How you pronounce it. (Kansas City, St. Louis: live, vs, land)

[Indy4570]

I read somewhere that if a politician wanted to be elected he had better use the "ah " or he would not win.

[TheGent]

Originally Posted by MO~orphan

I have been here, (all over the state) for the most part, since 1960. Rarely have I ever heard it called Missour-ah. I cringe when I hear the polititions say it that way. I guess it's a matter of preference.

I believe there was an article in the St. Louis P-D about this. It seems if you live in St. Louis or suburbs or Kansas City or suburbs, it's Miz-ur-ee. Anyplace else in the state, it's Miz-ur-AH.

I heard somewhere that Miz-ur-AH is correct as it is a Blackfoot indian word meaning land of many caves or something like that.

[TheGent]

Originally Posted by MO~orphan

Try listening to newbies trying to pronounce Auxvasse.

Now this is what brought me here... how DO you pronounce that name? I'm willing to bet it's OX-VAZEE, based on the fact that Versailles in France is Ver-sigh and here in Missouri, it's Ver-sales.

[firebll31]

I live in SW near Joplin and always hear it pronounced mi-ZUH-ree. The town north of us is nuh-VAY-duh (Nevada) and the town down in Oklahoma is called MI-muh (Miami). Many older people also "warsh" their clothes. I lived near St. Louis until age 15 and my husband (SW native) informed me they are "groundhogs" not "woodchucks", "pop" not "soda" and "buzzards" not "vultures".

P.S This conversation happened after too much Mead at the Renaissance Festival, and somehow those furry animals morphed into "groundchucks".

[LuckyTrix]

Originally Posted by TheGent

Now this is what brought me here... how DO you pronounce that name? I'm willing to bet it's OX-VAZEE, based on the fact that Versailles in France is Ver-sigh and here in Missouri, it's Ver-sales.

There's also Creve Coeur and that's always fun.

I was born and partially raised in Missouri(KC area) and have always said Missour-ee. Most of my family live there and say it that way as well. I've only heard people on tv and a couple of people from Kansas say Missour-ah.

[NOLA2SGF]

Originally Posted by LuckyTrix

There's also Creve Coeur and that's always fun.

I was born and partially raised in Missouri(KC area) and have always said Missour-ee. Most of my family live there and say it that way as well. I've only heard people on tv and a couple of people from Kansas say Missour-ah.

I went to high school in Ladue, not far from Creve Coeur. The only way I ever heard it pronounced, was Kreev Koor. (Also, Ladue is "Lah-DOO").

I have always said Missour-ee, and like you, have only heard people on TV and from places like Kentucky say Missour-ah.

[KCWKEN]

Actually Aux Vasse is pronounced aw VAHZ where the first syllable is prounouced aw...as in "aww look at the baby bunnies..." and the second syllable is prounounced vahz...as in how Thurston Howell III would prounounce the word vase in the sentence "that's an authentic ming dynasty vase" Now try chamois, gravois, carondelet, des peres, desloge and florissant.

The worst place name to pronounce in Missouri in my opinion is the name of the creek just East of the Kansas City area spelled Sni-A-Bar Creek. I've asked several KC natives, and none of them know how the heck you're suppsoed to say that. Anyone here?

Ken

[Ozarks21]

I lived near the Sni-A-Bar for many years. It's pronounced with a long "I" little if any pronunciation on the soft "A" and "bar" as it looks. It becomes a two syllable word with emphasis on the first. Rhymes with either "my car" or "Maya car". It's actually somewhere in between the two with only a hint of the "a" sound.

[J1ndo]

Originally Posted by firebll31

I live in SW near Joplin and always hear it pronounced mi-ZUH-ree. The town north of us is nuh-VAY-duh (Nevada) and the town down in Oklahoma is called MI-muh (Miami). Many older people also "warsh" their clothes. I lived near St. Louis until age 15 and my husband (SW native) informed me they are "groundhogs" not "woodchucks", "pop" not "soda" and "buzzards" not "vultures".

P.S This conversation happened after too much Mead at the Renaissance Festival, and somehow those furry animals morphed into "groundchucks".

I used to spend my summers with my grandparents near Joplin (Columbus KS) and I remember them pronouncing Nevada and Miami as Ne-vay-da and Miam-ah (Nevada the state was pronounced normally, though). However, they referred to MO as mi-zuh-ra. They also once took a vacation to Hai-wai-uh! And creek was crick, where we'd go and catch crawdads, rather than crayfish.

The kids I played with called it Mi-zuh-ee though. Perhaps it's an old person thing.

[Shakoto]

My dad says Missou"ah" and I say Missou"i"--he's from Tenn originally so maybe it explains it--ha! We don't care really.