pronouncing local words in Chas. (Charleston, South Charleston: for sale, crime, houses)

[citybilly]

Looking to move to Chas. area from Northern WV. Looking for input on how local folks pronounce stuff. I.E.Kanawha (kanaw?) My wife says " Hurricane " is pronounced like Herikin or Heracun. What about Cabell County? Is that like cable, cow bell, or cobble? Anything else anyone can think of would be welcome.
Also, any info on neighborhoods would be helpful. Looking for under 100k, but have an aversion to burglaries and muggings.

[snorpus]

Ka-NAW-wuh
HUR-ih-kin
kah-bel

At least that's the way they sound to me.

[bballjunkie]

Ka NAW uh

HUR ih kin

Cabble as in cattle but use the b in place of the t

Pinch = pench

[corgis]

Originally Posted by citybilly

Looking to move to Chas. area from Northern WV. Looking for input on how local folks pronounce stuff. I.E.Kanawha (kanaw?) My wife says " Hurricane " is pronounced like Herikin or Heracun. What about Cabell County? Is that like cable, cow bell, or cobble? Anything else anyone can think of would be welcome.
Also, any info on neighborhoods would be helpful. Looking for under 100k, but have an aversion to burglaries and muggings.

I'm pretty sure everyone has an aversion to burglaries and muggings in Charleston and surrounding areas.

[vec101]

I disagree with the sound of Kanawha. I hear most people say
kan na or kanaw are you stated
As to Hurricane - hear it every which way but mostly like the other posters said.

For under 100K - it's really hit and miss as far as neighborhoods - seems like good or bad neighborhoods are in "pockets". As a rule, you can find a nice neighborhood then the neighborhood is not so nice a couple streets over. You just need to drive around and check out the nieghborhoods and houses for sale.
Probably the most "infamous" for crime is the West Side but not all of the West Side is problematic.

Bad things do happen to good people, but the majority of the crime seems to be drug or family related. Stay out of the drug scene, avoid abusive relationships, use common sense, keep your vehicle locked (even at night in your own driveway and don't leave anything valuable in sight), don't go walking the streets in the wee hours, be at least somewhat alert, etc. and you shouldn't have any/much problem.

[NOVAmtneer82]

People usually say Ka NAW uh so quickly that the last part tends to get less emphasis and it does indeed simply come out as Kanaw.

Hurricane is pronounced "Herrikun" for some unknown reason and it drives me insane everytime I hear it.

I've always noticed that many people outside of Charleston city limits tend to use the word "up" to describe the location of something....as in "she lives UP Coal River," "he lives UP Poca way," "they live UP Cambells Crick."

Crime in Charleston isn't bad although it gets a bad rap in other parts of the state for some reason. Yes petty crime does happen like everywhere else but it really isn't something to stay awake worrying about.

Under 100K in Charleston won't really get you a SFH in the prime neighborhoods like South Hills, Woodbridge, or Kanawha City but I'm sure you could find something on parts of the East End, West Side hill or the Montrose area of South Charleston.

[mensaguy]

A HurriCANE is a storm. HURRicun is a town. Charles Manson once lived on Charleston's West Side, but I don't know of any crimes he committed while he was here (someone else may know). I've never known anybody that liked being burgled or mugged.

[snorpus]

Originally Posted by NOVAmtneer82

I've always noticed that many people outside of Charleston city limits tend to use the word "up" to describe the location of something....as in "she lives UP Coal River," "he lives UP Poca way," "they live UP Cambells Crick."

"Up" is usually short for "up-stream" or "up-river". Occasionally, "up" can mean "at a higher elevation" (but then that will also be up-stream, but perhaps not directly). It's probably all a hangover from the days when the rivers and streams provided the easiest paths for transportation.

[convex20899]

No body must live down the road, down in the holler or down yonder way. Every one must live up.

good lord.

[snorpus]

No, I just didn't bother to give examples going the other way. If in Edray, you'd go down to Marlinton, down to Hillsboro, etc. Thomas is "down" from Davis and Canaan Valley. From Spruce, you'd go "down" to Bemis; the people of Bemis live "down Shaver's Fork" from Spruce.