Which is the proper way to say Missouri (Cape Girardeau, Rolla: how much, lawyer)

[STLCityMike]

I grew up in Northeast Missouri, and the elders called it Missour"uh". My generation preferred to call in Missour"ee". We tended to refer to the Missour"uh" pronunciation as rural.

[SW Missouri Dave]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

I was there for two years and pronounced it "Misery"

07-13-2009, 12:16 PM (1st entry on city-data forum)
DinsdalePirahna
Join Date: Jul 2009

Last year, my wife got homesick for the Hell that is the Greater Saint Louis Area, so we decided to move here.

I was a well paid Advertising / PR professional in Southern California. I thought that I would be able to get some sort of position in my field. Outside of some short term Temp assignments, I can't find anything, not even work that I was doing when I started my career in the business,

It is very hard for an "outsider" to find work in a parochial and insular hiring environment. I'm looking for a wayout to leave this *****hole.

07-18-2011, 06:56 PM (Two years later)
DinsdalePirahna
Location: Huntington Beach, CA

I lived in Saint Louis for two years, hated it on so many levels that I had to move back to CA.

Glad you are enjoying it here. I find Southern Californians to be more genuine and sincere than the people I met in Saint Louis.

Dinsey has been preaching his 'I hate Missouri' sermon so long it's easy to mutter 'this guy really needs a life' and overlook the important message contained in his very first post on city data written just over two years ago. Read it very carefully. And then read the one written over two years later and just a few weeks ago.

Once you see the important point, you will have one of those "I could have had a V-8' moments.

Do you see it yet?

Anyone?

Yeah, me neither.

[xenokc]

Chiming in late here. Do people who say Missourah say Mississippah? How did 'ah' ever come about? Seems some of the eee people view the ah people not only as rural, but are announcing themselves as being uneducated. The growing country accent in MO is also curious - is even creeping into STL outer burbs. It's as if speaking distinctly is too cumbersome. Would think with TV the country accent would diminish yet it seems to be proliferating. Am speaking more as an observer rather than to disparage accents in general (all parts of the world have regional accents and dialects). Is not speaking distinctly an act of laziness or a big FU to 'properness' or just another dialect? Dialect tends to form from isolation so this doesn't seem to be what's happening. Regional dialect would've formed before TV but is curious that it still hangs on and actually grows after TV when most of the US is homogenized with same Walmart products and fast food. Would think there would be a consistent near sameness in accent too.

When I was in London, it was interesting to see the viewpoint of 'proper speaking' Queen's English view toward E Londoner's 'improper' accent. Cockney Rhyme Slang is in general sort of a big FU to the Queen's English. And of course American accent is gauche to them.

Would have to say my favorite accent in America is Milwaukee area. Least favorite, Boston. MO country accent is neither annoying or appealing - guess I'm used to it, but I do notice it as 'regional accent'. I don't get the Missourah thing though. Mississippah? Pepsah? Huh, wah?

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by xenokc

Chiming in late here. Do people who say Missourah say Mississippah? How did 'ah' ever come about? Seems some of the eee people view the ah people not only as rural, but are announcing themselves as being uneducated. The growing country accent in MO is also curious - is even creeping into STL outer burbs. It's as if speaking distinctly is too cumbersome. Would think with TV the country accent would diminish yet it seems to be proliferating. Am speaking more as an observer rather than to disparage accents in general (all parts of the world have regional accents and dialects). Is not speaking distinctly an act of laziness or a big FU to 'properness' or just another dialect? Dialect tends to form from isolation so this doesn't seem to be what's happening. Regional dialect would've formed before TV but is curious that it still hangs on and actually grows after TV when most of the US is homogenized with same Walmart products and fast food. Would think there would be a consistent near sameness in accent too.

When I was in London, it was interesting to see the viewpoint of 'proper speaking' Queen's English view toward E Londoner's 'improper' accent. Cockney Rhyme Slang is in general sort of a big FU to the Queen's English. And of course American accent is gauche to them.

Would have to say my favorite accent in America is Milwaukee area. Least favorite, Boston. MO country accent is neither annoying or appealing - guess I'm used to it, but I do notice it as 'regional accent'. I don't get the Missourah thing though. Mississippah? Pepsah? Huh, wah?

You do realize there are quite a few different regional accents within MO, right?
And I'm sorry......."country accents" creeping into STL?
ROFL!!!!!!!

[Smtchll]

Sheryl Crow was on Jay Leno tonight and she pronounced it "Missourah" Made me think about this thread.

[GunnerTHB]

Originally Posted by Smtchll

Sheryl Crow was on Jay Leno tonight and she pronounced it "Missourah" Made me think about this thread.

She'd be the only person from the bootheel that I've heard pronounce it that way. But Kennett might as well be Arkansas so what does she know? j/k

[luzianne]

Misery.

[Flyover_Country]

Originally Posted by River Wood

Up here in South Central MN we were debating how to say Missouri.

A few swear that it is pronounced Missouraaaaah

and some that say no it is Missouriiiiiiii...

How do you guys pronounce it? Not that it is all that important but hubby says Missouriiiiii and it drives his boss nuts. Boss says that is incorrect.

If you are from the Ozarks or want to run for statewide political office (examples: Roy & Matt Blunt), you call it "Missourah." Everybody else says "Missouree." I've probably heard more people from more northern states call it "Missourah" (derisively) than I've heard people in the state call it by that name.

[SouthXSW]

I work with several people from the Springfield area and they all say Missourah.

[sebladj09]

Chiming in late but my grandpa was born and raised in the Kansas City area (more Lee's Summit, where he graduated high school) and he pronounces it Missour-ah. I've always thought it was awkward and I always learned it to be pronounced Missour-ii..