Place names you got wrong

[kphoger]

Both ways? I've heard probably five or six ways:

Yeah, I knew someone would say that.  In fact, I was kind of hoping someone would.

or properly, as it's pronounced in Arabic, QUH-Tur (where the 'capital T' is a guttural t, a.k.a kind of swallowed into the throat).

You're pretending that everyone who actually lives in Qatar pronounces it the same way.

[JayhawkCO]

or properly, as it's pronounced in Arabic, QUH-Tur (where the 'capital T' is a guttural t, a.k.a kind of swallowed into the throat).

You're pretending that everyone who actually lives in Qatar pronounces it the same way.

Well, people that live there that speak Arabic likely pronounce it the same way. Americans on an army base, likely not.

[elsmere241]

My wife insists I don't pronounce "Yakima" correctly, but I can't hear a difference from how she says it.  I do wish I could cure her of saying "EYE-talian" though.

[kphoger]

or properly, as it's pronounced in Arabic, QUH-Tur (where the 'capital T' is a guttural t, a.k.a kind of swallowed into the throat).

You're pretending that everyone who actually lives in Qatar pronounces it the same way.

Well, people that live there that speak Arabic likely pronounce it the same way. Americans on an army base, likely not.

I'm no expert in Arabic by any stretch of the imagination, but my basic understanding is this:

QUH-tarrr ← official pronuciation

quh-TARRR ← common among city dwellers, such as among Doha residents.

guh-TARRR ← common among rural and other lower-class folk.

And all of them are pronounced with a more guttural, closed-throat sound for all of the consonants, as you mentioned with the letter t.

[JayhawkCO]

Yeah. I forgot that Gulf Arabic replaces the 'q' sound with 'g' for ق - qaaf.

I took two years of Arabic in college.

[kphoger]

Yeah. I forgot that Gulf Arabic replaces the 'q' sound with 'g' for ق - qaaf.

To the point that, outside of the upper-class residents of Doha, a lot of locals say something closer to the English word 'guitar' then anything else.

[golden eagle]

Ponce de Leon I used to say as it's spelled, but omitting the e in Ponce.  Until I learned it was pronounced with the e and the Leon is not like Leon on NCIS but Lay own.

However GA residents do call it Ponc D Lee On, and will correct you if you say it the Spanish way.

Speaking of Georgia, Houston County is pronounced like Howston.

[roadman65]

Ponce de Leon I used to say as it's spelled, but omitting the e in Ponce.  Until I learned it was pronounced with the e and the Leon is not like Leon on NCIS but Lay own.

However GA residents do call it Ponc D Lee On, and will correct you if you say it the Spanish way.

Speaking of Georgia, Houston County is pronounced like Howston.

So is Houston Street in NYC.

That's cause Houston Street and Houston, TX were not named for the same person, but in New York it was named for a man who's surname was pronounced as Howston.

[elsmere241]

And Houston, DE.

[frankenroad]

...  Not everyone who lives there even pronounces it exactly the same way...

The same is true for Cincinnati (which is often mis-spelled as Cincinatti).  Most of us pronounce it sin-si-na-tee, but a not insignificant minority (mostly west siders) pronounce it sin-si-nat-uh.

There is a suburb here spelled Mariemont.  it is correctly pronounced mary-mont, but many people pronounce it marie-mont.  Even though it's spelled with an ie, it was named for Mary Emery, a philanthropist who donated the land on which the planned community was built in the 1920s.

[Dirt Roads]

My father once misread a mileage sign on US-98 as "zephyr-illis" instead of Zephyrhills.  He asked my mother if that was a new venereal disease.

[Henry]

...  Not everyone who lives there even pronounces it exactly the same way...

The same is true for Cincinnati (which is often mis-spelled as Cincinatti).  Most of us pronounce it sin-si-na-tee, but a not insignificant minority (mostly west siders) pronounce it sin-si-nat-uh.

I've also seen Cincinnatti, which is not as common as the other wrong spelling, but has been written out that way.

Then there's Pittsburgh, which often omits the H at the end, making it Pittsburg (and in fact, several towns use that spelling, as did the city itself until it adopted the current spelling).

And although Cleveland, OH was named in honor of Moses Cleaveland, that surname would've been more awkward, as no other such city or town spells it that way. Good thing they dropped the A to make it Cleveland.

[frankenroad]

And although Cleveland, OH was named in honor of Moses Cleaveland, that surname would've been more awkward, as no other such city or town spells it that way. Good thing they dropped the A to make it Cleveland.

Moses Cleaveland was my Great*8 Grandfather.  I had a great uncle whose first name was Cleaveland; he would get very upset if people spelled it wrong.  In fact, he would get upset at a lot of minor things.  When my grandmother's obituary was published in our local paper, they mis-spelled Uncle Cleave's name (as Cleveland).  My mother did not send him a copy of the obituary (he lived about 2000 miles away) because she knew it would just send him into a tizzy.

[CapeCodder]

And although Cleveland, OH was named in honor of Moses Cleaveland, that surname would've been more awkward, as no other such city or town spells it that way. Good thing they dropped the A to make it Cleveland.

Moses Cleaveland was my Great*8 Grandfather.  I had a great uncle whose first name was Cleaveland; he would get very upset if people spelled it wrong.  In fact, he would get upset at a lot of minor things.  When my grandmother's obituary was published in our local paper, they mis-spelled Uncle Cleave's name (as Cleveland).  My mother did not send him a copy of the obituary (he lived about 2000 miles away) because she knew it would just send him into a tizzy.

I'm also a descendant of Moses Cleveland of Woburn, MA (I'd have to look at my family tree.)

When I was a little kid, I thought Chouteau was pronounced Chat-chew.

[Poiponen13]

Today I learned that the the first T is silent in Connecticut. I didn't know that.

[kphoger]

Today I learned that the the first T is silent in Connecticut. I didn't know that.

It isn't true.

[Poiponen13]

Today I learned that the the first T is silent in Connecticut. I didn't know that.

It isn't true.

Oops, it was the second C.

[kphoger]

Today I learned that Souky rhymes with 'lucky'.  I didn't know that.

[Max Rockatansky]

Today I learned that Souky rhymes with 'lucky'.  I didn't know that.

I want to say that the reason I leaned hard into that Full Metal Jacket reference earlier in this thread.

[abefroman329]

This thread reminds me of the joke about the kid who goes to California for the summer to visit his relatives. On the flight home, he starts talking to the old lady sitting next to him about what a good time he had in (what he pronounces as) San Joe's. She looks at him and says, "Young man, in California, the 'J' is pronounced like an 'H.' How long were you in San Ho-zay?" He thinks about it and responds, "For Hune and Huly."

I prefer the one about the Southern woman and the Northern woman sitting next to each other on an airplane.  The Southern woman asks the Northern woman "where y'all from?" and the Northern woman responds "from a place where we don't end sentences with prepositions."  So the Southern woman thinks about it for a moment and says "where y'all from, bitch?"

"Des Plaines" seems to throw non-locals (they even pronounced it wrong on an old episode of a police procedural, I think).  It's pronounced "duh-SPLAINES"

[TheHighwayMan3561]

"Des Plaines" seems to throw non-locals (they even pronounced it wrong on an old episode of a police procedural, I think).  It's pronounced "duh-SPLAINES"

An ex-friend was from there and I learned it as "Dess Plains". Yours makes more sense though.

[epzik8]

This thread reminds me of the joke about the kid who goes to California for the summer to visit his relatives. On the flight home, he starts talking to the old lady sitting next to him about what a good time he had in (what he pronounces as) San Joe's. She looks at him and says, "Young man, in California, the 'J' is pronounced like an 'H.' How long were you in San Ho-zay?" He thinks about it and responds, "For Hune and Huly."

Still a slapper of a joke.

[roadman65]

Spokane I'm sure is pronounced Spo Cane like it's spelled unlike it's true pronunciation that is Spo Can.

They should have left out the e on the end.

However one could argue Houston, surnames of two different people who have a city and a city street named after each. However one pronounces the first o different from the other.

[kphoger]

the Northern woman responds "from a place where we don't end sentences with prepositions."

This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.

[Big John]

If you can't end a sentence with a preposition, what are you supposed to end it with?