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Tricky to pronounce place names

trillian
Sat, 09 Apr 2016 00:48:05 GMT

I have a working theory that every region has at least one place name with a non obvious to tourists pronunciation. I know that Versailles, Kentucky isn't pronounced like how it is in France but I can't remember how. Couch Street in Portland, OR is pronounced "cooch". Sequim, WA is pronounced "skwim" and Puyallup is pyew-al-up. Are there any trick place names where you are?

willownaeco
Sun, 24 Apr 2016 01:23:48 GMT

Poughkeepsie, NY, though I'm nowhere near there anymore.

imposterholmes
Mon, 25 Apr 2016 16:53:31 GMT

When I was in New Zealand, I was confused because I heard Lake Taupo as both "Tau-Poe" and "Toe-Paw". Someone told me that "Toe-Paw" is the local pronunciation and that the other is the common Pakeha mispronunciation. Most of the cities called "Milan" in the US are pronounced "MY-lan" for whatever reasons.

trillian
Fri, 06 May 2016 07:20:04 GMT

@carlisamantha kuyke...what?? That's a doozie.

mbridubs
Sun, 08 May 2016 14:43:35 GMT

trillian- Versailles, Kentucky is pronounced "Veer- sails"

aussieintx
Mon, 23 May 2016 21:56:05 GMT

Ahhh Kuykendahl. Another street here in San Antonio, Huebner, pronounced HEEBner. Yeah, i don't know either. Also I live in Bexar County, pronounced Bear, it's an old trap. It's how you know you've lived here for long enough to be considered a local.

robbiepearce
Thu, 26 May 2016 18:54:30 GMT

@imposterholmes It must be so confusing for people visiting NZ, almost every place name has a pakeha and Maori pronunciation haha! I think my favourite is Whakatane, pronounced Fuck-a-Taan-a but also pronounced woka-tayne

emgyres
Sun, 29 May 2016 22:02:14 GMT

Pretty much every suburb my sister has lived in on the Gold Coast in Queensland (Australia), Mudgeeraba, Coombabah, Tallebudgera, actually, pretty much half the suburb names up there in general. And of course I live in Melbourne, Australia and none of us pronounce it correctly, in spite of how easy it looks ;-)

aussieintx
Mon, 30 May 2016 22:46:30 GMT

I'm from the Central Coast where they have Wattanobbi which they SWEAR is an indigenous word.

jessevscancer
Thu, 09 Jun 2016 18:38:29 GMT

The proper way to pronounce "Nashville" can actually only be accomplished through a rare combination of tight jeans with ludicrously large belt buckles. It does something to the diaphragm and allows the diphthongs to be in the proper places. Much like pronouncing "Melbourne" requires a boomerang down the khakis.

Kristal
Fri, 10 Jun 2016 00:09:02 GMT

We don't wear khakis. :) we are just lazy speakers

aussieintx
Mon, 13 Jun 2016 18:39:29 GMT

As Adam Hills says, the Australian accent is just the cockney accent slowed down because of the heat.

Arend Clijsen
Sat, 13 Aug 2016 14:36:24 GMT

I love your United States of America, every place sounds like T.V.

nellette
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 04:04:03 GMT

Canowindra in NSW is prononced Ca-noun-druh. According to Wikipedia it's derived from an Aboriginal word meaning 'a home'.

nellette
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 04:05:15 GMT

*pronounced. My private school education was clearly wasted on me.

mellansquare
Mon, 05 Sep 2016 02:36:10 GMT

Basically Americans trying to say most Aussie names is fun times for me. Some near me: Indooroopilly = In-dra-pill-y Coorparoo = Coo-pa-roo Warwick = War-rick (like the Brits man!) Ebbw Vale = I have no clue... Just a weird name.

ideeh
Tue, 06 Sep 2016 00:04:36 GMT

Here in Georgia, USA we have a city called Dacula. Pronounced "Duh-Cue-Luh". Also, I spent some time working in Sweden, where I frequently saw signs for a place called Linköping. Turns out the letters "kö" make a noise a bit like "shoe", so "Linn-Shoe-Ping".

emma-
Thu, 08 Sep 2016 15:24:23 GMT

It just so happens that Ebbw Vale is that name of the Welsh village where my Mum is from. "Eh-Boo" Vale :) :)

andrewbell
Tue, 10 Jan 2017 03:34:41 GMT

I'm Aussie, lived in the UK for a bit too. Both have some doozies. Scotland: Hawick = Hoik (more or less) Creswick = Crezzick Australia (cracks knuckles): Tangambalanga = basically the way it looks, but try saying it 5 times quickly. Goonoo goonoo = Gunna g'noo.

takara
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 01:29:09 GMT

I'm German, living in Munich (but spent 10 years in NYC), and it seems like almost any place here is impossible for Americans to pronounce (for example München, the ü and ch sounds just don't exist in the English language. Love the podcast!

msclara
Mon, 06 Feb 2017 10:03:54 GMT

Listening to tourists trying to pronounce place names here in London is a kind of running joke with locals. Particularly American tourists. I think the reason is not that Americans find it harder, but that they will often just go for it, loudly and confidently. Also, it's not so much that the words are difficult to pronounce, so much as spelled in a rediculous way. Famously: Leicester sq = Less-ter square Edinburgh (Scotland, but people will insist on makeing loud plans to go there, on the underground) = Ed-in-bruh Magdeden Collage Oxford = Maud-lin Mousehole (Cornwall) = Mow-zel . I mean, what the hell? It clearly says Mouse Hole! And Cornwall isn't pronounced Corn-wall either, while we're at it, it's Corn-well or corn-wool depending Ina on which part of the U.K. you're from. I apologize for my people, guys. I think we are making it unnecessarily hard on everyone.

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