Ignorant local pronounciations that stick...

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  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
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    Heh, please come to the city of Pittsburgh. Where words with "ow" sound are pronounced with an "ah" sound.

    Dahntahn, ftw.

    We have quite a few...quirks.

    Versailles. A French word, pronounced Ver-Si. We have East Ver-Sales. The French must loathe us.

    The one that I wonder about is Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie was from Pittsburgh, but was a titan of industry world wide. As such many places are named after him, New York for example. But everyone else pronounces it Car-nuh-Gee while we say it Car-Nay-Gee.

    I really hope everyone else is saying it wrong and not us.

    Versailles! I cringe on the inside when I say Versales because I know it's technically wrong, but I can't say Ver-si without feeling like a pretension d*uche.

    And I was employed by members of Frick Foundation (MEET YOU IN HELL), CarNayGee OR DEATH.
  • MississippiMama87
    MississippiMama87 Posts: 204 Member
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    I'm from MS (obviously). Gautier is "go-shay."

    I don't see mispronunciation, if done locally, as ignorant. I see it as a regional and cultural difference in speaking. Lord knows people from MS pronounce so many things differently and tend to make up words, but its not a sign of ignorance. It is just how we do thangs. Lol
  • GrasslandFairy
    GrasslandFairy Posts: 23
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    Louisville, Ky

    In KY it's pronounced "loo-uh-vuhl".
    I have no idea why, but it is.

    Hurricane, Wv also drives me crazy. "Hurr-uh-cun"
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
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    it is "Car-Nay-Gee". but i still pronounce it "Car-Nuh-Gee" because it sounds pretentious the other way.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/nyregion/fyi-019240.html

    Trust me, if you hear it pronounced the right way by a Pittsburgher, it sure ain't pretentious.

    "Yinz goin' dahn to the CarNAYgee librury 'n at?"

    i dunno. it just feels like if i start pronouncing it that way, what's next? am i going to have to start pronouncing nicaragua as knee-hur-wa-wa?? where does it end?? :huh:

    i like americanized pronunciations anyway. <insert Team America World Police song here>
  • mandy_lynn
    mandy_lynn Posts: 165 Member
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    it is "Car-Nay-Gee". but i still pronounce it "Car-Nuh-Gee" because it sounds pretentious the other way.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/nyregion/fyi-019240.html

    Trust me, if you hear it pronounced the right way by a Pittsburgher, it sure ain't pretentious.

    "Yinz goin' dahn to the CarNAYgee librury 'n at?"

    Damn jagoffs
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Cairo, GA (and they get ANGRY if you say it the "wrong" way). They call it kay-ro. Named after one of the most ancient cities in all the world, full of history and culture and wonder, gods and kings -- and they mangled the pronunciation and insist it's correct.

    Makes me see red.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    One more, Miami Oklahoma, pronounced Miamah

    I mentioned this one earlier -- most friends from OK say that's a correct pronunciation, the true Native American pronunciation. I've also known a girl named Naomi whose name was pronounced Nay-om-uh for the same reason. Dunno if that's true or not.
  • kxbrown27
    kxbrown27 Posts: 769 Member
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    Cairo Illinois is actually pronounced Kay-ro. Ironically, the part of the state it's located in used to be called little egypt.

    Some people used to think the White Sox played at Cominskey Park.

    The same people think the Bears play at Soldiers Field.

    The 'S' at the end of Illinois is silent, but both in Des Plaines are not.

    Hardcore south siders eat Polish Sassage.
  • bd0027
    bd0027 Posts: 1,053 Member
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    Louisville, Ky

    In KY it's pronounced "loo-uh-vuhl".
    I have no idea why, but it is.

    Hurricane, Wv also drives me crazy. "Hurr-uh-cun"

    I'm from Kentucky and I say Lul-vul. It really just depends on where you're raised.
  • deluxmary2000
    deluxmary2000 Posts: 981 Member
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    This isn't a pronunciation, but I'm from the Philadlephia suburbs, and we eat HOAGIES here. Apparently everyone else in the entire country calls them "subs" or "grinders". Not sure why we had to be special.

    Also, people in Pennysylvania pronounce water as "woodder" instead of "wahter". Drives me insane.
  • ShannonS921
    ShannonS921 Posts: 194
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    I could list so many of these...

    But the one that was recently brought to my attention and has been grating my nerves...there is a tiny little speck of a town near us here in NC called Conetoe. The first time I saw the sign, I read it as "Cone-toe". I was informed that it is pronounced "Cuh-nee-tuh"...WTF?! This bugs me for some unknown reason and I will always call it "Cone-toe".
  • ShannonS921
    ShannonS921 Posts: 194
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    This isn't a pronunciation, but I'm from the Philadlephia suburbs, and we eat HOAGIES here. Apparently everyone else in the entire country calls them "subs" or "grinders". Not sure why we had to be special.

    Also, people in Pennysylvania pronounce water as "woodder" instead of "wahter". Drives me insane.

    I'm from PA originally and I have always called it a Hoagie! :smile:

    I do pronounce it as "wahter", though.

    One thing that people pick on me for is the way I pronounce creek....I say "crick"....apparently that's odd! :laugh:
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
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    When people pronounce specific as "pacific"

    The hate......it burns in my heart like a million suns when heard.
  • CaddieMay
    CaddieMay Posts: 356 Member
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    Cairo Illinois is actually pronounced Kay-ro. Ironically, the part of the state it's located in used to be called little egypt.

    Some people used to think the White Sox played at Cominskey Park.

    The same people think the Bears play at Soldiers Field.

    The 'S' at the end of Illinois is silent, but both in Des Plaines are not.

    Hardcore south siders eat Polish Sassage.
    Learned the pronunciation of Cairo by reading "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." :smile:

    ETA: Damned auto correct.
  • greengoddess0123
    greengoddess0123 Posts: 417 Member
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    When people pronounce specific as "pacific"

    The hate......it burns in my heart like a million suns when heard.

    Ha ha! That one gets me, too.

    I'm in Savannah, GA, and people here pronounce the H in vehicle: Vee-hickle. Drives me nuts.
  • kxbrown27
    kxbrown27 Posts: 769 Member
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    Joliet is pronounced Joe-lee-ette. Far outside of Chicago people say Jolly-ette.
  • Yurippe
    Yurippe Posts: 850 Member
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    They are not wrong pronunciations, they are unexpected pronunciations. Without shibboleths, how would you know who was local and who was a transplant?

    Around here we have Berlin and New Berlin, both pronounced BURR-lin. Also, Teutonia Ave is pronounce TIE-tone-yah

    SE WI?
  • CaddieMay
    CaddieMay Posts: 356 Member
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    Bangor, Maine is pronounced "Ban-gore" not "Ban-ger." Just so you know.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    AX a question? go to the LIE-BARRY?

    :laugh:
    when my niece says 'ax' when she wants to 'ask' someone something, I tell her she can't go around axing people, it's a federal offense & they'll put her in jail :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    You should have seen her face the first time I'd said it to her.....priceless. No one ever thought to correct her before, she's 10! :huh:

    'look-tid' as in the past tense of look makes me crazy too
    'tooken' past tense of taken
    'mines'...just NO.

    edited for spelling..derp.

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