44:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/41 "2016-07-01T22:10:11Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The same is true of Berlin, NH. There’s a similar pronunciation for Milan (MY-lan) and it appears that the change may have occurred during WWII, but the historic record isn’t very clear. > > In Maine there Calais (Cal-lus). > > But city/town names can easily be learned by folks from away. It’s the words used in regular conversation that give away people’s upbringing. How about “leaf-peepahs”? It’s a phenomenon and a pronunciation. Or sugah-house. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/42 "2016-07-01T22:45:35Z")
i have a bone to pick with _Genealogy Roadshow_. The recent Houston edition was shot in the lovely [Julie Ideson Building](http://www.thc.state.tx.us/preserve/projects-and-programs/state-antiquities-landmarks/julia-ideson-building-state-antiquities). When our library needs outgrew it, the city built a new library _next door_; the old building was preserved & a local history section added. Quite remarkable, for a city too eager to knock down the old. Anyway, a visitor had a question about her ancestor’s possible involvement in the Battle of San Jacinto–where Sam Houston finally beat Santa Anna. Local tradition uses the Anglicized pronunciation: _San Juh-SIN-toe._ The genealogist seemed to be trying for a Spanish pronunciation–but she got it wrong. Instead of saying _Sahn Ha-SEEN-toe_, she said _San Huh-SIN-toe._ Nope. Use the Anglicized _or_ the Spanish version. Don’t bastardize it! ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/43 "2016-07-01T22:59:00Z")
Southern California bastardizes the Spanish names of local towns. El Segundo is pronounced El Seh-GUHN-do. San Pedro is pronounced San PEE-dro. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/44 "2016-07-01T23:05:56Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Well, pronouncing “Havre” correctly (“HAVE-ur”, or /ˈhævər/) places you pretty explicitly in a specific region of Montana, but that’s too specific. Knowing that a certain mountain range is called the “Bear Paws” instead of the “Bears Paw” places you in the same region. > > Pronouncing “Helena” (“HELL-in-uh”, or /ˈhelənə/) correctly might be a bit better, but I’m not sure how often that’s mispronounced. What’s most indicative of being a Montanan is knowing that there’s usually no reason to know how to pronounce Helena, because it just isn’t that important or interesting of a town other than the few times the state government does something interesting. I spent a number of years in /ˈhelənə/, and I always heard Havre pronounced /ˈhævər/. But that may have more to do with the people I associated with. For Montana, I’d focus more on terminology (“borrow pit” and “bourbon ditch”). My father, on whom be peace, always referred to soy sauce as “bug juice,” but I have no idea how widespread that might be. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/45 "2016-07-01T23:31:35Z")
wudder Ko, from Philly ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/46 "2016-07-01T23:37:31Z")
Marais des Cygnes It’s a place in Kansas mare uh duh ZEEN Lima, Ohio, is not pronounced as the city in Peru, but as the bean. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/47 "2016-07-01T23:38:15Z")
We’ve a small town in Edgecombe County, NC named Conetoe. If someone pronounces it correctly they’re from around here. Related to Conetoe but not the OP: Just down the street from Conetoe is a town named Pinetops. If there was any consistency in Edgecombe county, it would be pronounced “Puh-nee-tups”. But it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/48 "2016-07-01T23:43:58Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Southern California bastardizes the Spanish names of local towns. El Segundo is pronounced El Seh-GUHN-do. San Pedro is pronounced San PEE-dro. You could have started that with Loss An-hel-ees. Didn’t a thread a few years ago pin down the era when the pronunciation changed? Around 1915-1920? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/49 "2016-07-01T23:54:36Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Southern California bastardizes the Spanish names of local towns. El Segundo is pronounced El Seh-GUHN-do. That’s so close to the proper, Spanish pronunciation that you’re picking nits here. We laugh at AH-nold’s pronunciation of CALee-FORN-i-a, but his is much closer to the Spanish. At any rate, foreign words inevitably take on the sound pattern of the language they are borrowed into. _N’es pas_? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/50 "2016-07-02T00:00:07Z")
I’m originally from just south of Bawlmer.Is this cheating? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/51 "2016-07-02T00:02:06Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I’m originally from just south of Bawlmer.Is this cheating? That’s what I was going for. I wasn’t born in a state, but grew up in Merlin. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/52 "2016-07-02T00:02:57Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Lima, Ohio, is not pronounced as the city in Peru, but as the bean. Anybody who’s ever watched “Glee” could have told you that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/53 "2016-07-02T00:04:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That’s so close to the proper, Spanish pronunciation that you’re picking nits here. We laugh at AH-nold’s pronunciation of CALee-FORN-i-a, but his is much closer to the Spanish. At any rate, foreign words inevitably take on the sound pattern of the language they are borrowed into. _N’es pas_? No way. Spanish would be “SeGOONdo”. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/54 "2016-07-02T00:05:51Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > That’s what I was going for. I wasn’t born in a state, but grew up in Merlin. Downy oshun? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/55 "2016-07-02T00:14:00Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Idea, pronounced “eye-DEE-er”. Virginia. Drives me crazy. IGH-dee, accented on the fist syllable, is even worst. Cop: Do you have any I-D? Redneck: 'Bout what? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/56 "2016-07-02T00:18:18Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > You could have started that with Loss An-hel-ees. > > Didn’t a thread a few years ago pin down the era when the pronunciation changed? Around 1915-1920? Art Linkletter called it “los ANGLE-eeze” (hard G) right up into the television era, 1950s. In the 1940s movies, travelers took an arrow-plane to los angle-ease. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/57 "2016-07-02T00:24:50Z")
There’s also Bangor. It’s “Bang gor” not “banger”. I mentioned that to a dramaturge and she said it didn’t matter for a play going on in San Diego. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/58 "2016-07-02T00:25:40Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Jimmies. New England isn’t a state, but it’s small enough that it could be, and you can generally tell if someone is from New England if they say jimmies (what the rest of you call sprinkles) for the little candy pieces spread on cupcakes. Discounting, as it were, those folks in Southern CT who are mostly New Yorkers anyway. 😉 Think they have jimmies at the packie? Probably not, but we can check, since we can finally hit the packie on Sundays now in CT. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/59 "2016-07-02T06:14:09Z")
What is the part of the country where “wash” becomes “worsh”? Is that Ohio? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860/60 "2016-07-02T06:48:03Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > What is the part of the country where “wash” becomes “worsh”? Is that Ohio? It’s more southern than Ohio, mainly West Virginia, Kentucky, etc., over all the way to Missouri. I guess you could include southern Ohio, which is pretty much West Virginia Heights. My high school physics teacher said “worsh,” and she was from southern Pennsylvania. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-word-that-pinpoints-your-home-state/758860.md?page=4)