Hard to pronounce city street names

[andrepoiy]

In Brampton, ON: Chinguacousy Rd (I think it's pronounced "Chi-coo-see"? At least that's what the traffic reporter said).

I can also think of one that is difficult for people to spell:

Eglinton Avenue in Toronto, people seem to misspell it as "Eglington". I'm pretty sure I've seen that misspelling on these forums as well as on Travelmapping forums.

[frankenroad]

A few near me
1.  Boudinot Ave.  Locals all pronounce it BOO-de-no (close to the French), but most GPS systems pronounce it BOW-di-not (BOW like bending at the waist, not a ribbon).
2.  LaBoiteaux Ave (and Park).  Most people I know say la-BOY-toe, but being a French major myself, I usually say la-bwah-TOE (not exactly how a true Frenchman would pronounce it, but closer).
3.  Reading Road (and the town it runs through) - it's pronounced like Redding, CA, but newcomers sometimes pronounce it like "reading a book"

[roadman65]

People often mispronounce Wabash Avenue in Lakeland, Florida as Wah Bosch. It's wah bish.

[plain]

In downtown Chicago, Ida B. Wells Drive is pronounced CONG-griss PARK-way.

In New York, the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge is pronounced TAP-paan ZEE Bridge.

[US 89]

Ponce De Leon Avenue is a major road in eastern Atlanta named for the Spanish explorer. It is not at all pronounced like the Spanish, but rather just "PONSS duh LEE-ahn". But even if you get that right, you'll still get weird looks - I never encountered anyone who didn't just call it Ponce.
Also, a surprising number of people not from the area had trouble with "Chattahoochee", which is pronounced exactly as it's spelled - chat-uh-HOO-chee. I guess it has enough letters to throw people off.

A handful of good ones here in Tallahassee:
- Blountstown St - BLUNTS-town, named for the city it goes to
- Brevard St - bruh-VARD, like the county
- Bronough St - BRU-no (don't ask)
- FAMU Way - yes, this is its actual name, and it's FAM-you
- Ocala Rd - o-CAL-uh, like the city (a lot of people will say oh-CALL-uh)
- Ochlockonee Rd, also the river - o-CLOCK-nee (fun side note: the river and a town named after it are spelled Ochlocknee in Georgia, which makes a bit more sense)
- Monticello Dr - mon-ti-SELL-o, like the city not far east

The only three I can think right now for Kitchener-Waterloo, ON:
- Weber St: pronounced WEE-ber ['wibɚ]

That's how I'd pronounce all three not knowing better [...] Weber could go either way, but there's a university in Utah called Weber State pronounced like that.

There's more than a university - there's a county, a couple cities/communities, and a river all named "Weber", so it comes up a fair amount. If you pronounce it "webber" like the grill, you instantly identify yourself as an outsider.

[roadman65]

I was told in Wichita, KS that Greenwich is pronounced as it's written.  Plus the Arkansas River is not pronounced as the state, but as the state that Wichita is in with the prefix R.

My friend Allan who used to live there told me this.

[epzik8]

When I was a kid, I thought Gough Street in San Francisco was pronounced similar to the painter (Vincent Van Gogh) as opposed to rhyming with "cough."

Here's a whole article on Bay Area place and street name pronunciations:
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/How-to-pronounce-Bay-Area-landmarks-streets-and-7287451.php

There's also a Gough Street in Baltimore that some pronounce "guff", rhyming with "rough".

[Dirt Roads]

When I was a kid, I thought Gough Street in San Francisco was pronounced similar to the painter (Vincent Van Gogh) as opposed to rhyming with "cough."

Here's a whole article on Bay Area place and street name pronunciations:
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/How-to-pronounce-Bay-Area-landmarks-streets-and-7287451.php

There's also a Gough Street in Baltimore that some pronounce "guff", rhyming with "rough".

Gochenhour Road in Woodstock, Virginia is pronounced "goke-ken-hour".  But in West Virginia, most folks with that surname pronounce it with a silent "CH" kind of like "go-an-hour".

[kphoger]

I was told in Wichita, KS that Greenwich is pronounced as it's written.

I've heard native Wichitans pronounce it three different ways:  green-witch, grenn-itch, grenn-witch.

The road is presumably named after the tiny unincorporated community called Greenwich, which I believe is pronounced green-witch.  Therefore, that's the pronunciation I use for the road as well.

Plus the Arkansas River is not pronounced as the state, but as the state that Wichita is in with the prefix R.

I've read that arr-kin-saw is also a minority pronunciation of the river's name in Colorado.  Maybe someone else can confirm or deny.

[formulanone]

- Ocala Rd - o-CAL-uh, like the city (a lot of people will say oh-CALL-uh)

I've heard a few outsiders / co-workers pronounce it: OAK-a-luh and that makes me giggle. Probably the most mis-pronounced city in Florida.

- Bronough St - BRU-no (don't ask)

[Poiponen13]

In Finland, there are no hard to pronounce street names.

[1995hoo]

I would have assumed that Ocoee is the most-mispronounced in Florida just because it's not at all apparent how to say it.

[achilles765]

Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans is the first thing that comes to mind. Out here, the only one I've heard occasionally mispronounced is Iliff Ave. (EYE-liff).

Speaking of New Orleans, Chartres Street is often mispronounced. People may pronounce it as Char-tres (like it looks) or even Charter. It's char-turs.

There is a street here in Houston also named Chartres that runs alongside interstate 69/US 59 on the east side of downtown. Here everyone says "char-tres"

in north Houston there is a Kuykendahl Road and it's pronounce "ker-kin-dall"

[7/8]

That's how I'd pronounce all three not knowing better, especially the last two where Krug is a famous champagne and Daimler as in Daimler-Chrysler. Weber could go either way, but there's a university in Utah called Weber State pronounced like that.

Fair enough. Weber is most likely to be messed up probably because of the barbecue brand. I've never heard of Krug champagne, so I assumed it'd rhyme with hug, bug, etc. I remember my parents pronouncing Daimler as "DAME-ler" when we first moved here, so that's why I included that one. I guess the streets in my area are easy to pronounce.

In Brampton, ON: Chinguacousy Rd (I think it's pronounced "Chi-coo-see"? At least that's what the traffic reporter said).

As someone who grew up in Brampton, I pronounce it "Chin-COO-see" (basically the same, just with the n).

[cstp3103]

Coggeshall St in New Bedford, MA. Many including myself pronounce it "KOG-zall"

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Locally, we have Humboldt Ave. I've heard "hum-bolt" and "hum-blot".

[webny99]

Locally, we have Humboldt Ave. I've heard "hum-bolt" and "hum-blot".

Not exactly a place name, but "Hum-blot" is a candidate for this thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=33009.0
Almost certainly a misreading of the letter placement and/or just not knowing how it's said.

[US20IL64]

On north side of Chicago, Goethe st. Pronounced 'gert-eh'

[paulthemapguy]

Chicago's northern suburbs have Aptakisic Road.  The struggle for me is mainly deciding which syllables get emphasis.  "APP-tuh-KISS-ick".

Other weird ones in Chicagoland:

-Caton Farm Road (It's a long A. `K-Tun Farm)
-Gougar Road ("ou" as in "loud". GOW-gher)
-Schmale Road (Shmolly)
-Lies Road (Lease)
-Paulina Street (It's a long I, not a Spanish I.)
-Touhy Avenue (TOO-ee)
-Techny Road (TETCH-nee)
-Pfingsten Road (not too hard to figure out, but it's a weird name)

[kirbykart]

In Finland, there are no hard to pronounce street names.

Oh really? How about Hylkeenpyytajantie?

[roadman65]

I always thought Frelinghuysen Avenue in Newark, NJ is hard to pronounce.

[kphoger]

Other weird ones in Chicagoland:

-Caton Farm Road (It's a long A. `K-Tun Farm)
-Gougar Road ("ou" as in "loud". GOW-gher)
-Schmale Road (Shmolly)
-Lies Road (Lease)
-Paulina Street (It's a long I, not a Spanish I.)
-Touhy Avenue (TOO-ee)
-Techny Road (TETCH-nee)
-Pfingsten Road (not too hard to figure out, but it's a weird name)

Wow, I pronounced Lies Road as it's spelled the whole time I lived there!  Learn something new every day...

Schmale is second nature to me, considering I used to live less than 500 yards east of it and I used to work less than 400 yards west of it.  It's also pretty obviously a German name.

I didn't learn the correct pronunciation of Paulina for several years, probably because I never really had any need to take the Brown Line.

Hmm...  I wonder if most outsiders would pronounce Devon Avenue incorrectly.

[formulanone]

I would have assumed that Ocoee is the most-mispronounced in Florida just because it's not at all apparent how to say it.

I guess most place names in Florida made it seem less obvious (uh-Co-E) than it should have be; typically long-O for Okeechobee (Oh-key-CHO-bee), Oviedo (O-vey-dough), and Opa-Locka (Opa! Lock-ah) although they're from different origins.

[zachary_amaryllis]

I was told in Wichita, KS that Greenwich is pronounced as it's written.

I've heard native Wichitans pronounce it three different ways:  green-witch, grenn-itch, grenn-witch.

The road is presumably named after the tiny unincorporated community called Greenwich, which I believe is pronounced green-witch.  Therefore, that's the pronunciation I use for the road as well.

Plus the Arkansas River is not pronounced as the state, but as the state that Wichita is in with the prefix R.

I've read that arr-kin-saw is also a minority pronunciation of the river's name in Colorado.  Maybe someone else can confirm or deny.

I've never heard it the 'kansas' way in my life.

[zachary_amaryllis]

There's a street in Des Moines, that I see on signs as Keo Way, but it's a shortened form of Keo[long unpronounceable sequence] Way.

Anyone from the area, or just know?