You good folks are so full of helpful info, how about something silly? (Bangor: insurance, buying)

[Elcarim]

I can't figure out for the life of me how to pronounce some of these town/city names. As I've already shared, we're wanting to relocate near the water, relatively close to emergency service work that pays for DH, and in a small, close-knit family town or village where we can be part of serving our new community. The more distanced from the large cities, the better!

That said, I've gone over the entire mid-coast regional map and noted the most likely towns to visit in March and check for the "feel" we're looking for, but I'm clueless how to pronounce many of them. They sometimes look simple, but putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble will make us look completely stupid when we get there!

So:

Bangor - BANgor or BanGOR
Yarmouth - your MOUTH or what?
Topsham - TOPshum?
Wiscasset - WIScasSET?

There are a list of about 50 other small communities I'm researching, but I think I'm ok on the rest.

Thanks!

[bigchuckie]

Ban-gor yarmuth topsim wiscassit geez I can sayem but it is hard to spell'em

[jmfinn]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

I can't figure out for the life of me how to pronounce some of these town/city names. As I've already shared, we're wanting to relocate near the water, relatively close to emergency service work that pays for DH, and in a small, close-knit family town or village where we can be part of serving our new community. The more distanced from the large cities, the better!

That said, I've gone over the entire mid-coast regional map and noted the most likely towns to visit in March and check for the "feel" we're looking for, but I'm clueless how to pronounce many of them. They sometimes look simple, but putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble will make us look completely stupid when we get there!

So:

Bangor - BANgor or BanGOR
Yarmouth - your MOUTH or what?
Topsham - TOPshum?
Wiscasset - WIScasSET?

There are a list of about 50 other small communities I'm researching, but I think I'm ok on the rest.

Thanks!

Ban(gore)
Yar(moth)
Tops(umm)
WisCASset

[skyesmom40]

oooo........wait til you start with the french and native american origins.......those will be mind blowing hehehehe. And its also fair to say..natives here .. do skip the R's......cah.....pahk....however in the north .. aka *the County* ..... you will hear waRsh....squaRsh.... it will vary even in the coastal areas lol.....i grew up here and i STILL have trouble with some of the names heheheee

[mainenative]

We do have some towns with some interesting names that are hard to pronounce. We also have a downeast accent. I am in the southern part of maine so the maine accent isn't as strong, however we do have one and it is noticed by tourists. My favorite mainer word is Lubsta for Lobster.

[Acadianlion]

I owned an insurance business in Waterville some time ago. One day the telephone rang and it was some guy calling from way "downeast" on the coast. He was looking for motorcycle insurance. Turns out he was a lobster fisherman and owned a big Harley Davidson motorcycle. Now why someone from a hundred miles or so away called a small independent agency in Waterville for motorcycle insurance is a mystery to me to this day. How he even found our telephone number is a mystery.

Well, no one in the office could understand what this man was saying, so thick was his "downeast" twang. But one of the women in the office was from Boothbay Harbor, and eventually, the phone was handed to her. She not only understood what he was saying, but she could speak to him in dialect.

I sold the agency about six years later, and to my knowledge the policy was renewed every year.

[forest beekeeper]

I was once stationed on a boat at Subase Bangor, I spent five years there. So when we moved here, I habitualy said Bangor [Bang - her], though folks were very polite and corrected me to Bangor [Bang - Gore].

We do most of our shopping in Bangor, and my wife works in Bangor. Few here even realise that there is a Submarine base with the same name.

[mainebrokerman]

Now why someone from a hundred miles or so away called a small independent agency in Waterville for motorcycle insurance is a mystery to me to this day. How he even found our telephone number is a mystery.

think i've got an answer for you, see, in many of our lovely small towns, where, family, foes, and friends, sometimes live in close proximity, there's not much that goes on,,,that others don't notice, or gossip about. also, god forbid, someone buys something like a new harley and still plead poverty , in the town circles....or put differently, there is a small town mentality, of buying something new, like a harley is "flaunting" so, in an effort to contain as much gossip as possible, a town native, may avoid calling a local insurance company, by the time he may get approved for the insurance, most folks in town would already know he just bought a brand new harley.
so, maybe to avoid the town gossip, he may be storing his new harley at an out of town relatives, or friends garage.

also, there's another possiblity, perhaps, the local insurance company, has owners, that the person (or his family) doesnt get along with, thats one trait amongst mainers, we never forget WHO we hold or held something against,,,sometimes we forget why, but then reason, it must have made sense at the time,, if a person in a town, mistreated say your grandfather , in 1941, that family isnt likely to forget anytime soon,,

(i'm writing this ,,,under the heading of being silly,,lol)

[mainebrokerman]

not only are the name of towns confusing, and how to pronounce them,,,but here is some insight, on some other pronounciations,,,of maine-speak

most mainers pronounce scallop,,,,like call-up real quick ,,but with an s at the front
as you would say call, or fall, not scahhhhhhlop , this is a quick way to identify you as an out-of stater- right off,,lol

also,,,the word route, as in road number,,,like route 1, most mainers say root,
not route(like scout)

laaaabbbstor is another one ,,,correct speak is lobsta, or east of ellsworth is lubsta......no matter how its spelled

[mainah13]

Even the most simple seeming names can be deceiving in Maine....I don't know how many times I've heard Saco (SAHko) pronounced SAYko.
BANGgore
YAHmuth
TOPS-hum
WIScasSet is correct