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One that I got mocked for once was in L.A., "Sepulveda Blvd." - I called it "Sep-ul-VEE-da" Blvd., and my co-workers laughed at me, then corrected me - it's "Se-PULL-va-da"...
Another one was Puyallup, WA - I said "PILE-yup" and my co-workers laughed at me, and corrected me to say "Pyu-WALL-up".
One time I was in Salem, MASS and asked some very local people how to get back to the highway I needed to get back to my hotel...they told me to follow the road I was on, and make a left at whatever road in "PEEB-dy". I looked on my map when I got to the car, and couldn't find "PEE-biddy" on the map. I then realized that the town I looked at several times while looking for "PEE-biddy" was the one - "Peabody" is how it was spelled! lol, at least I didn't say "PEA-BOdy" when talking to them, they'd have laughed at me!
lol, Puyallup is a toughie, and if you get it right as an outsider you are immediately considered almost a native!
Your corrected pronounciation is close, but let me offer this:
"Pew-Al-Up". That is probably the most simple way to sound it out!
Not to argue, but I'm a Hudson-born/Bergen-raised guy and I worked in Secaucus many years and always pronounce/d it "Seh-CAW-cus", and most people I know pronounce it that way. A few people I know say "SEE-caw-cus" and I hardly notice, so both sound fine to me, but the way I say it sounds more "right".
Talk to someone over 40, raised in the area. Almost every one I know says SEE-caw-cus. Most of my friends my age (late 20s) who grew up in places like North Bergen, the Rutherfords, Carlstadt, etc. say the same. A good way to tell what's the "right way" is to listen to the mayor of a town pronounce his/her own city's name. He or she must use the locally preferred pronunciation for sure.
Seh-CAW-cus is used enough that it seems acceptable, especially among newcomers and people who live outside a 5 mile radius. I know folks who grew up in northern Bergen County and other areas who say it this way. Even the NJ Transit automated voice pronounces it that way. I wouldn't call it "wrong" but it seems that people from there put emphasis on the first syllable, while people who live in other places put it on the second.
P.S. Where's Tahiti? I know that Bayonne girl will back me up on this
Not to argue, but I'm a Hudson-born/Bergen-raised guy and I worked in Secaucus many years and always pronounce/d it "Seh-CAW-cus", and most people I know pronounce it that way. A few people I know say "SEE-caw-cus" and I hardly notice, so both sound fine to me, but the way I say it sounds more "right".
I say "NEW-ark" for Newark, not "Nork", but I had a girlfriend from CAR-nee who did say "Nork". Then again, she called Stewart's (the root-beer/drive-in fast food place) "Storts"...
Everything else I agree 100%...
I have also heard "Lodi" pronounced "LAH-dee" and "LAH-die", but it's "LOW-die" (like the one in California - yes, there's a Lodi in CA, lol)...
A funny, new one to me - I had a friend from Los Angeles in the area for work and met him for dinner and drinks, and he was staying in Tenafly. He said in his message, "I'm at the Clinton Inn in - TEN-a-flee??? is that how you say it???" Then when I met him he said again, "TEN-a-flee", and I said, "TEN-a-flie"...but that was funny.
most ppl I know/knew who live IN SEE-caw-cus pronounce it that way. I've learned to accept the other way. I worked in Secaucus and was born and raised in Hudson County (and everyone said SEEcawcus).
It drives me nuts when people mispronounce Chattanooga. It's four very distinct syllables, each syllable receiving equal stress: "Chat-uh-noo-guh." It is NOT "Chat-noo-guh."
I hate the "chat-noo-guh" thing too! But here in Chattanooga, we say it wrong also...we say "Chad-uh-nooga" No clue where we got that D at!
I once had a girlfriend from Boise. She made sure I knew that it's pronounced "boy see" not "boy zee."
It drives me nuts when people mispronounce Chattanooga. It's four very distinct syllables, each syllable receiving equal stress: "Chat-uh-noo-guh." It is NOT "Chat-noo-guh."
There are all kinds of towns in Florida that are constantly mispronounced:
Ocala ("oh CAL uh")
Kissimmee ("kiss IM mee")
Micanopy ("mih cuh NO pee")
Chassahowitzka ("chass uh WITS kee")
Lutz ("lootz")
Lecanto ("luh CAN toe")
You'll get a kick out of this if you live in Chattanooga.
While growing up in Connecticut, a guy that lived down the street from me (we were in grade school at the time) actually thought Chattanooga was a State. I kid you not. This same moron used to have an elevated monorail toy train track set up in his second floor room and he used to run the track to the window and drive the monorail train out the window just to watch it crash to the ground. He had the IQ of a turnip that stayed in the ground past harvest time. :-) I figure by the time we hit high school he probably figured out Chattanooga was a City and not a State.
You'll get a kick out of this if you live in Chattanooga.
While growing up in Connecticut, a guy that lived down the street from me (we were in grade school at the time) actually thought Chattanooga was a State. I kid you not. This same moron used to have an elevated monorail toy train track set up in his second floor room and he used to run the track to the window and drive the monorail train out the window just to watch it crash to the ground. He had the IQ of a turnip that stayed in the ground past harvest time. :-) I figure by the time we hit high school he probably figured out Chattanooga was a City and not a State.
Funny! I wonder where in the world he got that?! It must be because Chattanooga is such a massive city and all
Here are some commonly mispronounced town names in New England (with the "authentic" local pronunciation):
Worcester, MA - pronounced "WUSS-tuh" (the vowel in "wuss" is the same vowel in "book" - although some Bostonians say WISS-tah, I think)
Gloucester, MA - GLAWSS-tuh
Leominster, MA - LEM-in-stuh
Concord (MA and NH) - KAWNK-id
Pawtucket, RI - Puh-TUCK-it
Quincy, MA - KWIN-zee
Woburn, MA - WOO-bin
Peabody, MA - PEE-b'dee
Reading, MA - RED-ing
Dracut, MA - DRAY-kit
Leicester, MA - LESS-tuh
Haverhill, MA - HAYV-rill
Scituate, MA - SITCH-oo-it
Natick, MA - NAYD-ik
Nashua, NH - NASH-oo-uh
Plaistow, NH - PLASS-tau (rhymes with "cow")
Lowell, MA - LOW-ull
Methuen, MA - Meh-THOO-in
Pembroke (MA or NH) - PEM-brook
Stoughton, MA - STOAT-in
Billerica, MA - Bill-RICK-ah
Damariscotta, ME - Dam-riss-SCAW-duh
Bangor, ME - BANG-gore or BANG-gaw
Bar Harbor, ME - appropriately pronounced "Bah HAH-bah"
Sanbornton, NH - SAN-buh-tin
One problem for tourists is the suffix -ham, which takes on a different pronunciation depending on what town you're talking about.
Needham, MA - NEED-um
Framingham, MA - FRAY-ming-ham
In fact, when the ending is 'tham', this suffix can be pronounced in four different ways:
Eastham, MA - EAST-ham
Chatham, MA - CHAD-um
Waltham, MA - WALL-tham
Wrentham, MA - REN-thum
In a 90210 episode from the early 90s has the family moving to Beverly Hills from Minnesota. In an episode they keep saying "We're from WAY ZAY TAH Minnesota"
Pretty embarassing for the writers, or whoever because Wayzata is pronounced as WHY ZETTA, not WAY ZAY TAH
Same with Mahtomedi, MN
Edina, MN
Shakopee, MN
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