This is true? - Geographic oddities that defy conventional wisdom

[kphoger]

For those interested in Texas town name pronunciations, allow me to refer you to this almanac (.pdf warning).  I actually have this file saved to my cell phone.

[amroad17]

Iowa has Ne-vay-da.

One thing I still am not 100% sure about after all this time, how in the hell is the state of Nevada pronounced? I say the second syllable similarly to the word "apple" , but the "open up and say ahh"  is common enough that I'm not sure.

Isn't the one in Missouri also pronounced Nuh-Vay-Duh?

I grew up pronouncing the state name Nuh-Vah-Duh, but nowadays I say Nuh-Væ-Duh.

Ohio has a town pronounced Nuh-vay-duh--Nevada, between Upper Sandusky and Bucyrus off US 30.  Another town in Ohio has an odd pronunciation--Russia.  It's pronounced Ru-sea-uh.

[kphoger]

Ohio has a town pronounced Nuh-vay-duh--Nevada, between Upper Sandusky and Bucyrus off US 30.  Another town in Ohio has an odd pronunciation--Russia.  It's pronounced Ru-sea-uh.

That's pretty close to how it would be pronounced in Russian, actually.

[bing101]

[bing101]

[Scott5114]

For those interested in Texas town name pronunciations, allow me to refer you to this almanac (.pdf warning).  I actually have this file saved to my cell phone.

I'd be a bit wary of that–I have a friend from Lubbock whose reported pronunciation of "Floydada" doesn't match with what's in there.

[kphoger]

For those interested in Texas town name pronunciations, allow me to refer you to this almanac (.pdf warning).  I actually have this file saved to my cell phone.

I'd be a bit wary of that–I have a friend from Lubbock whose reported pronunciation of "Floydada" doesn't match with what's in there.

You might notice that your friend doesn't live in Floydada.

What's in that almanac guide matches both this article by a Lubbock radio station about mispronounced Texas town names and also the given pronunciation on the town's Wikipedia page.  Also, one of the two competing theories on the origin of the town's name is that it's a combination of the names Floyd and Ada; put those together and you get the pronunciation given in the almanac.

[KEVIN_224]

Meahwhile, Newark is spelled the same in New Jersey, Delaware and Ohio. The Delaware version is new-ARK while the others are NEW-irk. I pronounce Delaware's version the same as the others.

[amroad17]

Another Ohio town: Rio Grande.  It's pronounced with a long I (Rye-o), not like the river.

[KEVIN_224]

Now just imagine Duran Duran singing their signature 80's hit that way! Would it be Simon Lebon's ode to a particular bread he liked?

[kphoger]

Another Ohio town: Rio Grande.  It's pronounced with a long I (Rye-o), not like the river.

Which still leaves the question of how to pronounce 'Grande' . . .

[hotdogPi]

Another Ohio town: Rio Grande.  It's pronounced with a long I (Rye-o), not like the river.

Which still leaves the question of how to pronounce 'Grande' . . .

Wikipedia says one syllable.

[kphoger]

Wikipedia says one syllable.

Or two.

The Rio Grande (/ˈriːoʊ ˈɡrænd/ or /ˈriːoʊ ˈɡrɑːndeɪ/; Spanish: Río Bravo del Norte, Spanish pronunciation: [ˈri.o ˈβɾaβo ðel ˈnoɾte] (About this soundlisten) or simply Río Bravo) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwest United States and northern Mexico.

[Buck87]

In Minnesota, Monticello is "Monti-sell-o" , not "cello"  the instrument as Jefferson's home is pronounced.

Same in Kentucky.

Spent a night there once on a trip back to Ohio from Georgia that included a stop at Cumberland Caverns in TN.

When I called to order Pizza Hut to my motel room, the guy answering the phone just said "Pizza Hut", so I asked "is this the Monticello location?"...pronouncing it the Jefferson way. This prompted a response of "Yes...though it's pronounced Monti-sell-o......and there's some of us who like to call it Monti-hell-hole"

[inkyatari]

Doing a little map searching on Missouri Sister Island here, and from what I can see, the boundary was always on the Mississippi River until sometime after 1964.  Interestingly the map I'm looking at from 1964 shows something under construction in the river at that point.  Was the Corps of Engineers planning on building a dam, and wanting to keep both ends in one state for some reason?  Just throwing out speculation here, as this does not look at all like something natural.

[hbelkins]

When I called to order Pizza Hut to my motel room, the guy answering the phone just said "Pizza Hut", so I asked "is this the Monticello location?"...pronouncing it the Jefferson way. This prompted a response of "Yes...though it's pronounced Monti-sell-o......and there's some of us who like to call it Monti-hell-hole"

Monticello is actually a decent little Kentucky county seat town, and it's grown like crazy the past 20-30 years. My grandfather owned a piece of property in Wayne County near Lake Cumberland, and we used to there once a year to fish. It took a good 3 to 3 1/2 hours to get there, as KY 80 between London and Somerset had not yet been built. There weren't many restaurants in town; occasionally we'd trek to Monticello from the Beaver Creek area to eat at a little dairy bar on the west side of town.

[jon daly]

Another Ohio town: Rio Grande.  It's pronounced with a long I (Rye-o), not like the river.

This reminds me that the first word in the phrases Rodeo Drive and rodeo clown does not sound a like.

[Scott5114]

For those interested in Texas town name pronunciations, allow me to refer you to this almanac (.pdf warning).  I actually have this file saved to my cell phone.

I'd be a bit wary of that–I have a friend from Lubbock whose reported pronunciation of "Floydada" doesn't match with what's in there.

You might notice that your friend doesn't live in Floydada.

What's in that almanac guide matches both this article by a Lubbock radio station about mispronounced Texas town names and also the given pronunciation on the town's Wikipedia page.  Also, one of the two competing theories on the origin of the town's name is that it's a combination of the names Floyd and Ada; put those together and you get the pronunciation given in the almanac.

Actually, I misread the almanac–the all-caps was more visible than the line over the long A, so I thought the almanac was advocating for Floy-da-da rather than the correct Floyd-ada.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

One can find State Highways that are maintained at national level in both Italy and New Zealand. Thanks to the former I can claim I've been on a State Highway .

[The Nature Boy]

Not sure why, but the Thames in Connecticut is pronounced differently from the one in England.

Thaymes vs Tems.

Yeah, imagine how awkward it was when I was talking to a friend about London and used the Connecticut pronunciation of Thames to describe the river in England...

[SP Cook]

Wikipedia says one syllable.

Or two.

The Rio Grande (/ˈriːoʊ ˈɡrænd/ or /ˈriːoʊ ˈɡrɑːndeɪ/; Spanish: Río Bravo del Norte, Spanish pronunciation: [ˈri.o ˈβɾaβo ðel ˈnoɾte] (About this soundlisten) or simply Río Bravo) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwest United States and northern Mexico.

Not the one in Ohio.  it is Grand, one syllable, same as the slang term for $1000.  That is the point of that subsection of this thread, small US towns that are pronounced differently than the foreign city (or in this case river). 

[kphoger]

Not the one in Ohio.  it is Grand, one syllable, same as the slang term for $1000.  That is the point of that subsection of this thread, small US towns that are pronounced differently than the foreign city (or in this case river). 

Oh yeah, I get that.  I was just reiterating that the pronunciation of "Grande" isn't obvious.  In fact, the river has two standard pronunciations.

[US 89]

Not the one in Ohio.  it is Grand, one syllable, same as the slang term for $1000.  That is the point of that subsection of this thread, small US towns that are pronounced differently than the foreign city (or in this case river). 

Oh yeah, I get that.  I was just reiterating that the pronunciation of "Grande" isn't obvious.  In fact, the river has two standard pronunciations.

I have yet to meet someone who pronounces the river with two syllables.

[english si]

I have yet to meet someone who pronounces the river with two syllables.

I've only ever heard it pronounced with 2 syllables (like Ariana) - not that I hear it often...

[kphoger]

I've definitely heard it pronounced both ways.