Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-21-2015, 01:36 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
725 posts, read 3,014,037 times
Reputation: 601

Advertisements

I was in NYC last month and my friend mentioned to me that the locals pronounce "Houston" like "House-ten" or "Hows-ten" and not like "Houston TX". That made me wonder what local streets/words that Chicagoans pronounce differently than a visitor would.

These are just a few that are off the top of my head, but can you add to the list?
  • Paulina - pronounced "Pawl-lie-na" and not "Paul-lee-nuh"
  • Roosevelt - pronounced "Roo-Se-Velt" and not "Rose-a-velt... I read elsewhere that Theodore, whom this street was renamed after, pronounced it "Roo-se-velt" while FDR pronounced it "Rose-a-velt"... not sure how much truth there is to that.
  • Roof - locals say "ruff" and not "roof", but this is more of a matter of accent to me rather than a specific way of saying it like above
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-21-2015, 01:55 PM
 
1,089 posts, read 1,861,897 times
Reputation: 1156
Quote:
Originally Posted by s0nginmyheart View Post
I was in NYC last month and my friend mentioned to me that the locals pronounce "Houston" like "House-ten" or "Hows-ten" and not like "Houston TX". That made me wonder what local streets/words that Chicagoans pronounce differently than a visitor would.


These are just a few that are off the top of my head, but can you add to the list?
  • Paulina - pronounced "Pawl-lie-na" and not "Paul-lee-nuh"
  • Roosevelt - pronounced "Roo-Se-Velt" and not "Rose-a-velt... I read elsewhere that Theodore, whom this street was renamed after, pronounced it "Roo-se-velt" while FDR pronounced it "Rose-a-velt"... not sure how much truth there is to that.
  • Roof - locals say "ruff" and not "roof", but this is more of a matter of accent to me rather than a specific way of saying it like above
Everybody I know says Rose-a-velt.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-21-2015, 02:04 PM
 
Location: Wicker Park/East Village area
2,474 posts, read 4,164,879 times
Reputation: 1939
Throop pronounced "troop"
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-21-2015, 02:37 PM
 
Location: River North, Chicago, Illinois
4,619 posts, read 8,167,803 times
Reputation: 6321
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagobear View Post
Everybody I know says Rose-a-velt.
Me, too. I don't think I've actually heard anyone say "roos" and I've lived here 20 years. Occasionally I've heard the local accent throw it into something somewhere in the middle between those two pronunciations.

Paulina - "PUH-line-uh"
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-21-2015, 02:53 PM
 
Location: Casper, WY
138 posts, read 172,206 times
Reputation: 229
Melvina rhymes with Paulina.

What's the consensus on Avondale? I figured the "A" sounded more like the "ey" in "hey" than the "a" in "hat" because Northern Cities Shift, but I heard a guy say it like "a" in "hat".

Also: I've always thought that Roosevelt Road had "ruze" as a first syllable and not "rose".
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-21-2015, 04:55 PM
 
Location: Berwyn, IL
2,418 posts, read 6,254,395 times
Reputation: 1133
Quote:
Originally Posted by sipes23 View Post
Melvina rhymes with Paulina.

What's the consensus on Avondale? I figured the "A" sounded more like the "ey" in "hey" than the "a" in "hat" because Northern Cities Shift, but I heard a guy say it like "a" in "hat".

Also: I've always thought that Roosevelt Road had "ruze" as a first syllable and not "rose".
Huh. My whole family pronounces it as a short a, as in 'hat'.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-21-2015, 05:01 PM
 
Location: Lincoln Park, Chicago
498 posts, read 724,278 times
Reputation: 777
Took me a while to learn Goethe.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-21-2015, 05:31 PM
 
Location: Chicago - Logan Square
3,396 posts, read 7,209,736 times
Reputation: 3731
Don't forget Devon - deh-VON instead of DEH-vin.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefall18 View Post
Took me a while to learn Goethe.
At least that one is correct!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-21-2015, 05:35 PM
 
1,089 posts, read 1,861,897 times
Reputation: 1156
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefall18 View Post
Took me a while to learn Goethe.
It changed. 25 years ago it was usually pronounced Go-thee, and now it is pronounced as the proper German Gur-tuh. I guess Chicago got more sophisticated.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-21-2015, 10:39 PM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 103,160,449 times
Reputation: 29983
Quote:
Originally Posted by sipes23 View Post
Melvina rhymes with Paulina.
As the old, classy joke goes... "There are three streets in Chicago that rhyme with Regina: Paulina Melvina, and..."

I'm afraid I can't finish the joke without the forum hall monitor swinging the banhammer at me, but it's the street that corresponds with 7000N.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top