Prounounciations: Colorado Places (Denver, Louisville, Buena Vista: live, horse, estates)

[brightdoglover]

During the Nevada Democratic caucuses, there was a whole piece by Brian Williams of NBC on how to pronounce "Nev-AH-da," not "Neh-VAH-dah." An amusing montage of Williams and other newscasters saying it the wrong way.
I realize I've been mispronouncing Kanab, Utah, the same way. Should be "Ke-NAB, not "Ke-NOB." But then, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is wall-to-wall transplants and visitors like me, so...

[vegaspilgrim]

I pronounce the "vad" in "Nevada" like "bad."
I pronounce the "rad" in "Colorado" like "rod."

Folks, the English language and the way it absorbs foreign language words is not always (and never has been) logically consistent.

[MN2CO]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

During the Nevada Democratic caucuses, there was a whole piece by Brian Williams of NBC on how to pronounce "Nev-AH-da," not "Neh-VAH-dah." An amusing montage of Williams and other newscasters saying it the wrong way.
I realize I've been mispronouncing Kanab, Utah, the same way. Should be "Ke-NAB, not "Ke-NOB." But then, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is wall-to-wall transplants and visitors like me, so...

Here's to Best Friends - hope to be going next spring - nice to know the proper way to say KeNAB. Thanks

[backdrifter]

Interesting thread. Just for the record and not for argument's sake, I have family from Canon City and have never heard any of them ever say "Colo-RAW-do." All of them have always said "Colo-RAD-o."

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

Interesting thread. Just for the record and not for argument's sake, I have family from Canon City and have never heard any of them ever say "Colo-RAW-do." All of them have always said "Colo-RAD-o."

I've worked with two Cañon City natives. Neither would be caught dead saying "Colo-RAD-o."

[Ticky909]

I say it extremely vague. call-uh-rah-duh. Consider that a compromise

[dynimagelv]

it was my experience growing up in Eastern Colorado that people from the big cities [i.e. Denver] were from ColoradO whereas people from the smaller towns [i.e. Limon] were from ColoradA

[esya]

Sa-watch, accent on the second syllable...which is a Colorado-ized Spanish. If you pronounce the G you are from outer space. When I first got my job with counties, they told me it was "Sa-goo-chee" just to get me going.

[Terri722]

This is a great thread and really good for newcomers....I have always said Col-lo-ROD-o....not sure
if that is acceptable....but we were suprised to find out the area we are wanting to live in we will
having my future grandbaby going to Pooder High School... :P We have lived too close to the
Louisiana border too long because we were pronouncing it Poo-dray...haha

[BillRadio]

I enjoy this thread immensely. I record radio and TV commercials for a living, and if I pronounce it wrong, I get it back to re-record. My observations:

-While there is disagreement among pronunciations, it's usually 'majority rules', as long as you consult the locals first. In my case, it's 'the customer is always right.' If your store is in Ouray, you get to choose how you want it said. When it doubt, turn on the local media and follow their lead.

-Streets in Denver add more disagreement. In Colo Springs you say, TAY-hone, in Denver it's TEE-hone, but not always. Denver's mayor owns the WINE-coop brewery, but you will never find him correcting a customer saying WINK-coop. So both are OK, right? Webster's says you can pronounce 'dahlia' with "DAL-ya", "DOLL-ya", or "DALE-ya", but if you call the street anything but "DAL-yah", you're labeled an outsider.

-I had a long argument about WEST-MIN-STER because the other party claimed we must pronounce it like the locals do: WEST-MINNI-STER. Sorry, the locals are ignorant. Ask the mayor and she will roll her eyes and say it right...with 3 syllables. Advada is hard because it is so difficult to show how to pronounce it with written phonetics, just like Neh-VADDa.

-While I am directed to say colo-RAH-do, people don't wince when they hear colo-RAD-do because it is often said by someone who already has some kind of accent anyway. Who are we to make fun.

-We had a spirited argument at Channel 9 whether we should say BYOO-nah or BWAY-nah Vista. We were being accused of being "racist" by not saying it in proper Spanish. Bueney locals are loyal viewers and they got the last word: the entire staff now must say, "BYOO-nah".

-Half of Eagle County says "MIN-Tern" because the local's "MIN-ern" sounds ignorant. Realtors tailor their words depending on who's listening.

-And there are so many more. We pronounce "Financing" based on whether the commercial is aimed at upper-, or lower-income viewers. The customer is always right.