# pronouncing the county that Annapolis, MD is in **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270 "2012-06-25T17:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/21 "2012-06-25T20:33:53Z")
You have be careful with place name pronunciations in Maryland because the locals can be really stupid about it. The most notorious example is the way many Baltimore natives pronounce the name of the city: BAWmer, implying a spelling of something like “Baumer”. My mother got unnecessarily lost there because more than one idiot told her to do such-and-such when she got to “BAWmer” Avenue and it took the poor lady 2-3 stops for directions before she figured it out. Some Baltimorian must have moved to High Point NC where once long ago I asked for directions and was told to do such-and-such at AWbertson Rd. I assumed that would be spelled “Aubertson” as in “Auburn”, and got hopelessly lost. I doubled back and asked the same asshole to spell it. There was a short, uncivil end to that conversation when I found out he meant “Albertson” Rd. Come to think of it Norfolk VA natives often pronounce the name of the dump NAWfuck, and they are not joking-- I have heard local newscasters pronounce it that way. Some holdover from colonial-era English maybe. Or It could be toxic polluted seafood or excess sodium content in the air, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/22 "2012-06-25T20:51:33Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > Come to think of it Norfolk VA natives often pronounce the name of the dump NAWfuck, > and they are not joking-- I have heard local newscasters pronounce it that way. > Some holdover from colonial-era English maybe. Or It could be toxic polluted seafood > or excess sodium content in the air, I guess. “…where the girls neith-ah drink naw f\*\*k.” And people in Norfolk, NE, pronounce it “Norfork”. Dunno why. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/23 "2012-06-25T20:53:02Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The whole name maybe, but what english speaker looks at Anne and wonders if you pronounce the E? True, but that’s because Anne is so common and old, and we grew up knowing it. Contrast that with Zoe, which gained popularity relatively recently, and for a long while I presumed it was just one syllable. (“Zoh”, as opposed to the much more common two-syllable “Zo-ee”) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/24 "2012-06-25T21:11:58Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > True, but that’s because Anne is so common and old, and we grew up knowing it. Well, yeah, and that’s why I look askance at someone asking how to pronounce it. If the county were named Zoe Arundel, I wouldn’t be raising an eyebrow at copperwindow. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/25 "2012-06-25T21:15:39Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Not by us in Montgomery Co. Then again, we pronounce Prince Georges Co as “PeeGee.” > > It might be fun to see how people think Wicomico is pronounced. C’mon, Hypno, don’t you **warsh** your dishes in the **zinc**? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/26 "2012-06-25T21:16:29Z")
What about those Delaware weirdoes who pronounce Newark “new ark”? Crazy, right? I have in my life encountered one or two incidences of the name “Anne” being pronounced as “Annie” (and it wasn’t a nickname, that’s just how she pronounced it). But it is overwhelmingly the case that the names “Anne” and “Ann” cannot be distinguished aurally. –Cliffy ---
**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:** [June 25, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/27 "2012-06-25T21:22:49Z")
Haven’t there been “Queen Anne” chairs for a couple of centuries? ---
**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:** [June 25, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/28 "2012-06-25T21:33:46Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Contrast that with Zoe, which gained popularity relatively recently, and for a long while I presumed it was just one syllable. (“Zoh”, as opposed to the much more common two-syllable “Zo-ee”) Comes into English from, I presume, the French where it is spelled “Zoë”. We sometimes drop the umlaut (or whatever the French call it), and so the pronunciation is a bit confusing if you haven’t encountered it before. As for “Norfolk”, my experience is that locals (in VA, that is) pronounce it NAW-fick, not NAW-fuck. And Marylanders, for some strange reason, have an almost Canadian way of pronouncing “house” and “about”. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/29 "2012-06-25T21:36:09Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Well, yeah, and that’s why I look askance at someone asking how to pronounce it. If the county were named Zoe Arundel, I wouldn’t be raising an eyebrow at copperwindow. Zoe Arundel county is somewhere **downy ocean**. (This is fun) ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/30 "2012-06-25T22:16:48Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The whole name maybe, but what english speaker looks at Anne and wonders if you pronounce the E? I was pretty sure Anne was sometimes pronounced like Ann, but I didn’t know that it was always pronounced like Ann. When it come to names with silent letters, all bets are off with me, with the exception of the h in John. My name is Arthur and when I was a little kid in school I would always spell my name “Zarthur” and I claimed that the Z was silent. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/31 "2012-06-25T23:52:02Z")
I’ve been away from MD for a long time. When I saw a MD tag on a car I asked the driver where they were from and it took me a second to remember where the “Aston Shaw” was. At some point, peple have started referring to Montgomery Co as “Moco.” I refuse. ---
**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:** [June 26, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/32 "2012-06-26T01:10:50Z")
Hypno, that is totally PRICELESS! 😃 You made my day. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/33 "2012-06-26T01:32:45Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > What about those Delaware weirdoes who pronounce Newark “new ark”? Crazy, right? > > I have in my life encountered one or two incidences of the name “Anne” being pronounced as “Annie” (and it wasn’t a nickname, that’s just how she pronounced it). But it is overwhelmingly the case that the names “Anne” and “Ann” cannot be distinguished aurally. > > –Cliffy Newark, NY is also pronounced New-Ark. New-ark 2, Noork 1. Of course, the NJ one outweighs the other two by quite a bit populationwise. And I don;t know how Newark, Ohio is pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/34 "2012-06-26T02:41:02Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > We sometimes drop the umlaut (or whatever the French call it)… It’s a diaeresis. It looks exactly like an umlaut, but it’s older. It is used to indicate that two adjoining vowels should be pronounced separately instead of as a digraph (for example: Zoë). > **[Diaeresis (diacritic)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaeresis_%28diacritic%29)** > > Diaeresis\[a\] (/daɪˈɛrəsɪs, -ˈɪər-/ dy-ERR-ə-siss, -⁠EER-) is a diacritical mark consisting of two dots (◌̈) that indicates that two adjacent vowel letters are separate syllables – a vowel hiatus (also called a diaeresis) – rather than a digraph or diphthong. > It consists of a two dots diacritic placed over a letter, generally a vowel.\[b\] > The diaeresis diacritic indicates that two adjoining letters that would normally form a digraph and be pronounced as one sound, are instead to be read as sep... I learned this on the dope a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/35 "2012-06-26T03:03:26Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > The most notorious example is the way many Baltimore natives pronounce the name of the city: BAWmer, implying a spelling of something like “Baumer”. > > My mother got unnecessarily lost there because more than one idiot told her > to do such-and-such when she got to “BAWmer” Avenue and it took the poor > lady 2-3 stops for directions before she figured it out. Like the (perhaps mythical) American pilot-in-training, who nearly failed his training in England - he couldn’t find “Gloster” on the map, not realizing he should have been looking for Gloucester. ---
**Author:** ![piepiepie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@piepiepie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piepiepie)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/36 "2012-06-26T03:04:22Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > There’s also a Cecil County. Which is correctly pronounced as “sess-sill,” of course, especially when saying Ceciltucky. We usually just say “see-sill” but we’ll say anything to sell a shirt in Walmart. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/37 "2012-06-26T10:15:47Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > “…where the girls neith-ah drink naw f\*\*k.” > > And people in Norfolk, NE, pronounce it “Norfork”. Dunno why. That’s also the extremely common, though not official, pronunciation of Norfolk, NY (just south of Massena, way up North). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/38 "2012-06-26T10:20:27Z")
> [@stockton](#): > > It’s a diaeresis. It looks exactly like an umlaut, but it’s older. It is used to indicate that two adjoining vowels should be pronounced separately instead of as a digraph (for example: Zoë). > > [Diaeresis (diacritic) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaeresis_%28diacritic%29) > > I learned this on the dope a few months ago. Nitpick: the diacritical mark is _ **always** _ a diaeresis. The thing it marks in German (and related language) words is the _sound shift_ termed the “umlaujt.” I think how it picked up that name is that a diaeresis marking an umlaut came to be known as an “umlaut mark” – and you can figure out the rest from there. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/39 "2012-06-26T10:58:32Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > a-RUN-dul I used to work for Arthur Arundel (a descendent), and his family pronounces it “AARONdell.” Too bad there’s no governing authority to get the county residents to pronounce it differently. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270/40 "2012-06-26T12:32:33Z")
If you really want to have fun with Maryland natives, ask how they pronounce Havre de Grace. That should be good for a few laughs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-the-county-that-annapolis-md-is-in/626270.md?page=3)