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It's not Mair-EEE-laynd. It's Mair-uh-lin or Mer-lin.
Huntingtown, Maryland gets called "Hunting-ton" all the time by news people. Natives call it Hon'n-tayuwn.
Worcester County, Maryland constantly is called "War-chester County." The correct pronunciation is "Wou-ster".
The capital is 'Naplis, not Ayn-ap-pow-lis.
It's "Ocean City" Say both words. If you say "Ow See" then we know you're not from 'round these parts.
Odenton is not "Aw-den-tin it's Ow-din-ton
Harford, not Hartford. There's no T folks.
Havre De Grace is Havra diGrace, not Haver de grass.
Bel Air is Blair.
La Plata is la-PLAY-tuh. We don't speak Spanish here it's not La Plaaaa-ta
Bowie is boo-ee not bow-ee
Patapsco is not patapsico.
Wicomico is not Wilcow-mickow or Weeko-meeko it's Why-comm-ick-oh.
I could go on.
Haha, yeah I definitely wouldn't say "nor-fork" - I don't know why people add extra letters sometimes.
Kind of like "New Westminster" in BC. You have no idea how many people say "New West-min-is-ter" (note "minister" like a priest), it's "New West-MIN-ster" and NOT "New West-MIN-IS-ter" (take out the extra "i" and the extra "s". It's 4 syllables, not 5. Sometimes I would correct people and say "it's New Westminster" and they would say "yeah, that's what I said, New Westmininster." D'oh! Sometimes I even got mail addressed to me in "New Westminister"
Just thought of another one... in Canada we do not have states, we have provinces. However, it's so close to the word "Providence" (like the city in Rhode Island), and sometimes Americans will talk about a certain "Providence" in Canada. It's a "province" (praw-vince) NOT Praw-vi-dence. 2 syllables, not 3.
Those would be the same people who call realtors REE-la-turs and athletes ATH-uh-leets.
Every state I have been in that had a Worcester pronounced it something like Wustuh, Woostah, Wooster, etc. That makes sense as it is originally an English city and is close to the English pronunciation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JakeDog
Not really mispronounced, but no one who lives in San Francisco refers to it as "Frisco". They call it by its full name or more commonly "the city". Often people from the midwest call it "frisco".
Yup, NO ONE says frisco.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cosmonewman
The natives pronounce it something like the word "organ." I'm not sure why.
Why? Same reason people from other states/cities get all worked up when you "say it wrong" and insist that what-ever city/town it is is pronounced in a way that is not intuitive to how it is spelled.
I can understand locale dialect and affliction, but it is taking things a little too far when someone says you are stupid for pronouncing words as the appear. I grew up in Northern California and always pronounced Oregon as or-gin (emphasis on the in, not gin as in the alcohol. like organ with an i). That is how it is pronounced on the West Coast (or someway very similar). However, when I hear someone say Or-e-gon, Or-e-gin, etc., I do not tell them they are stupid. That is ridiculous.
The worst of it is in New England. Particularly in Maine. So many people there feel the need to make you feel like the outsider you are (because if you are not at least three generations deep in Maine, you are not from Maine) because you are not aware enough to pronounce a French word with a Maine accent I'll say Ca-lay all day if it makes your ears burn.
I would have had no idea that it was pronounced other than the way it is spelled if I hadn't looked it up just now.
Why would you find it so funny that people would look at a word they'd never seen before and say it as it is spelled? It looks like "sequin" only with an m.
Is there a reason that anyone outside of your state would have ever even heard of it? According to Wikipedia, it has 6600 people living in it. Woo-hoo. What tourists? Oh, apparently, there's a lavender farm there. Makes me want to get on a plane and fly across the continent to see all that, so I'm really relieved that I know how to say the name of this happenin' town the right way.
Oh, and I do know how to say Oregon the right way. My father was stationed there during WWII.
I'm sorry you seem so upset and personally offended.
Did someone from Sequim make fun of your mispronunciation?
I'm sorry you seem so upset and personally offended.
Did someone from Sequim make fun of your mispronunciation?
ROFL, no--I never heard of Sequim, which was the point. It's apparently some obscure podunk town in Washington State. I looked it up to see how it is pronounced. (To those who didn't bother, it's "Skwim". One syllable. The "e" is just for ****s and giggles.)
NOBODY ever heard of Sequim, so how would they know you say it the way you do? Yet you think it's "hilarious" if people read the word and say it the way it is spelled.
ROFL, no--I never heard of Sequim, which was the point. It's apparently some obscure podunk town in Washington State. I looked it up to see how it is pronounced. (To those who didn't bother, it's "Skwim". One syllable. The "e" is just for ****s and giggles.)
NOBODY ever heard of Sequim, so how would they know you say it the way you do? Yet you think it's "hilarious" if people read the word and say it the way it is spelled.
Maybe it's Northwest Pacific humor?
It's funny to hear the word mangled. It's not a "ha ha those people are stupid" thing its just amusing to hear it pronounced so oddly when you've heard the "normal" pronunciation all your life.
Not true. I've heard stress on the first syllable at times, but the latter is correct, at least for the vast majority of people.
Speaking of New Jersey, Bernardsville is pronouned BURN-nerdz-ville, not bur-NARDZ-ville.
I grew up in North Jersey, and it was always pronounced SEE-caw-cus by people in Bergen County. As I got older and started working in the city, I started to hear Seh-CAW-cus, and now I hear that one more frequently. The electronic voice on the NJ Transit trains says Seh-CAW-cus.
And yes about Bernardsville.
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Sometimes I even got mail addressed to me in "New Westminister" 
