# Please don't call it... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883 "2013-08-22T16:13:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/81 "2013-08-23T15:16:48Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > What the heck have I just watched? The _Pico And Sepulveda_ (1947, by Freddy Martin and his orchestra) number from the incredibly great film [_The Forbidden Zone_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forbidden_Zone). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/82 "2013-08-23T15:18:29Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > It does not rhyme with your pronunciation of Indianapolis. Of course, I pronounce the name of that city ‘Nativeamericanapolis, Nativeamericana’. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/83 "2013-08-23T19:44:53Z")
I live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. No, not the Will-a-met. It’s Wuh-lam-met. \*\*Johnny L.A., \*\*sounds like you and I grew up in the same area and know many of the same names from SoCal. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/84 "2013-08-23T20:21:46Z")
> [@jayrey](#): > > \*\*Johnny L.A., \*\*sounds like you and I grew up in the same area and know many of the same names from SoCal. Born in ‘L.A.’ (actually Lakewood, but it’s L.A. County and no one would ever know where Lakewood is), Yokosuka as a small child, San Diego 'til high school, back to L.A. County (Lancaster), and then most of a couple of decades in The City of Los Angeles. Currently on the Salish Sea, just below the 49th Parallel. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/85 "2013-08-23T21:37:02Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Huh. I’ve never heard “Sepulveda” pronounced but I would have guessed something like “Sepple-VAY-da”. I guess that’s not it. I see the original Spanish name has an accent on the U, so is it “Suh-POOL-vi-da”? Or an Anglicised “Seh-PUL-vi-da”? It’s pronounced “[North Hills](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepulveda,_California).” 🙂 (Real Estate people were behind this.) ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/86 "2013-08-23T22:25:38Z")
My city is called “mun-tree-all” or “more-ay-AL”, NOT “mawn-tree-all.” Though I don’t hear that many people mispronouncing it. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/87 "2013-08-23T22:37:17Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Don’t forget Worcester (Wuss-ter). > [@Xema](#): > > A couple from Massachusetts that visitors rarely get right: > Peabody = PEE-bidee > Woburn = WOO-burn Quincy is not pronounced in a way anyone could guess. Actually, neither is Billerica, come to think of it. Leominster or Leicester? They might guess those. Quinzee Billricka Lehminster Lester ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/88 "2013-08-23T22:39:54Z")
I see nobody has weighed in on ‘Colorado’ or ‘Nevada’ yet either. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/89 "2013-08-23T23:27:26Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > I can’t argue your point, but I can promise you that I can at least pronounce the name of the state I live in reliably. 🙂 Don’t you love it though… I live in Carmel, IN, and here it is pronounced CAR-mul. The town in CA is pronounced car-MEL. I was at a soccer game and a woman with the opposing team kept calling us car-MEL. I politely told her at some point that we pronounce it CAR-mul. She looked at me and said… no they don’t… we’ve played them before. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Claire98909](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Claire98909](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire98909)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/90 "2013-08-24T01:00:12Z")
It’s Boston, not “Beantown”. Oh, and Harvard and MIT are in Cambridge, which is a COMPLETELY SEPARATE CITY from Boston. ---
**Author:** ![MemoryDump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@MemoryDump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MemoryDump)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/91 "2013-08-24T01:12:06Z")
Lompoc, the town near Vandenburg Air Force Base (where polar orbit satellites are launched) is Lom-poke not Lom-pock as national newscasters insist on calling it. In the San Joaquin Valley, fractured Spanish is common. Ripon = Rippin’, Salida = Sal-eye-da. Oh, and please don’t call San Luis Obispo San Louie Obispo or SLOw (although that one seems to have caught on with millennials–drives me crazy! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/92 "2013-08-24T01:26:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > And don’t forget Worcester=wooster. That one’s easy; almost rhymes with Gloucester. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/93 "2013-08-24T01:32:07Z")
In So IL (Southern Illinois) Cairo= Kay Roe Vienna= Viy Anna ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/94 "2013-08-24T01:41:14Z")
You tell whether or not someone is from Connecticut by how they pronounce ‘Naugatuck.’ The proper pronunciation is hard to put into text, but here’s a hint: it’s not three syllables. In fact, most places around here are pronounced with fewer syllables than you’d think. Some folk around here pronounce the phrase ‘take it easy’ with only one syllable. > [@Musicat](#): > > Talking GPS units make mistakes all the time like that. One of friends has an iPhone and uses Siri to get directions. I always laugh when I hear “Take I-85 [east/west] towards Hartford Court.” ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/95 "2013-08-24T01:44:18Z")
My father – who has never lived outside Brooklyn unless you count college and the military, but has traveled – believes there is a state called “Mi-ZERR-uh,” and in the state south of it, a city called “NAW-linz”. I don’t know why he believes this. > [@ftg](#): > > I absolutely _love_ this faux complaint. I remember many, many years ago when a poster here brought this one up and less than 2 days later I saw a clip of the Governor of NJ saying exactly “New Joisey” on the news. (Among other Joisey-isms.) If it was enough years ago, might it have been “New Jah-sey” (and you, pahfect togethah) > [@delphica](#): > > Also in New York, I’ve never heard anyone call it the Big Apple in normal conversation. Cute business names (“Big Apple Deli,” “Big Apple Cafe”) are fine, no one blinks an eye. I’ve never said “Big Apple” nor heard anyone else say it, but nor have I ever heard or seen anyone flip out about it like this thread seems to be about. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/96 "2013-08-24T02:15:25Z")
Come to visit us in The Cayman Islands or a specific island name such as Grand Cayman. But please don’t call us The Caymans. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/97 "2013-08-24T03:41:44Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > If only Californians would stop saying “The 405” for I-405. For the benefit of non-Californians who aren’t hip to the lingo: This usage, calling a freeway “The” followed by the number (“The 405”; “The 210” etc.) is a strictly _sourthern California_ thing. You won’t hear that horrible usage elsewhere (like the San Francisco area) except from transplanted southern Californians. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/98 "2013-08-24T05:04:33Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > I can’t argue your point, but I can promise you that I can at least pronounce the name of the state I live in reliably. 🙂 OTOH, I thought Governator Arnold’s pronunciation of Kaleeforneeya was kinda classic. 😛 Not to mention The Beach Boys’ Californ-I-yay. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/99 "2013-08-24T05:05:30Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Don’t you love it though… I live in Carmel, IN, and here it is pronounced CAR-mul. The town in CA is pronounced car-MEL. > > I was at a soccer game and a woman with the opposing team kept calling us car-MEL. I politely told her at some point that we pronounce it CAR-mul. She looked at me and said… no they don’t… we’ve played them before. :smack: Love! She would know then. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883/100 "2013-08-24T05:16:28Z")
> [@Geek\_Mecha](#): > > As someone from Hawaii, please don’t call it anything. Just point at your map or printed street address and we’ll go from there. There’s gold to be had in the tourist trap hotels of Waikiki teaching wiki-wiki classes for the malihini tourists to learn to say things like Haleakala and Kaaawa and the Kalanianaole Highway and the infamous humuhumunukunukuapuaa, fabled in song. And the nightclub entertainers take deliberately unpronounceable names like Nina Kealiiwahamanu and Boyce Kaihiihikapuokalani. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-call-it/666883.md?page=6)