As a kid I saw the name Yosemite Sam in comic books, and using kid logic (reasonable deduction based on incomplete knowledge) figured it was pronounced yoze-might*. In the cartoons they only said the name Sam. After some years of that I became aware of Yosemite National Park and the correct pronunciation of Yosemite.
I wonder if something like this may the case with your experience. Or did you actually hear a person – or more astonishing, several people – pronounce it as Spo-kane?
Just wanting to throw my hat in the ring with all these other fine denizens/former denizens of the fabulous Inland Empire and its environs. I had no idea there were so many people on the Dope from the Pacific Northwest.
Not in Washington State, or even in the USA, but my cable provider here in Alberta gives us US network channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox) out of Spokane. From what I hear on newscasts and promos, it’s Spo-CAN. Never heard Spo-CANE.
I, too, was alive in the 70s, and I live in Washington, and it is Spo-can.
However, the late night commercials that would sell you records (English Cats & Others, anyone?) and items from Mr. Popiel (get yer pocket fisherman for $19.95…but wait, there’s more), obviously were not local because many times I would hear them butcher a lot of city names, including Spo-cane. And Puyallup, Tacoma, Yakima, etc.
And I jokingly will call it that when speaking to someone about it. “Oh, your going to the Spo-cane office. Don’t fall asleep on the incredibly boring drive.”
OK, now for the next raging debate since the dawn of time: How do you pronounce Oregon? Does it rhyme with polygon? A native Oregonian explained to me it is NOT a polygon; therefore, say “Ore-agin”, not “Ore-ah-gahn”. Do the NW SDopers concur on this one, too?
There is not a debate. There are some people who pronounce it incorrectly because they don’t know, but there are not different camps who insist theirs in the correct pronunciation.
It is OR’-ih-gun or OR’-eh-gun. The last syllable is like the end of “dragon”. It is definitely NOT like “polygon”. Minor missteps like OR-eh-gin might be tolerated, but pronouncing the last syllable as “gone” is not.
Hmm, this introduces another slight variation: Do you say “dra-gun” or “drag-in?” I would say “drag-in” and Or-eh-gin (a hard “g”, not like the “g” in gin rummy).
In practice it’s “ore-gun”. But that’s only if people aren’t thinking about how they say it. If you ask someone how they pronounce it, they’ll throw in a superfluous third syllable: “ore-ee-gun”. Many times even emphasizing the “ee”!
(Never, never, never say “ore-ee-gawn”. Nope. Do not do that.)
I think this is true with a lot of places. Take “Portland”. In everyday usage it ends in “lun”. But ask someone how it’s pronounced and magically it ends in “land”.
