Pronunciation of towns/cities (Boston, Worcester: pronounce, European, black)

[dynimagelv]

Originally Posted by Valerie C

To me, an Ant is a pesky insect that shows up at picnics...

To me, that perfectly defines my AUNT.....so I guess ANT is close enough.

[NEOhioBound]

Originally Posted by rranger

You see, it's a city in England - and there it is pronounced precisely as it is in MA - Wooster (just like the town in Ohio). If that drives you nuts, don't ever try to pronounce Leicester!

I grew up near that "Wooster" town in Ohio. And we grew up pronouncing it "Wooo-ster" because well, it has no "R" in the middle like Worcester does, which should be pronounced :P
Leicester? Oh my!! I must Google as I have never heard of that town.

[rranger]

Originally Posted by tamiznluv

Hmmm, I don't understand that college joke.

Fahther, not Fa(r)ther. I go farther to some where, my fahther has passed. No "aw".
Chicahgo, not Chicogo

And, Chicago is the way most of the country pronounces it except - oddly - for Illinois and Wisconsin, where it's pronounced Chicawgo - go figyah!

[Plutonium]

Originally Posted by NEOhioBound

The pronunciation of "Worcester" really gets my goat lol. Isn't pronounced at all like it is spelled. Makes me wonder if people just got lazy about how it should actually be pronounced from what it originally sounded like when the town was named.

If you think about it though, it depends on how you break it down. The first instinct is to think of it as Wor-cester which causes some confusion. But if you break it down like Worce-ster it makes a lot more sense.. Worce is like Worse, which isn't far off of Woos. Worce-ster. Woos-ster.
Same with Leicester.. 'Leice' isn't too dissimilar to 'Less'. Leice-ster. Less-ster.

[Finocchio]

The English call Worcestershire Sauce simply "Worcester Sauce". The city in Massachusetts is pronounced WUH' stah. The final "r" is never pronounced. But never say it nasally. That's when it becomes this altered version of the Brooklyn accent to which one poster referred in a now-extinct post. The Brooklynese inflection to the Yankee accent has inflicted itself on the indigenous Yankee accent over (roughly) the last one hundred years. My grandaunt said "my swetah's ovah theyah on the chayah" (my sweater's over there on the chair). Now people think that's a Downeast (Maine) accent. Two generations ago ALL middle class Southeastern Massachusetts residents had precisely that accent. And the sound one used to agree with an assertion was "ay yah" ...

Petersham is pronounced "Peter's ham" equal emphasis both syllables.

Originally Posted by NEOhiobound

I grew up near that "Wooster" town in Ohio.

In my opinion it lacks the "r" because the original settlers to that area of Ohio brought that Massachusetts town/city name to the area when first settled and spelled it phonetically as they'd always heard it here in Massachusetts.

Off topic: Anyone know what "Presque Isle" in French means? Come on all you Francophiles and French Canadians. I know you'll get it right.

Originally Posted by tamzinluv

I think it's the Harvard acccent the Kennedys and others have that people make fun of. I make fun of a Harvard accent!
They are accents unto their own.

And the Kennedys usurped that accent from the Brahmins to make themselves appear less Irish and Roman Catholic. In old Joe Kennedy and Rose Kennedy's generation I can assure you neither was raised using the tonier "pahk the cah" (softened and flattened "a" sound in both). One could say Joe and Rose were upwardly mobile.

[Finocchio]

Originally Posted by rranger

And, Chicago is the way most of the country pronounces it except - oddly - for Illinois and Wisconsin, where it's pronounced Chicawgo - go figyah!

I've never heard a Massachusetts native say anything but "Chi CAW' go".

The European French say "CHIC' ah go" ... it's too cool.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Finocchio

Off topic: Anyone know what "Presque Isle" in French means? Come on all you Francophiles and French Canadians. I know you'll get it right.

Literally, it means ''almost an island''. It is an old French word for peninsula, although these days ''péninsule'' is used.

[deerislesmile]

Originally Posted by Valerie C

This thread has become very interesting, and I enjoy Verseau's explanations (except that I need to re-read this post when I am alone. Pronouncing these words to see what they sound like to the ear makes me sound like I've finally fallen off my rocker...)

One final question: how do most native New Englanders refer to your mother or father's sister. I say "Aunt' (like "open up and say Ahhh"). When I speak with people from elsewhere, it's "Ant". To me, an Ant is a pesky insect that shows up at picnics...

Maine here, but ALMOST everyone I know uses aunt the correct way.. the one that doesn't sound exactly like ant. The ones that use the ant version are 99% of the time from CT or beyond.

[deerislesmile]

Originally Posted by DandJ

Ah, good point. I was just thinking about it and seemed to recall that most of the "Ahnt" sayers were in CT.

Everyone I know in CT says "Ant", including my former sister in law, who thinks she is Ant Barb, but really she is Aunt Barb!

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by deerislesmile

Everyone I know in CT says "Ant", including my former sister in law, who thinks she is Ant Barb, but really she is Aunt Barb!

HAHAHAHA!!! That's funny because I'm from Montreal, where everyone says ANT. When I moved to CT in 2005, I found everyone was saying AUNT. It made me feel so low-class.