Place names you always mispronounce (like Mackinac and Greenwich)

[Scott5114]

Buena Vista ... Whatever the case it means good view

There's a street in Las Vegas called Calico Vista, which I guess means "view of a cat".

[Scott5114]

I got a confession for y'all. That whole time we had Poiponen getting the name of his crush filtered to Sault Sainte John Madden...I didn't mentally pronounce it correctly once.

[kphoger]

Buena Vista here is pronounced how it's spelled instead of the real way it's pronounced

Considering that there are no common non-foreign words in the English language that either begin with bue- or end with -uen, I don't really have a concept for what you mean by 'pronounced how it's spelled'.  The closest I can get is the word 'imbue', which ends with -bue.

But, in contrast, see the words blue, clue, due, glue, & sue.

[Flint1979]

Buena Vista here is pronounced how it's spelled instead of the real way it's pronounced

Considering that there are no common non-foreign words in the English language that either begin with bue- or end with -uen, I don't really have a concept for what you mean by 'pronounced how it's spelled'.  The closest I can get is the word 'imbue', which ends with -bue.

But, in contrast, see the words blue, clue, due, glue, & sue.

Buh-nuh Vis-ta or in short just BV.

[kphoger]

Buh-nuh Vis-ta

So...  Bunna?  Because I assume buh and nuh rhyme?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Minnesotans also do not pronounce Calumet the French way, nor do we say 'Nicollet' the French way (unlike Wisconsinites, I believe, who say nick-uh-lay).

Well, the Nicolet Law guy will change Minnesotans' habits on this subject. 

[JayhawkCO]

Buena Vista here is pronounced how it's spelled instead of the real way it's pronounced, wenna-vesta.

I'm confused by this sentence. 'B' is not silent in Spanish and the vowels aren't the same in both words.

[hbelkins]

That town in Virginia that's embedded in roadgeek lore because of a wrong-way interstate concurrency?

It's pronounced "With-ville" but I can't help but pronounce it with a long "i" sound.

[Rothman]

That town in Virginia that's embedded in roadgeek lore because of a wrong-way interstate concurrency?

It's pronounced "With-ville" but I can't help but pronounce it with a long "i" sound.

Huh.  Out of all of these, this one took me the most off-guard.

[DandyDan]

I used to mispronounce Osceola (the town in Iowa) as ah-see-OLE-uh.
I think it was on Amtrak that I learned it's actually oh-see-OLE-uh.

There's Nevada, Iowa, which is pronounced nev-AY-da rather than like the state, my preferred pronunciation.

One I used to do when I lived in the Omaha area is Louisville, Nebraska, which I would pronounce like Louisville, Kentucky. I believe most of the Louisville place names in the USA pronounce it lou-is-ville rather than lou-ie-ville

[Scott5114]

There's Nevada, Iowa, which is pronounced nev-AY-da rather than like the state, my preferred pronunciation.

Just as long as you can pronounce the state right. One thing that has opened my eyes since I moved to Nevada is that there are people who live in other states that will argue with you about how your own damn state is supposed to be pronounced.

Or as NDOT says...

Every time someone says 'Nev-AH-da,' a tumbleweed sheds a single tear and rolls away in disappointment.

[kphoger]

Or as NDOT says...

Every time someone says 'Nev-AH-da,' a tumbleweed sheds a single tear and rolls away in disappointment.

And every time someone says 'Nev-ADD-a', a Spanish-speaker sheds a single tear.

Seriously, though, I wonder how many of Nevada's nearly 600,000 Spanish-speaking residents pronounce it the way it's spelled in Spanish instead of the 'correct' way.

[JayhawkCO]

I used to mispronounce Osceola (the town in Iowa) as ah-see-OLE-uh.
I think it was on Amtrak that I learned it's actually oh-see-OLE-uh.

There's Nevada, Iowa, which is pronounced nev-AY-da rather than like the state, my preferred pronunciation.

One I used to do when I lived in the Omaha area is Louisville, Nebraska, which I would pronounce like Louisville, Kentucky. I believe most of the Louisville place names in the USA pronounce it lou-is-ville rather than lou-ie-ville

The Missouri version of Nevada is also pronounced with the long 'a'.

[roadman65]

I don't think I will ever get Worcester, MA right.

[mgk920]

Well, then get Waupaca, Weyauwega, Mukwanago, Oconomowoc, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Menasha here in Wisconsin right!

Mike

[kphoger]

Well, then get Waupaca, Weyauwega, Mukwanago, Oconomowoc, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Menasha here in Wisconsin right!

Yes, Wisconsin has some fun ones.  But how to people mispronounce Sheboygan?  That one seems obvious to me.

[Big John]

Well, then get Waupaca, Weyauwega, Mukwanago, Oconomowoc, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Menasha here in Wisconsin right!

Mike

The trick one is Shawano. Not pronounced exactly as spelled.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Well, then get Waupaca, Weyauwega, Mukwanago, Oconomowoc, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Menasha here in Wisconsin right!

Yes, Wisconsin has some fun ones.  But how to people mispronounce Sheboygan?  That one seems obvious to me.

At least the Sheboygan sausages jingle should help with that.

"Got Sheboygan on my mind, Sheboygan!"

[Big John]

^^ Father of a newborn wanting a girl this time: What are we going to name her? Response: She's a boy again, condensed to Sheboygan.

[Brandon]

Well, then get Waupaca, Weyauwega, Mukwanago, Oconomowoc, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Menasha here in Wisconsin right!

Yes, Wisconsin has some fun ones.  But how to people mispronounce  Sheboygan?  That one seems obvious to me.

It might help if Cheeseheads could spell Cheboygan right. 

[Big John]

Well, then get Waupaca, Weyauwega, Mukwanago, Oconomowoc, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Menasha here in Wisconsin right!

Yes, Wisconsin has some fun ones.  But how to people mispronounce  Sheboygan?  That one seems obvious to me.

It might help if Cheeseheads could spell Cheboygan right. 

or Zilwaukee?

[dlsterner]

For me, one such place is Oneonta NY.  Never was sure of the correct pronunciation.

[Scott5114]

Or as NDOT says...

Every time someone says 'Nev-AH-da,' a tumbleweed sheds a single tear and rolls away in disappointment.

And every time someone says 'Nev-ADD-a', a Spanish-speaker sheds a single tear.

Seriously, though, I wonder how many of Nevada's nearly 600,000 Spanish-speaking residents pronounce it the way it's spelled in Spanish instead of the 'correct' way.

nevada means snowy in Spanish, and Nevada means the driest U.S. state, so why should they be pronounced the same?

[kphoger]

nevada means snowy in Spanish, and Nevada means the driest U.S. state, so why should they be pronounced the same?

Does the Sierra Nevada not get snow?

[Scott5114]

nevada means snowy in Spanish, and Nevada means the driest U.S. state, so why should they be pronounced the same?

Does the Sierra Nevada not get snow?

It does. It also covers a very tiny fraction of the state. Certainly far less than the Great Basin or the Mojave Desert (the latter of which wasn't within Nevada's original boundaries).

If they had meant to be accurate with the state name, they would have named us Cuenca.