How you pronounce it.

[goodvedderbest]

Originally Posted by PIGal

It was originaly called Kansas, CITY..then slipped into Kansas City, it is a great city, lots to do..however, it is not like NY or LA or Dallas..it is very laid back. I have traveled a lot and always love to get home to our laid back easy way of li fe here. People are friendly, we have a great Lyric Opera, Sports Complex for the boys, wonderful parks and the best BBQ west of the Rio Grande. Christmas in Kansas City is a wonderful experience..beautiful.

West of the Rio Grande?

[besht]

Family's been in Missouri pretty much forever -- mostly SE MO and, more recently, St. Louis -- and it's Missour-ee. I think Missour-ah sounds affectatious (when used by politicians and etc) and, well, kind of dumb to be frank -- in what language is "i" pronounced as a schwa? =P Certainly not English.

[MrsMo]

My husband calls it Misery. He's originally from Kansas.

[expatmo]

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGent
I heard somewhere that Miz-ur-AH is correct as it is a Blackfoot indian word meaning land of many caves or something like that.

Actually "Missouri" is a corruption of "Oumessourit"...(said with a French accent, so "EE" on the last syllable...).
In my family its about 50-50 EE vs AH.

"The state of Missouri and its principal river were both named after a tribe of Native Americans, known by the French explorers as the “Oumessourit” or Missouri Indians, that once lived in the area of Van Meter State Park. In 1673, French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet composed a map that located an “Oumessourit,” or Missouri Indian, village at the Great Bend of the Missouri River in what is now Saline County."
Van Meter State Park - Home - Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites, MoDNR

"Marquette and Joliet referred to the river as "Pekistanoui" and they made a reference to a tribe who lived upstream on the river as "Oumessourita" which was pronounced "OO-Missouri.", (meaning "those who have dugout canoes)"
Answers.com - Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia and much more

[kfrazier]

Born and raised in West Plains, about as far south in the state as you can get, and we have always called it Miss-our-ee, no one in the town that I have heard has called it Miss-our-ah. I have family that lives in Kansas City and they all say Miss-our-ah. They also go get pop and we get soda. We say Nevada and Miami the way you say their proper names and the family in KC says them the funny Joplin sort of way. By the way they are groundhogs and vultures. Not woodchucks or buzzards.

[kfrazier]

Oh and Missouri means "big canoes" and comes from Natives talking about the river.

[southernjewishgal]

I avoid the big city- Kansas City for instance but I do say Kansas City instead of KC.
I also say Missoura instead of Missouri.

[aragx6]

When Jim Talent was running for senate I was splitting time between St. Louis and Columbia. He recorded two versions of the same radio commercial and in the one airing in St. Louis he pronounced is Missour-ee and in the Mid-Mo version pronounced it Missour-ah. I was disgusted.

[KCRichard]

There is a small book sold at tourist locations called "How to Talk Pure Ozark" by a former writer from the Springfield paper. Very funny insight on rural sayings and pronuncitions. My family has been in the Ozarks since the early 1800's; I grew up and live in Kansas City. I always thought the sayings and pronunciations were interesting: Nixie, BoDark, Versales, NeVAda, chester draws, bolly boll, Maurice Chevrolet,vi-eeny sausages, far tar, toad strangler, woods colt, mountain oysters, corn squeezins.

[saul harvey]

I moved here from Alaska about 4 years ago. One thing that I do like about Missouri is the diversity of cultures accents etc within the state.

Missouri is a Southern state, Missouri is a midwest state. Missouri is a western, plains, hillbilly state. etc. The correct pronounciation seems to change from one county to another and not only that some family members will pronounce it Missouruh while others will pronounce it Missouree. Many people will even pronounce it one way the first time then pronounce it the other way the next time. All are correct. Their is no standard American accent that is correct let alone a correct Missouri accent.

Frankly I am always amused to discover the local pronounciation of some of the small towns around the state. Some are liveing proof that many of the original settlers had a great sence of humor.