Terminalcoffee discussion
Face Off! (Less Serious)
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Place names and pronunciation (or how does that sound like that?)
The British silent w, as in your last example, James, always trips me up. My first time visiting the Dulwich picture gallery, I was surprised to discover that it's pronounced DULL-itch. Same goes, I guess, for the town of Warwick, whose second w is silent.
That's funny, RA. They've got some good ones in Minnesota too. When I visited, I gave up even trying and just asked people how to say the names of towns like Mankato--which, I think, is man-KAY-tow.
Jonathan, I've lived here close to fifteen years, and I still mumble words like "Oconomowoc" because I'm not sure how to say them. Yes, Minnesota is almost worse, you're right, heh...hadn't thought of that.
We've had similar threads before, but I'm always happy to contribute.Washington had one of my favorites in Sequim (pronounced skwim). Maybe you can stop in for some geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck).
Locally we have,
- Hurricane (HER-ih-kun)
- Tooele (too-WILL-uh)
- Weber (WEE-burr)
While in England, my mother lived near an estate named Beaulieu. I liked to have fun with the name and call it Bow-lee-ew, but the locals would just say "byoo'-lee."
Sounds pretty nice: "Celebrated in song, steeped in rich history, blessed with breathtaking natural beauty..."
Potawatamie County in Iowa is just across the river from me. They have the Nishnabotna River, too.
OHHH!!! Maybe it's a Southern thing, but it drives me NUTS when people say "PEE-can" instead of "puh-khan." Other regionalized pronunciations for which someone may get corrected:
andouille - "AHN-doo-ee" not "AND-oo-eel"
Parham - "PAIR-uhm" not "PAR-ham"
El Dorado - "El Dor-AYD-o" not "El Dor-AHD-o"
Cantrell - "CAN-trull" not "Can-TRELL"
New Orleans - "N'awlins" is acceptable, "New OR-lins" is acceptable. "New Or-LEANS"... nyet.
Natchitoches - "NACK-uh-dish" not "Natchitoches"
Louisiana - "LOOZ-ee-AN-uh" is acceptable. "Luh-WEEZ-ee-ana" is acceptable. "LEW-eez-ee-ana"... nyet.
humble - "UHM-bull" not "HUM-bull"... unless you're in the Houston area
Also, I've learned enough Lakota words and to say that the spelling and the pronunciation don't typically follow English rules and logic. One must definitely learn by example rather than reading. I'm pretty proud of myself for learning the words I have...
The Dutch have some good place names too. Scheveningen, a seaside suburb of The Hague, can be very difficult to pronounce. But if you clear your throat, cough, and stutter slightly while saying "skate financing," you can come up with a close approximation. 's-Hertogenbosch, in the south, is another hard one.
Jonathan wrote: "The Dutch have some good place names too. Scheveningen, a seaside suburb of The Hague, can be very difficult to pronounce. But if you clear your throat, cough, and stutter slightly while saying "sk..."OOOHH!! You win.
I would never have guessed "CAN-trull," Heidi.Wikipedia has an audio file with the correct pronunciation of Scheveningen. Maybe I make it seem more difficult than it really is:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia...
Jonathan wrote: "I would never have guessed "CAN-trull," Heidi.Wikipedia has an audio file with the correct pronunciation of Scheveningen. Maybe I make it seem more difficult than it really is:
http://upload.wik..."
It's a Little Rock thing. Cantrell is one of the main thoroughfares here. I pronounced it wrongly for several years after I moved here because I assumed it was pronounced the same way that Jerry Cantrell would pronounce his name.
A local place name that baffles me is Mantua, Ohio, which is pronounced "Man-o-way" by residents thereof.
It would be fun to do a production of Romeo & Juliet there. Romeo could be exiled to "Man-o-way" after killing Tybalt.
Heidi those words get to me to.I have family in Louisiana and some of their words use to trip me up.
Hebert is A-bear
Breaux is Bro
Bordeaux is Bor-Doe
Worcester, Massachusetts is one that always tripped me up. It's largely pronounced (with a delightfully flat, nasely Northen accent) 'Wooster', or 'Woos-tah'.
Jonathan wrote: "It would be fun to do a production of Romeo & Juliet there. Romeo could be exiled to "Man-o-way" after killing Tybalt."Ha! :D
Lyzzibug wrote: "Heidi those words get to me to.I have family in Louisiana and some of their words use to trip me up.
Hebert is A-bear
Breaux is Bro
Bordeaux is Bor-Doe"
Yup. :) I'm related to peeps with some of those hard to pronounce family names.
My cousin and I liked to tease each other by pronouncing the names using English rules instead of French for pronunciation. So I got a kick out of it (and still do) when she was making fun of her friend who was marrying a woman named "PENNY-lope"... Uhhh, that's "Puh-NEH-luh-PEE."
Jonathan wrote: "It would be fun to do a production of Romeo & Juliet there. Romeo could be exiled to "Man-o-way" after killing Tybalt."The play could be performed in Elyria, Ohio, which shares a pronunciation with Shakespeare's Ilyria.
Jonathan wrote: "Oconomowoc? Are you making that up?"I got stranded on the side of the highway with a flat-tired U-Haul just outside of Oconomowoc. U Haul was kind enough to put us up in a hotel there for the night after spending the whole day dithering about and dealing with the fact that they had rented me a trailer with a wheel and tire size that was no longer manufactured and thus un-replaceable and oh yeah, there were no other trailers in the area since it was Memorial Day Weekend. I vouch for the existence of Oconomowoc.
Also, the US has a lot of places that were named after other places but then they changed their minds and pronounced 'em differently.
Hence Cairo (pronounced Cay-ro)
and
Berlin (pronounced BURLin' to rhyme with curlin')
Barb wrote: "Kashechewan, M'Chigeeng (silent 'M'), Kapashewikemek, Tataskewayek, Mishkeegogaming ... personal names and street names get even crazier...."Huh? Those look like a mouth full.
Jonathan wrote: "The Dutch have some good place names too. Scheveningen, a seaside suburb of The Hague, can be very difficult to pronounce. But if you clear your throat, cough, and stutter slightly while saying "sk..."piece of cake. dutch place names are really not that hard to pronounce, as long as you have a basic understanding of dutch and the way it is written.
How about African place names? I went to Hluhluwe, pronounced Shluh-shlew-e.
Sarah Pi wrote: "Also, the US has a lot of places that were named after other places but then they changed their minds and pronounced 'em differently.Hence Cairo (pronounced Cay-ro)
and
Berlin (pronounced BURLin' to rhyme with curlin') "
What state is BURLin' in, Sarah?
janine wrote: "piece of cake. dutch place names are really not that hard to pronounce, as long as you have a basic understanding of dutch and the way it is written."You're right, of course. But I sometimes think that having Dutch vocal cords might help too.
Jonathan wrote: "Sarah Pi wrote: "What state is BURLin' in, Sarah? "Murriland. It's a pretty town on the eastern shore.
Sarah Pi wrote: "How about Worcestershire?"That one crossed my mind too, Sarah Pi.
Heidi wrote: "OHHH!!! Maybe it's a Southern thing, but it drives me NUTS when people say "PEE-can" instead of "puh-khan..."I say pee-khan. Is that a hybrid of the two?
Mod
Yes, it's awful.
Lake Chaubunagungamaug in Webster, Massachusetts.eeeek.
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (/ˌleɪk tʃəˈɡɒɡəɡɒɡ ˌmænˈtʃɔːɡəɡɒɡ tʃəˌbʌnəˈɡʌŋɡəmɔːɡ/),[2] a 45-letter alternative name for this body of fresh water, is often cited as the longest place name in the United States and one of the longest in the world. Today, "Webster Lake" may be the name most used, but some (including many residents of Webster), take pride in reeling off the longer versions.(from Wikipedia)
Jonathan wrote: "You're right, of course. But I sometimes think that having Dutch vocal cords might help too."yes, that would be helpful.
Surely there are some Welsh place names that deserve to join the conversation. Perhaps "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch"? It's Europe's longest place name, but you can call it Llanfairpwllgwyngyll for short.
you can call it Llanfairpwllgwyngyll for shortThat's the name of Tom Jones's next album.
Sarah Pi wrote: "Isn't it Wooster?"It depends on your accent. I was translating from my regional accent in which it would be Wooster to what most of my friends would say, which is more like WOOS-tah. NB I'm in the UK though, it might be different elsewhere.
Incidentally, I met some friends Wednesday night and we got talking about how to pronouce various places (we'd finished with the gossip and scandal). They said that I was leading you astray about Worcestershire. According to them, most people pronounce it WOOS-tah-shuh, but because I "have the accent of a yokel" (charming!) it's a close run thing between WOOS-ter-shuuuurrr and Woos-ter-SHUURRR. They decided eventually for the first option. Make of all that what you will.
This is the sample pronunciation that Wikipedia gives for Worcestershire. Is it close to yours, Jackie?http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia...
Sorry, I can't open that. Just don't say something like Wor-ses-ter-shy-er and people'll probably know what you mean. If you do pronouce every syllable, they'll still get there, but they might have to think about it a bit.
Jonathan wrote: "Sarah Pi wrote: "Also, the US has a lot of places that were named after other places but then they changed their minds and pronounced 'em differently.Hence Cairo (pronounced Cay-ro)
and
Berlin (p..."
we have a BURR lin in NH. We also have a MY lan (Milan). The pronunciations were changed during WWI and WWII to differentiate them from enemy territory.
Sault Ste. Marie is an odd one. When you're in MI you can visit The Soo.
Girow & Lafay ?I still can't figure out how you get Gee out of GUY.
Giroux - guy rue? Lefebvre - NAFC :) I'm not very good at english, so taking a stab at french is probably a mistake.
Mod
Des Plaines, Des Plaines.
Mod
Edinburgh - Edd-In-Burr-uhh (please note it's NOT burrow!!!!!)
Milngavie - Mull-guy (really, how do you get from one to the other)
Kirkudbright - Kerr-cud-bree
Burscough - Burrs-cuh
Skarisbrick - Scays-brick
Mouswald - Moose-auld
You guys must know of many more from your local area...