What local word do people always say wrong, even after you correct them?

Houston Street in New York is named after William Houstoun, who married into a prominent New York family but lived in Georgia for most of his life and died in Savannah. He was a member of the Contintental Congress from Georgia and one of the original trustees of the University of Georgia. Houston Street was part of his father-in-law's land in Manhattan.

Houston County is named for his older brother John, who was also a delegate to the Continental Congress and served two separate terms as governer of Georgia.

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samosamancer@reddit

This all makes me wonder if Sam Houston was the one “mispronouncing” his name.

(In quotes because people generally have the right to pronounce their names however they want. Though borrowing a name from another culture and then pronouncing it how you want is cringe as hell. But that’s a tangent.)

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No_Revolution_918@reddit

Oh, that's interesting! Thanks for sharing - I am a history buff.

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LionelHutzEsqLLP@reddit

Glad to help! It was something I always had a suspicion about, what with their being pronounced the same and being so different from the one in Texas. I initially thought they might have the same namesake, but looking it up confirmed they were different people.

OkMeringue2249@reddit

Omg 😆

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Heavy72@reddit

You-stuhn is only the beginning for city names in Texas. Off the top of my head, there's...

Waxahatchie.
Buda.
Burnet.
Atascocita.
Humble.
Leaky.
Iraan.
Boerne.
Gruene.

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jorwyn@reddit

We have a Houston street here in Spokane, Washington, and I'm afraid to even guess.

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TEG24601@reddit

The funnier thing is that Samuel Houston actually pronounced his name like the street in New York, according to many historical accounts.

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Lothar_Ecklord@reddit

Also, I hear Vesey Street pronounced Vess-ee but there are two reasons that’s not correct:

It’s the name of a dude who pronounced it V-C or V-Z if you will.
Phonetically, pronouncing it Vess-ee would require it to have a double-s or a double consonant of some kind, which it does not.

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jephph_@reddit

It’s misspelled but in a different way than that

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Houstoun_(lawyer)

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jamiesugah@reddit

Ah, thank you! I knew there was supposed to be an E somewhere and couldn't remember where it went.

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Ok-Worth-4721@reddit

Willamette.

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Rhubarb_and_bouys@reddit

Our towns are a bit hard to pronounce. As long as they are a little close I don't bother. Who cares?

Leominster, Worcester, Leicester, Scituate, Gloucester, etc. None really sound like they look.

Let's guess. In order

Lionton

Wooster (i think I know this one)

Looster

Skit ate

talulahbeulah@reddit

Woburn. Quincy.

East-HAAMM’ in Cape Cod is correct. It is not EAST-umm. Eastham is how it is spelled.

Worchester = Woostah Dorchester = Dorchestah

Okay, but to fe fair, Meijer started out as Meijer’s Thrifty Acres.

Kimberly: “Hey, stepbrother — I was getting something from under the bed, and I got stuck! Can you help me?”

Willis: “Wait here, Arnold. I have to go help Kimberly…”

That is the correct pronunciation.

Mackinac

It's pronounced Mackinaw, not Mackinack.

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MaggieMae68@reddit

In Austin, Tx, the one of the big main streets that borders the University of Texas is Guadaloupe.

Pronounced: GWAH-dah-loop.

Here in the SF Bay Area, there are lots of city/street names of clearly Spanish origin that no longer make sense in either English or Spanish. One that comes to mind is Vallejo, pronounced Vahl-eh Ho.

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Always-Anxious-@reddit

Appalachia.

It's considered more "southern tier" area than Finger Lakes.

Apalachin's only claim to fame was the "Apalachin Meeting" in 1957. Over 100 mobsters from NYC, Jersey, and Italy were there. It got raided and there were dozens of them literally running through the woods to escape. Many were arrested and it's actually the event that forced the FBI to admit the mafia was real.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apalachin_meeting

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Affectionate_Box_902@reddit

I remember when we saw the sign my mom was like "they spelled it wrong". 😂

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Intelligent_Pop1173@reddit

I’ve never heard anyone say latch-uh in the media or in real life, and lay-shuh was how I was always taught in school so I’m sticking with that.

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hugeyakmen@reddit

It basically shifts around the Mason-Dixon line. Below that its app-uh-latch-uh, above that its app-uh-lay-shuh (or really app-uh-lay-shuns or app-uh-lay-shun mountains, as I don't remember hearing people use the -ia ending to describe their region like they apparently do in the south)

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milkandsugar@reddit

You beat me to it, but there are a bunch of other Georgia names outside of Atlanta that are difficult to assume, such as:

Albany - Al binny

Bremen - BREE mn

Buena Vista - BYOO na VISS ta

Cairo - KAY ro

Dacula - Duh CUE la

Dahlonega - duh LON uh guh

Hahira - Hay HI ra

Hoschton - HUSH tn (the HUSH rhymes with PUSH)

Houston - HOUSE tn

McDonough - Mik DUN uh

SailorGreySparrow@reddit

Louisville. I know, okay? If you aren’t from Kentucky, you’re going to say it “Lewis-ville” or “Lewy-ville.” Got it, I understand.

In Kansas, or at least in Wichita, it's the Ar-Kansas river for some reason lol

I was so confused about what was “inter”

I’ve always thought it was intercoastal, because “inter” means to go between things. The intercoastal waterway goes between the different states, the same way that interstate highways do.

Today I learned… and now I’m so confused, because I don’t know what it “intra” about it. lol

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ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit

It's "intra" because it's "within" the coast. In other words, it follows the coast but is a bit inland.

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ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit

Yep, it's "intra" because it's within the coast.

pxystx89@reddit

THIS

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therealjerseytom@reddit

Shit, TIL!

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BigMacRedneck@reddit

I stick with my pronunciations for all names, towns, streets, etc. Probably wrong 85% of the time but enjoy doing it my way.

That's a thing in Southeast PA, too.

Acme's, Walmart's "my kid's mom"... I actually had someone order a "Guinness's" once

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mess-maker@reddit

It was Nordstrom’s for a long time, albeit generations ago. My grandma called it Nordstrom’s as that’s what it was called for the first part of her life and that’s what she always called it.

The s is not plural, it’s possessive as in “I’m going to Fred’s [store]”. At least that’s how my brain reads/says it. I’ve never called it pike’s place because it’s a street name and it doesn’t belong to someone. That would be like saying Cherry’s street or Pine’s street.

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CalmRip@reddit

Coming in late, but The City needs to be in that list. In NorCal, that term always means San Francisco.

And I hate San Fran, because Furriners (Americans from out of state) seem to always say "See-un Free-un," with a really nasal/whiny accent.

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chameleonsEverywhere@reddit

I feel like "The City" isn't really name tho.... in my experience everyone who lives in any metro area says "the city" to refer to "the major city close to me". Like, if I talk to someone where I live and say I'm doing something in the city, they know I mean Philly. If I moved to north Jersey, "the city" would mean NYC. Unless I'm missing something about how "The City" is used out there that's fundamentally different, imo I don't think it should count (for my very important list in a Reddit thread).

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LunarVolcano@reddit

My partner is from SF and is a HATER of “san fran.” But my mom loves to say it, nasally great lakes A’s and all.

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old_gold_mountain@reddit

"Frisco" is frequently used by locals, especially in lower-income and minority communities. But randomly also it's huge in biker culture (e.g. the Hell's Angels and other local motorcycle subcommunities).

That's basically like code switching in the sense that you're adapting your vocabulary to match non residents. very interesting.

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Legolinza@reddit

No

I’m an expat. When I meet other Californians here we’ll talk about "back home in Cali" while the locals here have never heard of "Cali" until we clarify that we’re talking about the state of California

I have thus far never heard "Cali" said by anyone who isn’t originally from there. But I can see myself, at least in theory, use it when speaking with a fellow American (who’s non-Californian) because I do associate the nickname with "distance" (maybe even longing?)

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madelmire@reddit

Ohh, I think I misunderstood your comment then.

I have thus far never heard "Cali" said by anyone who isn’t originally from there.

That's interesting, because I have only ever heard it from people visiting the state or from people who had moved there. Usually it comes off to me as wrapped up with this idealized version of "Cali" where saying it that way sounds cool and like you're familiar with it. But I literally never hear it from other Californians. I hear socal and norcal (mostly socal), but not Cali.

because I do associate the nickname with "distance" (maybe even longing?)

Maybe what you think of as longing is what I hear as idealization from the external?

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LuftDrage@reddit

I wonder if it’s region based. I’ve lived here my whole life and I hear it all the time, though mostly from people around my age (Gen Z)…which now makes me think it may be a generational thing.

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Legolinza@reddit

Yeah it’s certainly interesting to hear people’s different perspectives on things I had never thought to analyze before

I will wholly admit to not having traveled around the country a great deal. So I’ll willingly admit that I’m no expert on word choices outside of my limit experiences (within California, and abroad) Reddit is kind of opening up my eyes to discourse I didn’t even know existed 😂

Like the hatred for ’frisco’ (a term I’m happy to say I’ve never encountered irl) or the assurance that ’San Fran’ is only ever said by transplants. Something that made me question my entire childhood (😅) I can’t say I’ve heard it much (or at all!) since the early ’00s, but I certainly associate it with the older generation as I heard it all the time as a kid in the Bay. But now as an adult I’m questioning who among them were native Californians (it’s not like you’d think to ask that as a child)

And while it’s entirely possible that ’Cali’ is drastically more popular out of state, in my (limited) experiences, it has served almost like a calling card for fellow Californian expats. If I hear ’Cali’ in the wild my first reaction is to go "oh are you from there?" with the standard response being either "Yeah I grew up in California" or "born and raised"

Though I don’t disagree with you when you say that it’s usually said almost with an air of rose-colored glasses. (Which in my situation tends to stem from homesickness)

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Sooner70@reddit

Based on the above discussion, I wonder how much may be generational. One generation’s hip is the next generation’s cringe and all that. I get the idea you’re a young’un while I am a card-carrying member of AARP.

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madelmire@reddit

It's regional.I think too because I never used NorCal at all when I lived up there. They used SoCal though. When i moved south I heard SoCal a lot and NorCal only for purposes of comparison. And for shorter typing on text stuff.

CharlesAvlnchGreen@reddit

Nope, "the PNW" is kind of a new invention and not something locals use. "Cali" feels like it was invented by rappers.

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AdelleDeWitt@reddit

Except for when I leave the state and I come back, because then I'm going going back back to Cali Cali. Do I sing that quietly to myself every single time I get back on a plane? Maybe.

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delilahhh_xx@reddit

I am from Missouri where we have many great cities including:

Berlin (Pronounced like burlin' - more emphasis on BUR-lin)

Versailles (ver-saylz)

Tina (tie-nuh)

Nevada (nuh-VAY-duh)

That’s probably a better way to write out the pronunciation. I was keying in on the extra syllable. I look at the difference in how someone pronounces the “jua” as a difference in accent more than I do saying something “wrong”.

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milkandsugar@reddit

This irks me as well. My husband, who is from just outside of San Diego, and went to Tijuana a lot as a teen, still says TEE UH WAH NAH and I was questioning my own pronunciation because of it.

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wwhsd@reddit

I know people that grew up in Tijuana that didn’t even realize that they pronounced it with the extra syllable when they were speaking English.

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milkandsugar@reddit

Well, there you go. I don't think I'm going to convince my husband to change his pronunciation, but in my head I will know!

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sandwiches09@reddit

This is a new thing I have learned today 0_O

It's less of a "local" word, but it feels like in recent years people have stopped saying "veteran" as "vet-e-ran" and started saying it as "VETrin" instead and I just…it feels like they're trying to infuse the very word itself with pep. "Vet" was always the most-stressed syllable, but now it's gotten cranked up to eleven and the rest of the word has been compressed to one syllable.

Damn, I wanted to post that one. 😄

Bossier City is a dump of a town named after a man, Pierre Bossier.

Rowan county Kentucky isn't pronounced like rowin' the boat or rowan tree but rather like brown without the B. One syllable.

Don't get me started on West Virginia. Kanawha county is k' NAH

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antifayall@reddit

Apple atcha

Maybe up north it's App a LAY shuh, but in Kentucky it's apple atcha

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Uhhyt231@reddit

Pronouncing Bowie like David Bowie.

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CreepinJesusMalone@reddit

I'm from Alabama originally and my first few times in Maryland before moving here were for military training.

I got corrected for mispronouncing Bowie, Odenton, Catonsville, Buckeystown, and probably 15 other places lol.

OldJames47@reddit

Someone replaced the Bowie St sign with David Bowie St after his death.

Couch St.

It's pronounced Cooch. It's a street named after a guy and he pronounced his name Cooch.

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RoseRedd@reddit

Also, Willamette rhymes with damnit.

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TheDrunkSlut@reddit

I remember moving out to Eugene for grad school and being so sure it was will-am-ette. Cue me being incredibly dismayed to find out I was pronouncing it wrong (thankfully learned the correct pronunciation very quickly and before saying to any locals).

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twcsata@reddit

I had to re-record a podcast episode over this one. Talked about the novel and movie “The Postman”, set in and around the Willamette valley. I probably used the word twenty times. Wrong every single time, of course. Sometime in the week or two after, I found out the correct pronunciation; had to re-record and re-upload the whole thing.

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TheShitpostAlchemist@reddit

I didn’t know this until a while after I moved to Portland. It still feels very weird to say in polite company.

Another one was Aloha, I was saying it like the Hawaiian greeting until someone told me it’s actually Alo-uh.

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BitterBlues87@reddit

That tripped me out a bit when I moved to Portland

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Geauga

Ashtabula

-Versailles

-Olentangy

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Fun_Push7168@reddit

Gratiot

Hebron

Milan

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AbibliophobicSloth@reddit

I see your Gratiot and raise you Ypsilanti and Lahser.

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Tasty_Marsupial8057@reddit

Me, born and raised in mid Michigan- LAH-sir

Spouse, born and raised in metro Detroit- LAH-shurr.

🤷🏻‍♀️

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hiketheworld2@reddit

Let’s throw Cadieux into the pot.

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Madame_Kitsune98@reddit

I learned how to say “Gallipolis” when we stayed overnight this summer.

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Gloop_and_Gleep@reddit

Cadiz represent

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mickeltee@reddit

Don’t forget Russia and Mantua.

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sl0play@reddit

In WA it's all the native words as well.

In Philadelphia our football team is known as the “iggles”

I get that it’s confusing what with the bird pics and mascot and all that… a lot of people think it’s the “Eagles”…

Dizyupthegirl@reddit

I totally read that in the Philly accent lol. Sadly i don’t live in Philly but a lot of family in roxborough/manayunk. Spent most summers running those neighborhoods when I was a kid.

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RBatYochai@reddit

Skookle

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Gloomy_Photograph285@reddit

It is con-show-hock-n, right?

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No, they’re called the Eagles. You guys just don’t know how to pronounce it correctly.

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Mokaleek@reddit

As a central California native, I find a lot of outsiders pronounce 'Tulare' incorrect.

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wittyrepartees@reddit

In NYC:
Greenwich = Grennitch
Houston = House-ton

Stuyvesant = Stai-ves_stant

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Jaymac720@reddit (OP)

That’s how you say Greenwich in England too

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dr_ang@reddit

That’s just how you quickly identify the non-locals for me, it’s how people try to pronounce Puyallup and Sequim

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grrreasy@reddit

pop.

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Bootmacher@reddit

My favorite in Arkansas is DeQueen.

There's a state park in Indiana called Ouabache State Park. It's the French spelling of the Miami word for our primary river, the Wabash.

But here in Indiana we butcher almost every French place name we have (and there are many) so we pronounce it "wa-batch-ee," even though it's literally named after the Wabash.

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MacaroonSad8860@reddit

that was obvious to me somehow - it’s French transliteration no?

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Personal-Presence-10@reddit

Yep! And the state of Kansas also has a river called Washita. Kansas was more settled and the place names were transliterated by English and Arkansas and many of its place names were transliterated by the French. Thats why Arkansas has the silent s plural (acansa was the Native American word for the people of that area that the French wrote down) and Kansas (Kansa tribe of people) has the plural s that is pronounced from the English speaking people that explored and settled it.

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haileyskydiamonds@reddit

Texas_Mike_CowboyFan@reddit

I think I get it. I am an alumnus. We, are alumni? I've never seen alumnus or alumnae on a license plate frame or a sticker.

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Marcudemus@reddit

-Singular masculine: alumnus -Singular feminine: alumna -Plural masculine (or mixed): alumni -Plural feminine: alumnae

And you're right. I don't think I've ever seen "alumnus" or "alumna" on a license plate frame either. It's a lack of knowledge that keeps reinforcing itself because of the economic benefit of making 1 sticker/frame/holder/etc. instead of 2. 🤦🏽‍♂️

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Adventurous_Pin_344@reddit

I'm glad I'm not alone on this.

Especially if it's an all women's school, so I know the driver is an alumna. And if you're going to incorrectly use the plural, then it would be alumnae!!

My dad was at a Harvard-Yale game as a student and George Plimpton (do people even know who that is? Old sports journalist) got really incensed with Yale students who were yelling really rude things at the Harvard team and alums. Plimpton marched right up to the Yale student section and demanded that they shut up, declaring himself an important "Harvard alumni." Not missing a beat, a random Yale student yelled out "that's alumNUS, you silly ass."

Add Powhite and Powhatan to that list. Oh and Henrico.

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adrianlovesyou@reddit

I’m adding Mattaponi

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Player_Haterz_Ball@reddit

Ohhhh yeah definitely 👍🏻

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Ha. We have a road in Orlando that everyone thinks is an Indian name.

Semoran Rd. ( sim-MOR-on ).

It’s actually made up because the road was the original link between two counties. SEMinole and ORANge.

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MacaroonSad8860@reddit

New Hampshire too. Lake Winnepesaukee. Kancamagus Highway.

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IPreferDiamonds@reddit

I love the movie "What about Bob" so I know how to pronounce Lake Winnepesaukee! :-)

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SeptemberLondon@reddit

Have to jump into the Virginia thread to add McLean to the list. Quick way to identify a non-local is pronouncing it Mc-Leen.

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12BumblingSnowmen@reddit

Is it pronounced Kwa-Ock-A-Sin?

Jaymac720@reddit (OP)

What the actual fuck tho? How can you mess up Madrid?

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TheFrogWife@reddit

RIGHT?! Like normally I couldn't care less about what people call themselves but for some reason every time I hear someone say MAD-Rid I just fucking can't.

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Alarming_Long2677@reddit

Its Natchitoches that gets me- NACK uh TISH. Just seems like there are syllables missing

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Jaymac720@reddit (OP)

I know right

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iwannaddr2afi@reddit

Tickets to New Orleans should come with a pronunciation guide, lol it's not difficult once you hear things pronounced a bunch of times, but also not intuitive or (as you noted) consistent. BUT well worth the minor confusion to experience your great city <3

I feel like place names all over the US are often similarly confusing because they're so often anglicized (or even simplified beyond anglicization) so you get "Peer" as a pronunciation for Pierre in SD, BASsee for Basye in VA, MYnut for Minot in ND, BEWlee for Beaulieu in MN, etc. We have some hilarious local examples but they're tiny towns and I don't wanna dox myself more than necessary on this app 😅

Love this topic

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Jaymac720@reddit (OP)

My favorite one is Calliope. There’s Calliope Street and there’s the calliope on the Steamboat Natchez. They are not said the same. The street is said as Callie-Ope, and the instrument is said the normal way

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_Internet_Hugs_@reddit

Utah has a bunch.

The town Mantua is Man-a-way.

Toole is Two-ill-uh.

The Oquirr Mountains are Oak-er, but people say it Ohkrr.

thenciskitties@reddit

Delighted at the Louisville, KY representation.

Also saw Loogootee, IN mentioned.

Michigander here- it’s Mack-en-AWW. Not Mack-Eh-nack. The island is Mackinac and the city is Mackinaw for some reason but pronounced the same.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

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dogfacedponyboy@reddit

Pepe’s Apizza in New Haven CT

Pronounced pep-eez ah-beetz

HereForTheBoos1013@reddit

Frisco. Just... don't.

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I cannot begin to tell you how annoying it is when ppl try and pronounce Macinaw and Macinac differently/use the spellings interchangeably

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Ok-Sector6996@reddit

Albany, NY, rhymes with Smallbany

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callmeprin2004@reddit

Casa Grande. Tempe Hohokam Burro McClintock Germain Hauchuca

Gratiot

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This-Werewolf-3610@reddit

I was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island - pronunciation is “P’tuckit, Row-dy-lin”

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scarlet_speedster985@reddit

When people refer to Boston as "Beantown." We don't call it that.

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sadrice@reddit

In my area there are a lot of towns with Spanish names, but the correct pronunciation is not the Spanish one. My ex mother in law always got that wrong despite living here for longer than I’ve been alive. She was danish, English second language, Spanish not at all, so I think she was extra careful with her pronunciation to not offend people, which led to her actually mispronouncing things…

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RainbowBeezy@reddit

Kansas Citian - we probably have more than this, but these come to mind:

Chouteau (Trafficway) - pronounced like "show-tow" but often called "shattow" or "show-too" by out-of-towners.

Kearney (city) - pronounced like people who work at a carnival, "carnie". Gets called "kier-nee"

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Ok_Gas5386@reddit

Worcester is pronounced “War-chester” or “Worster” or “War-sesster” or any number of butcherings.

1000Bundles@reddit

Bundt-lover@reddit

As a lifelong Minnesotan, I just repeated it to myself about a dozen times. I guess “RAH” with a hint of “raw” is how I say it. Like “cough”. I don’t “cahf” but I’m not “cawf”-ing either.

Minnesota vowels are hard to catch because we say them in the back of the mouth, not the front. So they’re very closed. Oh ya, sure, you betcha—all back nearly in the throat.

Personally I think a winner for Minnesota city names is Mahtomedi (MAH-toe-MEE-dye) because it’s just darn fun to say.

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no_clever_name_yet@reddit

LeSeur. Orono. Hell, even Anoka trips people up.

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Quiet_Scientist6767@reddit

The Lost in the Pond YT channel had started a series on guessing the pronunciation of place names often pronounced incorrectly for each state. He gave up way before he got to us, but we had a list with overlap to the ones mentioned here: Bde Maka Ska Edina Menagha New Prague Wayzata Bemidji Mahtomehdi

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Extension_Camel_3844@reddit

Having lived on both coasts, I have 2 that irk me more than they should:

OR: It's Will-AM-It not Will-A-Met (heard just the other day on a Hulu show supposedly located here in OR);

Lima, OH. Most people say Lee-ma but it is pronounced like the bean.

Hungry-Treacle8493@reddit

There’s a town in Texas named Iowa Park. Locals call it “I-way Park” instead of like the state Iowa.

In Chicago there’s a street named Goethe. Locals pronounce it either as “go-th” or “gate” all the time, especially bus drivers.

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Fangsong_37@reddit

I grew up in Ripley County, Indiana before moving away. Our county seat was a small town named Versailles. It was pronounced “ver-sales,” not “ver-sai.”

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dararie@reddit

Near me is a town, Absecon, which visitors always say at ab sea con . It’s pronounced ab sea cun. Also in Atlantic City, Arkansas Ave in not pronounced like the state but as R Kansas.

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DMacVB@reddit

Norfolk, Virginia… if it doesn’t sound rude, you said it wrong

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TheBovineWoodchuck@reddit

I can't remember the exact context, but in the early days of Saturday Nignt Live someone did a cheer (maybe supposedly from a Christrian school in Norfolk?) that went:

We don't smoke and we don't drink

Norfolk! Norfolk!

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No-Scarcity-5904@reddit

Not Virginia, but the street my mom lived on is Norfolk, and she’s always pronounced it “Nor-fawk”.

Makes me cringe every time.😬

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Aggravating-Key-8867@reddit

Was going to say the same thing. Here's a handy pronunciation guide.

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OBNurseScarlett@reddit

I live in Daviess County, Kentucky. It's pronounced "Davis". Everyone not from here wants to pronounce it "Dave-EEZ", and I can understand that because that's how it's spelled. Most people will correct their pronunciation after being corrected, but there are always THOSE people who insist it's pronounced "Dave-EEZ" and that the locals are wrong. 🤦🏼‍♀️

xRVAx@reddit

Grocery stores sometimes get an apostrophe s afterwards

Meijer's in Michigan

Kroger's wherever there's a Kroger

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Tasty_Marsupial8057@reddit

And sometimes you had a family member who worked at Ford’s. I had distant relatives who worked both for Morton’s and Hardy’s (salt mining companies in northern Michigan), even though they were actually called Morton Salt and Hardy Salt respectively.

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Fnthsch592@reddit

Detroit/suburb areas- a lot of people mispronounce street names: Gratiot, Groesbeck, Dequindre, Schoenherr, Lahser, Frazho…sometimes even locals can’t agree on how a few of them are pronounced.

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chriswaco@reddit

When I was a kid in the 60s some of the street signs were wrongly spelled "Lasher". We've never recovered.

People also get Ypsilanti, Milan (not like Italy), and Saline (not salt water) wrong, but eventually learn.

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Tasty_Marsupial8057@reddit

See also, Charlotte. Shar-LOTTE, not SHAR-lit.

And nearby, DeWitt. duh-WITT, not DO-it.

Inevitable_Sun8691@reddit

So many across my state it’s impossible to list them all. Kure Beach, often pronounced incorrectly as “cure,” actually pronounced “curry.” Blount street, incorrectly pronounced as is written, correctly pronounced “blunt.” Arendell street, incorrectly pronounced “air-en-dell,” correctly pronounced “uh-ren-dle.” Conetoe, incorrectly pronounced “cone-toe,” correctly pronounced “co-nee-toe.” Tyrrell County, incorrectly pronounced “tie-rell,” correctly pronounced “ter-ruhl.” The easiest way to tell if someone is from another state is if they pronounce Raleigh as “rally” and not as “rah-lee.”

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Tynelia23@reddit

Here we go, straight from America's Pacific Northwest region!

Oregon. ORE-eh-gun.

Yakima. YAK-um-uh.

Weiser. WEE-zer.

Chehalis. Sha-HAY-lis.

Boise. BOY-see. (But say it fast, don't twang the Y.)

Tualatin. Too-AWL-uh-tin.

The Dalles. The DAHllz (ah as in ah-choo)

Owyhee. Oh-WHY-he.

Aloha. Uh-LOW-a.

Willamette. Will-AM-it.

Kuna. KYOO-nuh.

Umpqua. UMP-kwah.

Fun_Push7168@reddit

In NC

Topsail and Corolla.

Locally pronounced top sill and cor ahlla.

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Madame_Kitsune98@reddit

We went to Topsail this summer, with our daughter and her family.

We pronounced it, “Ahhhhhh, a BEACH DAY”.

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TheyMakeMeWearPants@reddit

I've been to both and somehow only got corrected on my pronunciation of Corolla.

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Fun_Push7168@reddit

I just realized the way I typed it isn't the best representation anyhow.

Topsail is more like topsull...as in pull. Most people won't correct you, they'll just note youre obviously not from anywhere nearby.

Corolla just irks people when said the wrong way for whatever reason.

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muhhuh@reddit

Michigander here.

I come from the area of Dowagiac. Do wahd zshac. Close to Ganges (Gan Jeez) Township. Watervliet (water vleet or water vuh leet depending on how much of a hurry you’re in) Benton Harbor is Betten Harbor. Our Bangor isn’t “banger” like in Maine. It’s bang gore.

Notable contenders are the Mackinac bridge and Mackinac island. Pronounced like Mackinaw City, but spelled differently. Mackinaw/Mackinac are close to Bois Blanc Island. (Bob Low Island)

Mysterious_Green_544@reddit

In Pennsylvania, the town name is pronounced LANK-aster. In California, it’s LANcaster.

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supertwicken@reddit

Prescott - "PRESS-kit"

Germann - "jer-MAIN"

Cholla - "CHOY-ah"

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screamingkumquats@reddit

Pronouncing ville like ville. If it’s one syllable the town ends in vuhl, like oil with a v in front of it. Also Versailles is literally pronounced how it looks.

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bryku@reddit

Names in english almost never follow the rules and USA cities are even worse as many come french, native tribes, and settlers.

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Sfaulkner5691@reddit

Puyallup

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Frosty_Extension_600@reddit

Before I read the body of your post I was going to say - I’m from Louisiana, so EVERYTHING! Lol

We have a restaurant called Prejean’s (I don’t even know how to write it out phonetically) and she kept pronouncing it Pree-Jeens.

I could go on and on.

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PAXICHEN@reddit

Trenton, NJ. It’s not pronounced Trent-ton. I don’t even know how to phonetically spell how it’s pronounced, I just know.

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georgia-peach_pie@reddit

Contra Costa is the first thing I thought of when I saw this. That’s the county I live in and one of my coworkers a few years back did this. She wasn’t from the area and had majored in Spanish in college so she just assumed all the Spanish names were pronounced how the Spanish words should be and I had to go thru them all with her and just kinda go “look we have tons of Spanish named places, but just assume locally we pronounce all of them wrong”

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Adorable_Bag_2611@reddit

Yep. The thing is, the person who mispronounced it isn’t Spanish speaking. They’re a podcaster from the East Coast.

heyheypaula1963@reddit

Here in Nashville, there is a street named Demonbreun. It’s a French name, after Nashville’s first white settler, Timothy Demonbreun. The name is pronounced deh MUN bre un, but you should hear the way the tourists butcher it! 😆 Demon bruin is a common one, but there are others!

Though I’ve lived in Tennessee almost 39 years, I was born and raised in South Carolina, and there are plenty of unusual names there! 😆 In the historic part of Charleston, there is a street (where supposedly some of the old houses are haunted) named Legare, pronounced luh GREE.

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mathliability@reddit

Seattle checking in: It’s Pike Place Market. It doesn’t belong to Mr. Pike, nor is it named for many pike.

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Sorcha9@reddit

Oregon. Willamette. Wayzata. Shakopee. Faribault. Louisville. I can go on. But I think people get it.

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pucspifo@reddit

Puyallup, Sequim, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, Aeneas, Naches, Poulsbo, Steilacoom, Tulalip, Anacortes, Des Moines

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Ana_Na_Moose@reddit

From Pennsylvania. I can immediately clock an outsider by the way they pronounce the tow name “Lancaster”.

Also, the old (and occasionally young) locals around Gettysburg would pronounce it “Get-iss-burg”, so if I hear that pronunciation I know they are local.

Also, if they sexualize the town name of Lititz.

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Happens with Louisville, KY a lot too. People always say Loo-is-ville or Loo-ee-ville and it’s neither of those pronunciations. To be fair, I have no idea how to spell it the way it’s actually said, but it’s basically said without the vowels (maybe luh-ville is the best spelling?), almost like you’re mispronouncing the word “level”.

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PositiveAtmosphere13@reddit

We have a suburb that is officially Des Moines. Not like De Moin Iowa.

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Wonderful_Adagio9346@reddit

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tchoupitoulas_Street

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Wonderful_Adagio9346@reddit

(: שִׁבֹּלֶת

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ohshit-cookies@reddit

It's just Pike Place, not PikeS Place. This goes for the daily coffee at Starbucks as well.

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FrznFenix2020@reddit

Not a local word per se, but a failure of the entire American education system... Mispronunciation of the word Across.

I keep hearing it said as Acrost... There is no fucking 'T'.

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Sagerosk@reddit

Former Long Islander checking in 😂.

Hauppauge
Amagansett
Ronkonkoma
Nesconset
Copaigue
Massapequa
Yaphank
Wyandanch
Patchogue
All the Moriches
Aquebogue
Sagaponack.

I think that covers most of it 😂

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SnarkDolphin@reddit

Not really pronunciation, more phrasing but

Why would you call it a "philly cheesesteak" when you're standing in Philadelphia? It's just called a cheesesteak.

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Westyle1@reddit

There's a lot of towns around me with names that come from Native American words that everyone that isn't local says wrong

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AmexNomad@reddit

How about people in New Orleans calling Milan, MY Lahn.

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Water-is-h2o@reddit

The first vowel of “Topeka” is a schwa, not an “oh” sound. Get your toes out of my capital.

Also “El Dorado” rhymes with “potato” not “avocado”

Kuykendahl - it’s pronounced KER-ken-doll

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Successful_Road_2432@reddit

Kuykendahl - it’s pronounced KER-KEN-DOLL

Louisville

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aculady@reddit

Alachua, the city (the second syllable is stressed and the final "a" is long) vs. Alachua, the county it is located in (the second syllable is stressed and the final "a" is pronunced "uh".) Both are often confused with each other, and both are often completely mispronounced by people stressing the third syllable.

Kissimmee gets mispronounced all the time. The stress should be on the second syllable.

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KimBrrr1975@reddit

Sauna. It is SOW-na not SAW-na.

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473713@reddit

Or even a little bit like SOWoo-na (hard to spell out)

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Spare-Way7104@reddit

Gettysburg. It’s not Getties-burg. It’s “Gettis-burg.”

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smugles@reddit

Nuclear and the person I’m always correcting is myself.

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notreallylucy@reddit

Aloha, Oregon. It's uh-low-uh.

It's pronounced L-EYE-MA...like the bean.

Similarly, we have:

Russia - ROO-SHEE

Versailles - VER-SALES

New Bremen - New BREEMAN

Mentor - MEN-ER

Bellefontaine - BELL-FOUNTAIN

And my Personal favorite:

Newark - NEEK

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GypsySnowflake@reddit

Oregon. I’ve lived here for 10 years and my family back in Florida still say “Oregahn” half the time

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Unhappy_Channel_5356@reddit

Yep! East Coasters think it's just a slight little emphasis that barely matters, but if I called The Hamptons the "ham tonns" (like to rhyme with gone/upon/John) they would not be able to let that slide. To us Northwesterners it sounds soooo weird!

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PoolExtension5517@reddit

Anyone here from Looavul? Or Looeeville?

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capnhist@reddit

I'm from Oregon. Where do I start? Willamette, Chemekta, Champoeg, Yachats, Aloha, etc.

Just a few I’ve learned: Topsail, NC -> Topsuhl Topeka, KS -> Tapeeka (“Toepeeka” is the common misperception, and in the “correct” pronunciation, the first “a” is barely there, almost as if it’s just a suggestion of an “a”) Kansas City-> Kansacity (the second “s” is either omitted entirely or slurred into one word by locals on both sides of the river) Osage -> Oh sage Osceola -> Oh see oh lah

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IcyOriginal3053@reddit

PARMER

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goingfrank@reddit

We have a river in Colorado called the "poudre"

It's pronounced poo-dur

"even after you correct them?"

I live in Phoenix, Arizona.

Phoenix

Saguaro

Papago

jjabrown@reddit

Oregon, Champoeg, Willamette

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BOSS_OF_THE_INTERNET@reddit

Lancaster

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Carrotcake1988@reddit

I live in San Antonio. Street names, apartment complexes, schools, suburbs, shopping centers, etc. it’s all pronounced wrong all the time.

But. This biggest one the gets mispronounced is our county. San Antonio is in Bexar county.

It’s pronounced Bayer. Like the aspirin.

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Just_blorpo@reddit

There are of course many stories of police asking interlopers where they live and the town pronunciation uncovering their lie.

The town of ‘Calais’ in Maine being one instance. It’s pronounced like ‘Callus’. Trying to pull off the French pronunciation of ‘Cal-ay’ is a dead giveaway that you’re an outsider.

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SpiritOfDearborn@reddit

There are a few in Metro Detroit, but I’m going to go with Lake Orion, which is admittedly pronounced in a stupid fashion and I don’t blame anyone for pronouncing it like in “Orion’s Belt.”

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Burque_Boy@reddit

As a New Mexican I never stop being shocked how Arizonans and Texans can live on the board, surrounded by Spanish history, and still have not the slightest idea how to pronounce things in Spanish. Just look at the city of Ama-ril-o or when they come to visit Tay-os New Mexico.

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PresidentRaggy@reddit

Not my state, but I still know how to say Louisville. It’s not LOOEY-vill. It’s Luhvul. Rhymes with….Luhvul.

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OogieBooge-Dragon@reddit

Yachets and Yaquina

Ya hots and ya Quinn ah.

Gets a lot of ya chets and ya kin ah.

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indicus23@reddit

Chicago has Goethe St pronounced "Go thee."

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achambers64@reddit

I grew up in Or-uh-gun (Oregon), in Ohio (current state) they pronounce it Or-e-gone. They will argue with me that I don’t know the correct pronunciation. smh

For a bit I lived in a township named Vienna. Here it’s pronounced Vi-enna not Vee-enna like the European city. Been told I’m wrong about this one too, I’m like duuude I lived there for years.

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taranathesmurf@reddit

I live in Western Washington. A lot of our local towns are anglizized versions of Native American tribes or words. I know how to pronounce them. Trying to figure out what city a tourist is saying is our favorite local game.

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rhandy_mas@reddit

From MN and lived in WI. Loooots of Native cities and names.

Bde maka ska, shakopee, Mahtomedi, waseca

Gratiot in Detroit

It is pronounced Gra-shit

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3X_Cat@reddit

My grandfather, from Thibodaux born in the 1800s said "Nawlins". FWIW

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vixisgoodenough@reddit

Lots of Detroit area street names are challenging but nobody gets Lahser right.

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MeTieDoughtyWalker@reddit

Oh shit! I was coming here prepared with a list of New Orleans words. But to be honest, New Orleens is just as acceptable as New Orlins, we just don’t say it locally and it makes it easier to spot out of towners.

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NotMyCat2@reddit

It’s neVADA. Not Nevaaaaada.

Easiest way to spot a new transplant.

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Valcyor@reddit

There's a suburb of Portland named Aloha. It's NOT pronounced the Hawaiian way, "a-LO-hah." That's because the town name was Aloah before the county clerk messed up the registration, hence its pronunciation of "a-LOW-uh."

Likewise, the river that flows through Portland, the Willamette, is pronounced "wil-AM-it," not "wil-uh-MET."

And Oregon is pronounced "OR-i-gun." So God help you if you say you're going to Aloha, in Oregon's Willamette Valley.

as a northern transplant who recently moved to baton rouge-i wanna cringe when i hear it pronounced 'naw-linz'

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PreciousLoveAndTruth@reddit

In upstate New York there a number of places and things…some are:

Canandaigua
Irondequoit
Taughannock Falls

Minnesota has:

Wayzata
Bemidji
Shakopee

Hawaii has well—a lot more.

Ngl, I feel like I mispronounce most things here wrong. But I do my best, and I’ve also lived here the shortest amount of time, and Hawaiian is also very dissimilar from the Native American names found in new York and Minnesota, so it’s not as easy for me to take a guess.

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soulless_ape@reddit

Any Spanish word, you name it and the locals butcher it (food, name, location, etc)

I understand people will use the localized pronunciation, which is fine but if I'm speaking in Spanish with other Spanish speakers please Karen, mind your own business and don't try to teach me how to say a work in my own language. lol

I'm sure First Nation's folk have it much worst in Canada, US and Mexico.

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Hungry-Wrongdoer-156@reddit

I'm originally from Nevada, which is pronounced "Nev-add-ah," not "Nev-ahh-da."

It's easy to remember because it's a state and not a Mexican food item, so you pronounce the vowels like in Nebraska, not like in enchilada.

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12-32fan@reddit

I’m from Washington state… don’t get me started

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Grouchy-Display-457@reddit

Not a pronunciation, but if you are really from Long Island, it's the East End, not the Hamptons.

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ballorie@reddit

In Buffalo, NY- Scajaquada

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BuildNuyTheUrbanGuy@reddit

I always tell people New Orleans is one word. Newawlins. Neworlinz. Works too.

Loozeyana is another one.

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Affectionate-Lab2557@reddit

Mackinac

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Mammoth_Ad_4806@reddit

I live in metro NY, where rhotic consonants are either absent or intrusive, with no in between. But I always notice when people say "foward" instead of "forward"

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ImLittleNana@reddit

This one is getting traction. It’s like nails in a chalkboard to me for some reason.

I’m from greater New Orleans, which means I hear both southeast LA and southwest MS accents daily. I should be comfortable with verbal manglings. However, what is correct in one dialect is not in another, and I’m not fluent yet in whatever dialect foe-ward is correct in.

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welding_guy_from_LI@reddit

Frederica Delaware was always called fredrica by locals .. lived there 4 yrs and I still don’t understand why they don’t pronounce it properly 😂

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OBNurseScarlett@reddit

We have a Frederica Street where I live. It's pronounced 3 different ways depending on how long you've been here:

FRED-icka (no 2nd R) - locals who lived here in the 1980's and earlier. Old skool pronunciation.
FRED-ricka - current pronunciation by most locals
Fred-urr-EEK-a - new to town or non local

I didn't grow up here but my grandparents lived here when I was a kid. When we moved here 20 years ago, I was used to saying FRED-icka, but noticed that only the older people said it that way. The people around my age were saying FRED-ricka. So I adjusted my pronunciation.

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chrisatthebeach@reddit

You can thank the Dutch influence as the town sits on the Murderkill. Also, Lewes (Loo-is), Houston (House-ton), Stockley (Stoke-lee), Hockessin (Hoe-kess-in), Newark (New-ark), Appoquinimink (App-o-kwin-i-mink). English bastardization of the Dutch words for plum beach--Prime Hook.

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welding_guy_from_LI@reddit

Damn Pennsylvania Dutch .. at least they pronounced Harrington right 😂

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chrisatthebeach@reddit

The Dutch were here before the English and long before the Pennsylvania Dutch relocated from Lancaster County.
The Dutch settled present day Lewes, most of the Delaware River up to present day Philadelphia International Airport. Upland, Marcus Hook (Mark's Beach), Tinicum. They were followed by the Swedes. Fort Christina gave us Christiana, Christina River, and New Finland (Chester Township in Pennsylvania), and Morton.
Cape Henlopen was originally Cape Cornelius. Since Pennsylvania owned all of Delaware (except for the land within the 12 mile circle around New Castle Court House--that was owned by the Duke of York) until June 15, 1776, we share a lot of history with Pennsylvania along the Delaware.

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Kiss-Sim-Eee. Not Kiss-Uh-Me. Kissimmee.

Puh-Lat-Kuh. Palatka

Georgia. Al-Bin-Ee. Not like Capital of New York. Albany

Tennessee. Mile-Un. Milan Muh-Dine-Uh. Medina

Same Native American hero: Florida. Oss-Eee-Oh-Luh Arkansas. Oh-Cee-Oh-Luh