Towns that are not pronounced as they’re written

[kirbykart]

Staying in New York, I don't think anyone mentioned Poughkeepsie yet. I'm not sure how to write down the pronunciation, maybe someone can help me out.

[webny99]

Staying in New York, I don't think anyone mentioned Poughkeepsie yet. I'm not sure how to write down the pronunciation, maybe someone can help me out.

I'd say Poughkeepsie is pronounced as it's written..

"Pough-" rhymes with dough, and "-keepsie" is pretty accurate too (it maybe sounds a bit more like "-kipsy", but it's close).

[Rothman]

Staying in New York, I don't think anyone mentioned Poughkeepsie yet. I'm not sure how to write down the pronunciation, maybe someone can help me out.

I'd say Poughkeepsie is pronounced as it's written..

"Pough-" rhymes with dough, and "-keepsie" is pretty accurate too (it maybe sounds a bit more like "-kipsy", but it's close).

Pfft.  Nah.  Kipsy =/= keepsie.

Pough is more of a quick "puh."

[webny99]

Staying in New York, I don't think anyone mentioned Poughkeepsie yet. I'm not sure how to write down the pronunciation, maybe someone can help me out.

I'd say Poughkeepsie is pronounced as it's written..

"Pough-" rhymes with dough, and "-keepsie" is pretty accurate too (it maybe sounds a bit more like "-kipsy", but it's close).

Pfft.  Nah.  Kipsy =/= keepsie.

Pough is more of a quick "puh."

One of my school teachers had family there and she pronounced "keepsie" with a distinct e sound if you listened closely, but it would be easy to hear "kipsy" if she was talking fast or if you heard it in passing.

[jdbx]

Lots of interesting examples here.  I have lived in Northern California my entire life, so the way people pronounce certain place names kind of serves as a shibboleth to see who the visitors and newcomers are.  People already mentioned San Rafael (always San Raf-ell), Vallejo (Vel-AY-oh), one that I caught a few coworkers on was Alameda (Al-uh-mee-duh).  Lafayette (Law-fayette) I have heard people mispronounce it like "Laff-ayette".  Manteca (Man-teek-uh) is also one that gets mangled.

A favorite though, is the debate over how to pronounce San Francisco's Gough Street.  Not even multi-generation natives can all agree on that.  I'm 3rd gen, and my family always pronounced it "Goff".

[Takumi]

A favorite though, is the debate over how to pronounce San Francisco's Gough Street.  Not even multi-generation natives can all agree on that.  I'm 3rd gen, and my family always pronounced it "Goff".

While my first guess would have been "go" .

[kirbykart]

Staying in New York, I don't think anyone mentioned Poughkeepsie yet. I'm not sure how to write down the pronunciation, maybe someone can help me out.

I'd say Poughkeepsie is pronounced as it's written..

"Pough-" rhymes with dough, and "-keepsie" is pretty accurate too (it maybe sounds a bit more like "-kipsy", but it's close).

Pfft.  Nah.  Kipsy =/= keepsie.

Pough is more of a quick "puh."

That's how I've always known it too, Rothman.

[Rothman]

Staying in New York, I don't think anyone mentioned Poughkeepsie yet. I'm not sure how to write down the pronunciation, maybe someone can help me out.

I'd say Poughkeepsie is pronounced as it's written..

"Pough-" rhymes with dough, and "-keepsie" is pretty accurate too (it maybe sounds a bit more like "-kipsy", but it's close).

Pfft.  Nah.  Kipsy =/= keepsie.

Pough is more of a quick "puh."

One of my school teachers had family there and she pronounced "keepsie" with a distinct e sound if you listened closely, but it would be easy to hear "kipsy" if she was talking fast or if you heard it in passing.

Unless you've picked your feet in Poughkeepsie, it doesn't matter.

I've spent quite a bit of time around NYSDOT Region 8 people...

[kirbykart]

Lots of interesting examples here.  I have lived in Northern California my entire life, so the way people pronounce certain place names kind of serves as a shibboleth to see who the visitors and newcomers are.  People already mentioned San Rafael (always San Raf-ell), Vallejo (Vel-AY-oh), one that I caught a few coworkers on was Alameda (Al-uh-mee-duh).  Lafayette (Law-fayette) I have heard people mispronounce it like "Laff-ayette".  Manteca (Man-teek-uh) is also one that gets mangled.

A favorite though, is the debate over how to pronounce San Francisco's Gough Street.  Not even multi-generation natives can all agree on that.  I'm 3rd gen, and my family always pronounced it "Goff".

Interesting examples, I wouldn't have gotten any of those right had you not provided proper pronunciations!

[vdeane]

one that I caught a few coworkers on was Alameda (Al-uh-mee-duh).

Pronunciation is very important when looking for the nuclear wessels (1:14).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf8rDpu1vCk

[Road Hog]

Texas and California share a common trait in which placenames with Spanish origins are often anglicized while keeping some Spanish elements. In Texas the farther inland you go, the more anglicized. Examples: Rio Vista (pronounced "RYE-o Vista" as in rye) and DeLeon (pronounced "DEE Leon" with emphasis on the first syllable). And don't get me started on Refugio.

[lepidopteran]

Two others beginning with K

• Kearny, NJ -- I thought this was pronounced KEER-nee, but it's actually KAR-nee
• Kerens, WV -- most of us know of this place as a locale on Corridor H.  You would think it's pronounced KAIR-ens, like the girl's name, but someone reporting on the highway's progress recently said it was KERNs.

[Road Hog]

Two others beginning with K

• Kearny, NJ -- I thought this was pronounced KEER-nee, but it's actually KAR-nee
• Kerens, WV -- most of us know of this place as a locale on Corridor H.  You would think it's pronounced KAIR-ens, like the girl's name, but someone reporting on the highway's progress recently said it was KERNs.

Kerens, TX is pronounced the same exact way.

[jdbx]

Two others beginning with K

• Kearny, NJ -- I thought this was pronounced KEER-nee, but it's actually KAR-nee
• Kerens, WV -- most of us know of this place as a locale on Corridor H.  You would think it's pronounced KAIR-ens, like the girl's name, but someone reporting on the highway's progress recently said it was KERNs.

I used to work on Kearny Street in San Francisco, and out here we say it "KERR-nee"

[Rothman]

Two others beginning with K

• Kearny, NJ -- I thought this was pronounced KEER-nee, but it's actually KAR-nee
• Kerens, WV -- most of us know of this place as a locale on Corridor H.  You would think it's pronounced KAIR-ens, like the girl's name, but someone reporting on the highway's progress recently said it was KERNs.

I used to work on Kearny Street in San Francisco, and out here we say it "KERR-nee"

Yep.  I lived in SF and said it the same way.

[bwana39]

Texas and California share a common trait in which placenames with Spanish origins are often anglicized while keeping some Spanish elements. In Texas the farther inland you go, the more anglicized. Examples: Rio Vista (pronounced "RYE-o Vista" as in rye) and DeLeon (pronounced "DEE Leon" with emphasis on the first syllable). And don't get me started on Refugio.

But is is Dee Lee own not Dee Leon (Lee ahn.)

Ree Fur EO

[sandwalk]

How Ohio honors the Old World....usually with a different vowel pronunciation and/or an emphasis on a different syllable.

Berlin > "BUR-lin"
East Palestine > "PAL-uh-steen"
Genoa > "jeh-NO-uh"
Leipsic > "LIP-sick"
Mantua > "MAN-a-way"
Milan > "MY-lin"
Medina > "meh-DY-nuh"
New Bremen > "BREE-min"
Russia > "ROO-shee"
Toledo > "tuh-LEE-doh"
Versailles > "ver-SALES"
Vienna > "vy-EH-nuh"


Other Ohio places names that are a bit off:

Chauncey > "CHANCE-ee" (interesting history behind this)
Gnadenhutten > "juh-NAY-den-HUT-en" (first syllable similar to Zsa Zsa Gabor)
Lima >"LY-muh" (like the bean, not its namesake in Peru)

[webny99]

Lima >"LY-muh" (like the bean, not its namesake in Peru)

That's how Lima, NY is pronounced as well. Meanwhile I had a teacher with that surname and that was pronounced "lee-muh", like Lima, Peru.

[jp the roadgeek]

Heading east from po-KIPSY to CT:

Thames: As it's spelled, not tems
Groton: GRAH-tin (as in potatoes au)
Greenwich: GREN-itch
Canton: Cantin
Southington: SUTH-ing-ton
Ansonia: an-SO-nee-yuh
Norfolk: Nor-fork
Barkhamsted: bark-HAM-stead
Higganum: HIG-uh-num
Wolcott: WOOL-kit
Hebron: HEE-brin
Coventry: CAH-ven-tree
Berlin: BUR-lin
Oneco: oh-KNEE-co
Haddam: HAD-um

A few I've learned in my travels (apologies for duplicates)

Brooklyn, MD: Brook-line
Lampeter, PA: lam-PETER
Schuykill: SKOO-kul
Carmel, NY: CAR-mul
Mahopac, NY: MAY-uh-pack
Katonah:kah-TONE-uh

[Scott5114]

Canton: Cantin

That would be considered pronounced as it's written in Oklahoma. The U.S. capital is pronounced "Washingtin", or "Washin't'n" if you've got a thicker accent. Canton, OK would be "Cantin" too, of course. I don't think I've ever heard anyone pronounce a -ton town the same way they'd say the word ton.

[roadman65]

Not a town but a county. How do you pronounce Houston, AL?  Is it like the city, or like the street in New York?

[CtrlAltDel]

Thames: As it's spelled, not tems

So it is pronounced like it's written.

[kirbykart]

Carmel, NY: CAR-mul
Katonah: kah-TONE-uh

Uhh... how else would you pronounce those ones?

[webny99]

Carmel, NY: CAR-mul
Katonah: kah-TONE-uh

Uhh... how else would you pronounce those ones?

Presumably car-MEL* and kah-TUN-ah, both of which seem odd to me, but I guess that's why they're pronounced the way they are...

*I think Carmel, IN may be pronounced this way, but not 100% sure (?)

[hotdogPi]

Carmel, IN is pronounced the two-syllable pronunciation of "caramel", which is used there for the food, too.

For those who only pronounce "caramel" with three syllables, what I'm referring to matches the location in NY above.