Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Lehigh Valley
 [Register]
Lehigh Valley Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
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)
 
Old 12-16-2016, 01:00 PM
 
Location: Ft Myers, FL
2,771 posts, read 2,301,942 times
Reputation: 5139

Advertisements

When my family moved to Allentown in 1969, we found it interesting that people pronounced Bethlehem "Beth-lum."

"Where does he work?"

"Bethlum Steel."

We left the Lehigh Valley decades ago, so I wonder, Do locals still call the city Bethlum, or has that morphed into the more traditional pronunciation due to population influx?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-16-2016, 05:22 PM
 
1,213 posts, read 3,110,670 times
Reputation: 996
Some I've heard:
Beth-lum
Beth-lee-hem (I find this one annoying, it's usually coming from an older man)
Beth-luh-hem
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-19-2016, 06:22 AM
 
13,254 posts, read 33,511,274 times
Reputation: 8103
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnZ963 View Post
Some I've heard:
Beth-lum
Beth-lee-hem (I find this one annoying, it's usually coming from an older man)
Beth-luh-hem
I hear #3 the most often and how I pronounce it as well.
__________________
Please follow THESE rules.

Any Questions on how to use this site? See this.

Realtors, See This.

Moderator - Lehigh Valley, NEPA, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Education and Colleges and Universities.

When I post in bold red, that is Moderator action and per the TOS can be discussed only via Direct Message.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2016, 06:50 PM
 
4,416 posts, read 9,136,350 times
Reputation: 4318
These pronunciations are wrong and should be discouraged. The old farts who talk like this will soon shrivel up and die. This kind of dialect is unacceptable. Beth-leh-hem This is the proper way. End of story.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-24-2016, 11:52 PM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
32,923 posts, read 36,323,847 times
Reputation: 43748
Quote:
Originally Posted by loose cannon View Post
These pronunciations are wrong and should be discouraged. The old farts who talk like this will soon shrivel up and die. This kind of dialect is unacceptable. Beth-leh-hem This is the proper way. End of story.
They were there before you were, whippersnapper.

I'm pretty sure I say Beth-luh-hem.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-28-2016, 07:18 AM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH
378 posts, read 341,454 times
Reputation: 291
I've always pronounced it as "Beth-lum" when speaking of it in a conversational sentence such as "It's over in Bethlehem" or saying Bethlehem Steel. Since moving out of the area, I've started making a more concerted effort to say "Beth-leh-hem" because people are surprisingly really thrown off if you don't pronounce it the proper, phonetic way.

I still think the local pronunciation of Bangor as Bang-er is the worst pronunciation this area has produced. It nearly got me executed when I moved to Maine and didn't pronounce Bangor, ME as Bang-gor.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-28-2016, 09:04 AM
 
Location: Ft Myers, FL
2,771 posts, read 2,301,942 times
Reputation: 5139
Plus you need that third syllable for the song.

"Oh, Little town of BETH Lum (um...)" just doesn't have the same ring.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-28-2016, 09:18 AM
 
2,957 posts, read 5,901,088 times
Reputation: 2286
Quote:
Originally Posted by loose cannon View Post
These pronunciations are wrong and should be discouraged. The old farts who talk like this will soon shrivel up and die. This kind of dialect is unacceptable. Beth-leh-hem This is the proper way. End of story.
Agree. I didn't even realize that other people pronounced it differently.
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 > Pennsylvania > Lehigh Valley

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