How to properly pronounce towns in New Jersey (Newark, Jersey City: school, relocation)

[dynimagelv]

Originally Posted by jcfg

I was invited to a wedding in Absecon ... I have no idea where that is or how to pronounce it.

AB-se-kon?
ab-SEE-kon?

Thanks

Ab-SEE-kin

It's in Lantic County bout 7 miles from Lantic City

[mouse055]

I worked with a fellow back on the east coast in Philly. His last name was Kearney,he pronounced it Kear ( rhymes with ear) ney. Joseph Kearney. So that is how I pronounce it. I reside in Missouri and they pronounce it Car nee. Everyone has their way of pronouncing words and names. I also pronounce comfortable in 4 syallables instead of 3. If we were all the same it would bew a totally boring place to be.

[Busch Boy]

Originally Posted by mouse055

I worked with a fellow back on the east coast in Philly. His last name was Kearney,he pronounced it Kear ( rhymes with ear) ney. Joseph Kearney. So that is how I pronounce it. I reside in Missouri and they pronounce it Car nee. Everyone has their way of pronouncing words and names. I also pronounce comfortable in 4 syallables instead of 3. If we were all the same it would bew a totally boring place to be.

I have to disagree. I can understand if it were ordinary words than many people pronounce differently according to region (like horrible, merry, pen, etc.). But when we are dealing with location names, they should be said the proper way.

[TracySam]

I first have to say that this thread is very heavy on North Jersey. But there are plenty of mispronounced towns in South Jersey too!

Let's start with our capital, which to us south jersey people is "central jersey," but to north jersey people, is in the south.

Trenton, to people in the Trenton area, down to the Philly area, is "Tren'n." Try to pronounce the second T and people make fun of you. Actually down in Philly, it's not even "Tren'n", but "Treh-in".

There is a town way down in south jersey called Buena. My Spanish classes in high school taught me it was pronounced "Bway-nah" but they say "Bew-nah." My friends and I in high school used to make fun of them at track meets; they couldn't even pronounce their own town properly.

There's a town on the northern jersey shore (technically south jersey) called Avon, which I thought was "Ay-von" like the makeup ladies that used to go door to door. But people up there say "Aah-von."

I grew up in South Jersey and called that town on Rt 38 with the mall, Moorestown, "Mor-is-town" then when I went to college I met people from Morristown and thought they lived near me! Who knew it was two different towns?
Then those people from Morristown said it was "Mahr-is-town" not "Moor-is-town." Who knew?

And by the way, Evesham is "EEEV-Sham."

[Busch Boy]

Originally Posted by TracySam

I first have to say that this thread is very heavy on North Jersey. But there are plenty of mispronounced towns in South Jersey too!

Let's start with our capital, which to us south jersey people is "central jersey," but to north jersey people, is in the south.

Trenton, to people in the Trenton area, down to the Philly area, is "Tren'n." Try to pronounce the second T and people make fun of you. Actually down in Philly, it's not even "Tren'n", but "Treh-in".

There is a town way down in south jersey called Buena. My Spanish classes in high school taught me it was pronounced "Bway-nah" but they say "Bew-nah." My friends and I in high school used to make fun of them at track meets; they couldn't even pronounce their own town properly.

There's a town on the northern jersey shore (technically south jersey) called Avon, which I thought was "Ay-von" like the makeup ladies that used to go door to door. But people up there say "Aah-von."

I grew up in South Jersey and called that town on Rt 38 with the mall, Moorestown, "Mor-is-town" then when I went to college I met people from Morristown and thought they lived near me! Who knew it was two different towns?
Then those people from Morristown said it was "Mahr-is-town" not "Moor-is-town." Who knew?

And by the way, Evesham is "EEEV-Sham."

I'm from North Jersey and I know Trenton is in Central Jersey! I also don't pronounce the second T in Trenton. There are a few towns in New Jersey where you don't pronounce the second T (Boonton is one).

It's funny, the NJ Transit robot recording (on the train) pronounces the second T in Trenton. That thing butchers MANY town names.

[pbergen]

here's one that i've never been sure of:

piaget ave (in the northern section of clifton).

is it pie-AHH-jit?
or PEE-uh-jett?
or something else?

[Busch Boy]

Originally Posted by pbergen

here's one that i've never been sure of:

piaget ave (in the northern section of clifton).

is it pie-AHH-jit?
or PEE-uh-jett?
or something else?

LOL, this one is hard! I've seen this street my whole life and I have the slightest clue how it's pronounced. I think it's pee-AHH-jit.

[pbergen]

Originally Posted by mouse055

I worked with a fellow back on the east coast in Philly. His last name was Kearney,he pronounced it Kear ( rhymes with ear) ney. Joseph Kearney. So that is how I pronounce it. I reside in Missouri and they pronounce it Car nee. Everyone has their way of pronouncing words and names. I also pronounce comfortable in 4 syallables instead of 3. If we were all the same it would bew a totally boring place to be.

Originally Posted by Busch Boy

I have to disagree. I can understand if it were ordinary words than many people pronounce differently according to region (like horrible, merry, pen, etc.). But when we are dealing with location names, they should be said the proper way.

i agree with busch boy. place names inevitably pick up a standard or preferred local pronunciation over a period of time, and to deviate from that standard only leads to confusion, even if you think you're "right". really, it's a matter of respecting the local way of saying and doing things, which is advisable anytime you're a visitor or a recent transplant to an area.

a few years ago, some acquaintances who were visiting from la asked me to show them around nyc. upon passing houston street in lower manhattan, one of them remarked, "oh, this is HYOO-stun street? i think there's a store here that i want to check out." when i politely apprised her of the correct pronunciation ("HOW-stun"), she bristled and replied, "um, no, it's HYOO-stun. the whole country pronounces it that way so that's how i'm going to say it." initially i protested, but as i didn't want to get into a petty argument i just let it go.

besides, i knew that over the course of her stay in the city, she'd get repeatedly mocked by the locals for her mispronuciation of that street name. better to learn the hard way (which she eventually did, grudgingly).

i liken it to pronouncing people's names; for instance, if someone's last name is "weinstein" and he tells you it's pronounced "wine-steen", then it's rude to pronounce it otherwise (wine-stine, ween-steen, etc), even if it's "supposed to" be pronounced in a certain way. (the german pronunciation of that name would be "vine-shtine", for what it's worth.) i mean, you could put three people together in a room who all have the same last name, and it's quite conceivable that each of them will have a preferred pronunciation that differs from the others.

again, it's all about respecting the local or individual pronunciation when it comes to names.

[invertigo]

Originally Posted by pbergen

here's one that i've never been sure of:

piaget ave (in the northern section of clifton).

is it pie-AHH-jit?
or PEE-uh-jett?
or something else?

HA! I know Clifton well. I lived there for the first 28 yrs of my life so I might be qualified to answer this one. The locals will say "pie-A-jit", but this is obviously a really bad spin on a French word. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I would think that is should be pronounced "pee-a-ZSHAY". But I promise you this....call it anything other than the accepted local pronunciation and you will get stared right out of Clifton!

...and as always...GO MUSTANGS!!

[Kaye Housing]

Tren - in

as well as they have wudder