Towns that are not pronounced as they’re written

[kphoger]

That pronounciation for Buena Vista completely throws me off, since it's not what I, a native Spanish speaker, would say.

It can get weird, too.  As an example of an English place name in a Spanish-speaking country:

Back in 2001, I was at the bus station in Cd. Chihuahua, buying tickets to the town of Creel.  I told the ticket agent:  Dos boletos a /CREH-EL/, por favor.  She asked me to repeat myself, and then she caught on that I meant /CREE-L/.  I knew the name didn't look Spanish, but I assumed its pronunciation had been Spanish-ified.  Nope.

It turns out the town was named after then-governor Enrique Creel, who was the son of a man from Kentucky who served under Lincoln as US Consul in Chihuahua, and that the name of the town has retained its gringo pronunciation.

[bwana39]

Bogata TX https://goo.gl/maps/y72ooqwqqkaW88M1A

Said Baa GO ta

[Rick Powell]

Bourbonnais is pronounced bour-bon-ay not as you have above.  All the Kankakee area folks I've spoken with pronounce it that way.

True, the S is is silent, except for the people who pronounce it Bur-BONE-iss. Which I have heard.

[nexus73]

Coquille OR is pronounced koh-keel.  It is the county seat of Coos County OR. 

Rick

[roadman65]

La Jolla, CA is the famous La Hoya you often hear about.

[Takumi]

That's the proper Spanish pronunciation.

[1995hoo]

La Jolla, CA is the famous La Hoya you often hear about.

A young boy is on a plane home from California after visiting his grandparents for the summer and he's telling the lady next to him how much he enjoyed his summer in "San Joe's." She finally says, "Young man, in California the 'J's are pronounced like 'H's. How long were you in San 'Ho-zay'?"

He thinks for a minute and responds, "During Hune and Huly."

[kphoger]

La Jolla, CA is the famous La Hoya you often hear about.

So it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled?

[CtrlAltDel]

La Jolla, CA is the famous La Hoya you often hear about.

So it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled?

Not as far as English pronunciation rules go, no. This thread has gone back and forth on spelling in English versus other languages.

[webny99]

La Jolla, CA is the famous La Hoya you often hear about.

A young boy is on a plane home from California after visiting his grandparents for the summer and he's telling the lady next to him how much he enjoyed his summer in "San Joe's." She finally says, "Young man, in California the 'J's are pronounced like 'H's. How long were you in San 'Ho-zay'?"

He thinks for a minute and responds, "During Hune and Huly."

That reminds me of this joke, which I first heard from my dad probably 15 years ago or more.

[kphoger]

La Jolla, CA is the famous La Hoya you often hear about.

So it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled?

Not as far as English pronunciation rules go, no.

Neither is San Diego, CA.
Neither is San Juan, TX.
Neither is La Puente, CA.
Neither is Nogales, AZ.
Neither is Gonzales County, TX.
Neither is La Junta, CO.
Neither is San Joaquin, CA.

[webny99]

La Jolla, CA is the famous La Hoya you often hear about.

A young boy is on a plane home from California after visiting his grandparents for the summer and he's telling the lady next to him how much he enjoyed his summer in "San Joe's." She finally says, "Young man, in California the 'J's are pronounced like 'H's. How long were you in San 'Ho-zay'?"

He thinks for a minute and responds, "During Hune and Huly."

That reminds me of this joke, which I first heard from my dad probably 15 years ago or more.

And read the comments at your own risk. The amount of people saying they don't get it is astounding... as is the fact that anyone might be hearing this joke for the first time. It's got to be one of the oldest joke out there; as one commenter said, it's old enough to file for social security. 

[CtrlAltDel]

La Jolla, CA is the famous La Hoya you often hear about.

So it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled?

Not as far as English pronunciation rules go, no.

Neither is San Diego, CA.
Neither is San Juan, TX.
Neither is La Puente, CA.
Neither is Nogales, AZ.
Neither is Gonzales County, TX.
Neither is La Junta, CO.
Neither is San Joaquin, CA.

I don't get the point you're trying to make here.

[kphoger]

La Jolla, CA is the famous La Hoya you often hear about.

So it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled?

Not as far as English pronunciation rules go, no.

Neither is San Diego, CA.
Neither is San Juan, TX.
Neither is La Puente, CA.
Neither is Nogales, AZ.
Neither is Gonzales County, TX.
Neither is La Junta, CO.
Neither is San Joaquin, CA.

I don't get the point you're trying to make here.

All those towns are pronounced pretty much exactly as they're spelled–just with some slight Americanization of the vowels.  My point is that it isn't noteworthy.

[CtrlAltDel]

All those towns are pronounced pretty much exactly as they're spelled

Only in Spanish, though, which is one heck of an asterisk.

[kphoger]

Only in Spanish, though, which is one heck of an asterisk.

My point is that "in Spanish" is a gigantic, neon-flashing asterisk when it comes to place names in this country.

[Rothman]

Thread's gone to the perros.

[CtrlAltDel]

Only in Spanish, though, which is one heck of an asterisk.

My point is that "in Spanish" is a gigantic, neon-flashing asterisk when it comes to place names in this country.

As long as we agree that it's a big asterisk.

[Brandon]

Thread's gone to the perros.

Pronunciation can be a perra, eh?

[JayhawkCO]

Only in Spanish, though, which is one heck of an asterisk.

My point is that "in Spanish" is a gigantic, neon-flashing asterisk when it comes to place names in this country.

Agreed. If you look at San Jose and really, truly think it should be "San Joe's" then you have a problem.

[kphoger]

I once knew a family from the small town of Ludell, KS (current population 73).  He was an old farmer named Fran, and his wife was–well, an old farmer's wife.  In his retirement, Fran had a part-time desk job at some store in Atwood–maybe a feed and seed store or something, I don't remember.  Anyway, through that job he became acquainted and eventually pretty good friends with a Mexican migrant from Uriangato (Guanajuato) named José.  He would work here in Kansas for a while, then he'd drive down to Guanajuato for a while, then return to Kansas and repeat.

One day, José called Fran's house, but he wasn't home so his wife took a message.  "Hosa called 2:50 pm" or something like that.  When Fran got home and read the message, he about laughed the hair right off the top of his head.  When José later read the note, he exclaimed, "MY NAME IS NOT OSA!"

[Rick Powell]

Agreed. If you look at San Jose and really, truly think it should be "San Joe's" then you have a problem.

Unless you're in Illinois. I have heard it pronounced "San Joe's" but a native of the town I went to college with pronounced it "San Joe".

[kirbykart]

Skaneateles, NY. Pronounced "Skinny atlas".

[webny99]

Skaneateles, NY. Pronounced "Skinny atlas".

I've never liked that one. I feel like if you're trying to say it as fast as possible, it should be "skan-adles" (rhyming with ladles) and if you're trying to say it as it looks on paper, it should be "skan-ee-ah-tell-ees"

[kirbykart]

Skaneateles, NY. Pronounced "Skinny atlas".

I've never liked that one. I feel like if you're trying to say it as fast as possible, it should be "skan-adles" (rhyming with ladles) and if you're trying to say it as it looks on paper, it should be "skan-ee-ah-tell-ees"

Yeah, I never understood the logic behind that one either.