# Oregon & Uranus **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 21, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968 "2018-03-21T14:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/41 "2018-03-23T13:25:39Z")
Our neck of the woods, as far as I know, its Or A Gun. Uranus is up to the pronouncer and the situation For dumb ass people, its YOUR AaaNUS and otherwise…ya know… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/42 "2018-03-23T15:34:31Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > If you think a ‘j’ was endorsed or suggested by anyone upthread, there may be confusion. Perhaps we need to bump the _Phonetic Transcription_ thread. 🙂 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/43 "2018-03-23T15:54:18Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Most people prounounce it or-a-gun, with the middle syllable done quickly but never omitted. A few say ore-a-gun, while a lot more pronounce it or-ah-gun or or-eh-gun. I almost never hear OR-y-gun in this state. What difference are you trying to indicate between or-a-gun and ore-a-gun? Based on just that, I’d pronounce those two exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/44 "2018-03-23T19:54:22Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > One guy who said he went to school down there told me the locals pronounce it like “engway”, but we always said it like “enegoo”. Was he having me on? Pronounce it anyway you want, just do it in private. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/45 "2018-03-23T20:28:50Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > . . . I’ve always said “Or - (e) - gun”, with the middle syllable barely there. The last syllable has a schwa for a vowel. I was born in 1961 by the way. . . That’s what it’s always been for me. I know I don’t count because I’m Californian, but I have relatives in Oregon. > [@Chefguy](#): > > A lot of people in the Midwest pronounce it as Ory-gone, probably because that’s how they pronounce Oregon, Wisconsin. That sounds like a reasonable explanation. It beats the idea that they’re copying that old song with the state puns (Where has Orry gone, boys? Where has Orry gone? If you want Alaska, Alaska where she’s gone. She gone to pay her Texas . . . ). ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/46 "2018-03-24T03:53:31Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > What difference are you trying to indicate between or-a-gun and ore-a-gun? Based on just that, I’d pronounce those two exactly the same. First example is pronounced quickly, the second one is much more drawn out. Maybe “oar” is a better phrasing then “ore”. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/47 "2018-03-24T05:55:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Other than the Midwest twang on the second syllable (approximately ‘can’ instead of ‘con’), I’m not sure how else it would be pronounced. The mispronunciation I hear fairly often is “wes-CON-sin” – and sometimes even something close to “WEST-con-sin.” (And, yes, with the nasal Upper Midwest accent, a native pronounces it something like “wis-CAHN-sin.”) Even more egregious, during telecasts of Packer games, is when an announcer says both “wes-CON-sin” and “GREENbay” (as one word). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/48 "2018-03-24T06:15:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > A lot of people in the Midwest pronounce it as Ory-gone, probably because that’s how they pronounce Oregon, Wisconsin. If Oregon, WI were a city, or even a big or well-known town, I might buy that as the reason why. But, it’s only about 10,000 people – it’s just outside of Madison, though I don’t know if it’s close enough to be considered a suburb or not – and it’s not particularly famous for anything. I’d wager that most Midwesterners haven’t even heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/49 "2018-03-26T19:05:41Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > First example is pronounced quickly, the second one is much more drawn out. Maybe “oar” is a better phrasing then “ore”. Hmm, that doesn’t really help me understand - “oar” and “ore” are pronounced exactly the same for me, as is “or.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/50 "2018-03-26T19:58:40Z")
Are you from the part of the country where an earl is the thing people used to put on the house to get TV reception? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/51 "2018-03-31T05:14:41Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Are you from the part of the country where an earl is the thing people used to put on the house to get TV reception? I grew up in that part of the country where it was that black, icky stuff pumped from the ground. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/52 "2018-03-31T12:44:51Z")
Jeezus fucking Christ … **JEFF’** - er - son’ The “O” carries the /j/ sound and it’s the G that carries the /s/ sound … can’t you folks pronounce simple Englishing? … ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968/53 "2018-03-31T17:30:18Z")
I’m married to a 7th generation Oregonian with a strong native Oregonian accent. She says “Óryg’n.” Woody Simmons (1976), “Oregon Mountains”: [Oregon Mountains - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFlxV_lOJ0M) Black Hawk County (1974), “Oregon (I Can’t Go Home)”: [Oregon (I Can't Go Home) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2c6yfSniZY) My wife also says, “Tell people not to mispronounce our fucking road names, either. Or ‘Willamette.’” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-uranus/810968.md?page=2)