Pronouncing "Adirondack"

Mrs Prosequi and I are acquiring some of the well-known Adirondack chairs.

But we are not American, and are hearing different versions of how to pronounce the name. I am not confident with the Wiki version because of the vehemence and apparent confidence of views I am hearing. Hence my approach to the teeming horse’s mouth.

So - is it Uh-DIE-ron-rack? Uh-DEE-ron-dack? A-duh-RON-dack? Or something else?

I’m from NY State and I’d say it’s the third one, A-duh-RON-dack, with the emphasis on the third syllable. Not to confuse you more, but I’ve also sometimes heard it pronounced A-duh-RON-dyke, the last syllable sounding the same as Dick Van Dyke

A-dur-rondack

Adder-ON-dack

Another NY’er here and I agree it is A-duh-RON-dack

I drive through the Adirondacks all the time and your third pronuncation is the only one I have heard from the locals. Same with the chairs, AFAIK.

Mohawk Valley resident here: Yup, me too. Never ever heard the last syllable pronounced “dike”. And nobody ever emphasizes the second syllable, whether as “die” or “dee” or (pace elbows) “durr”.

Also, do not be fazed if you ever encounter references to the identically pronounced but differently spelled “Adirondak Loj” = “Adirondack Lodge”. This is a rustic resort on the Adirondacks’ Heart Lake run by the Adirondack Mountain Club but named in the early 20th century by the Club’s then-President, Dr. Melvil Dewey (the decimal-system Dewey), who was a proponent of so-called spelling reform.

Enjoy your new chairs!

Is that really how people in London pronounce it? Why would they do that? It is never said that way in the actual Ad-der-RON-dax.

When I was a kid, I had an adder-RON-dack baseball bat, much nicer than a Louisville Slugger, lighter and wiry, felt flexible. Bobby Doerr model. All the kids wanted to use my Adirondack.

Much later, though, I learned that “appelation” is not how the southern mountains are pronounced, but /apple-LATCH-in/. My book-learned school teachers came up with a few pronunciation doozies.

Well, for the region in general, as opposed to the mountains, some people pronounce the “latch” as the same “a” as the first “a” of adder-on-dack, apple-AT-cha and some pronounce it more like “laitch”, apple-H-ah. However, the mountains and the trail I always hear pronounced as apple-H-an. I can’t tell if that’s what you mean or not, nor if there are people who pronounce the mountains apple-AT-chan.

Adder-ON-dack is what I’ve always heard (I grew up in WV and have spent most of my time in WV, MD, and PA).

And I grew up in the “appelation” mountains. I actually lived there, so my pronunciation is the right one. :stuck_out_tongue:

By people not from and never been here, I hope.

The Appalachians run all the way up to Maine. It’s pronounced differently in different regions.

^^^^ This.

I live in the state that has the Adirondack mountains. I suppose it’s possible that folks upstate closer to the actual mountains say it differently, but seems unlikely.

Add-a-RON-dack.

Or as Fear Itself spelled out out, same difference.

Thank you all!

I heard that there was a guy from the Adirondacks that won the Iditorad.

I used to sell the chairs (acquired from Amish craftsmen who owned an impressive collection of power tools), and this is how I always pronounced it.

This.

For what it’s worth I’ve only ever heard the A-duh-RON-**dyke **pronunciation when the mountain range is referred to in its entirety (and plural). IOW like when saying, “It’s somewhere up in the A-duh-RON-dykes…”

I grew up there and it’s adder-RON-dack.