# Pronouncing "Louisville" like you're throwing up? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-louisville-like-youre-throwing-up/647345 "2013-01-16T02:11:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-louisville-like-youre-throwing-up/647345/21 "2013-01-16T19:05:27Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Loo-uh-vuhl. I was born there, and yep. It’s more shortened often. Loo_Vuhl_ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-louisville-like-youre-throwing-up/647345/22 "2013-01-16T21:00:43Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > In Kentucky, it’s Lole-vole Actually, it’s more like Luhl-vuhl, but I lived in Western Kentucky, where the accent is slightly different. ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-louisville-like-youre-throwing-up/647345/23 "2013-01-17T00:57:52Z")
I spent some time in Derby City. There are several [pronunciation signs](http://threemanycooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/KY1.jpg?9d7bd4) in downtown and at the airport. I’ve encountered variations of all of these: LOO-uh-vuhl LULL-vuhl LUH-vuhl LOOL-vuhl LOO-vuhl LOO-uh-vil LOO-ee-vil LOO-ee-vuhl ---
**Author:** ![dexter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dc4da7/32.png) [@dexter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dexter)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-louisville-like-youre-throwing-up/647345/24 "2013-01-17T01:32:51Z")
Since one of the more obnoxious persons I met during my years in the Navy was from there, and would spend an entire afternoon trying to correct anyone who happened to utter the word “Louisville”, my answer is: I DON"T CARE!!! Sorry, my agent orange was flaring up. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-louisville-like-youre-throwing-up/647345/25 "2013-01-17T01:39:15Z")
My first husband was from Louisville. He pronounced it Lou-ee-ville because he thought the other ways sounded too hickish. He’d get corrected by people who had never been there who complained he wasn’t saying it right. That amused me. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-louisville-like-youre-throwing-up/647345/26 "2013-01-17T05:30:37Z")
I’m serious! You HAVE to point your chin down when you say it! You can be talking to someone, eye-to-eye, and if that person is a “native speaker,” he or she will drop chin to chest when saying “Loh-vohl.” ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-louisville-like-youre-throwing-up/647345/27 "2013-01-17T16:14:33Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Unless it’s Louisville, Colorado. They pronounce the S there. And in Ohio, the one near Canton. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-louisville-like-youre-throwing-up/647345.md?page=1)