Mispronounced City and State names (casinos, camping, live)

[Futcha]

Originally Posted by coldwine

Illinoi.


Illinoy!

Isn't that how it's supposed to be pronounced? Il·li·nois [ìllə nóy]

Ohhh, you were telling us how to pronounce it.

[cosmonewman]

Originally Posted by j33

Leominster, Gloucester, and Wooster, MA

It's pronounced WU-Stah in Boston.

I always got a kick out of how Lafayette is pronounced in Nashville. La-FAY-it or something like that.

[kt2le]

I'd swear a Cajun I know pronounces Lafayette as "Laugh-fay-ette", but he talks really fast...! A town near here that most have never heard of is Mexia, TX - pronounced "Meh-hay-ah" and then there's Montague County in north Texas, pronounced "Mon-tayg" with a hard "g". The previous posters pronunciation of Wilkes-Barre was interesting to me for I never knew how it was pronounced. I like this thread!

[j33]

Originally Posted by cosmonewman

It's pronounced WU-Stah in Boston.

Don't I know it. I just got back from New England. Being that I have loads of family from the area, for a Midwesterner, I have an unusual (in these parts) knowledge of the local pronouncations. In fact, when I first visited Mass. when I was younger I kept looking for a sign that said 'woosta', because I didn't know how it was spelt, I just knew how my Grandmother and Mother said it, so I thought that was the actual name of the town. Imagine my surprise.

[Ohiogirl81]

There are several places often mispronounced in Ohio:

Bellefontaine: Bell-fount-n. The 't' is optional.
Cadiz: Caddish.
Versailles: Versayells.
Olentangy: Ol-en-tanj-ee. Not tangy, although I've never drunk the water.
Pataskala: Puh-TAS-kuh-la, not Pat-a-skal-a

Anyone who says Ohi-uh or Cincinnat-uh will be shot.

Local peculiarities abound. I used to live in Leb-nin. Not Leb-a-non. That's a Mediterranean nation, not a city in Ohio.

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre;2097747[B

Scranton, PA[/b]
It's pronounced "Scran-tin" NOT "Scran-nin."

Must have been Ohio residents you heard saying that. Swallowing consanants is a statewide sport. I'd pronounce it "Scrant'n." Again, with the "t" optional, depending on how fast I was talking.

[ryneone]

Bexar County, Tx

(pronoued "Bear" not Bex-ar)

For god sakes people San Antonio

(their is clearly an O at the end so say it don't cut it off)

[Rickers]

Spoe-cane is how newcomers pronounce Spokane Washington.
It is pronounced Spoe-can. also,

Moss-cow is how folks seem to pronounce Moscow Idaho,
It is pronounced Moss-koe.

[LordBalfor]

Back when I first moved from the east coast out to Washington State I remember mis-pronouncing the Okanagan (correctly pronounced "Oak ah nog in") National Forest as the "Oh con ah gan" (with a hard "G") National Forest - giving it an Irish sound - as in "O'Connagan" (or something like that). A "local" friend I was with at the time had no idea that the "O'Connagan" Indians were actually of IRISH decent.

Never quite lived that one down

LOL

Ken

[gentlearts]

Originally Posted by j33

Leominster, Gloucester, and Wooster, MA

Lemin-ster, Gloss-ter, Woos-ter (Worcester)...Except we have a Wooster in Ohio which people want to pronounce Wooooster.

[j33]

The first time I visited Seattle, I was confused on how to pronounce Puget Sound (hey it was my first time on the west coast, I was confused), so when I said it "puzhey sound" (French pronouncation), much laughter ensued at my expense.