Worcester

[Birdie]

Now we have an idea where Tim has gone.  Kudos to Nancy Barrett for prononucing the city's name correctly.  I am impressed.  I know I have mentioned this before but I grew up in Worcester  I remember it thrilled me that my favorite show would mention my home town.  As young viewers we were dancing around the room to know have Worcester (pronounced Wooster) sometimes refered to as Worm-town  was named on TV.  

Birdie

[Carol]

Now we have an idea where Tim has gone.  Kudos to Nancy Barrett for prononucing the city's name correctly.  I am impressed.  I know I have mentioned this before but I grew up in Worcester  I remember it thrilled me that my favorite show would mention my home town.  As young viewers we were dancing around the room to know have Worcester (pronounced Wooster) sometimes refered to as Worm-town  was named on TV.  Birdie

I know how you feel, Birdie. DS mentioned Albany(NY) a few times and it was pronounced corrrectly. Natives say ALLBUNNY but out-of-towners say AL BANIE. Just glad DS didn't use Schenectady--that always throws people! Law & Order uses those city names all the time.
Then again, I learned that Houston Street is not pronounced the same as Houston, Texas. My upstate origins showed on that one.

[onyx_treasure]

    My husband was born in Worcester.  He took me there a couple of times to see his old house.  He acted like we were visiting a sacred sight.  He moved to New Jersey when he was three and I have been taken to other sacred sights.  All hail the sacred grounds he trod upon.  

[RingoCollins]

My hometown address is a small little village near Bristol TN [NASCAR capital] called Blountville, [which has an airport that is giving away socks to all searched passengers who are asked to remove their shoes - REALLY - and many locals are going to the airport in hopes of increasing their wardrobe!]  and it has never been mentioned on Dark Shadows.  But should it ever be, the correct pronunciation is not 'blawnt-ville' or 'blunt-ville'.....the blount is pronounced: 'Dull'


but I did see my great grandfather wring the kneck of a wooster once!

[Raineypark]

    We practically DARE visitors to pronounce the local names around here.  We've got towns like Hauppauge (Hop-Hog), Sagaponack, Cutchogue, Aquebog, Nissequogue, and Poquott.  Not to mention Massapequa, Speonk, Amagansett and Pantigo!  

rainey  

[Carol]

    We practically DARE visitors to pronounce the local names around here.  We've got towns like Hauppauge (Hop-Hog), Sagaponack, Cutchogue, Aquebog, Nissequogue, and Poquott.  Not to mention Massapequa, Speonk, Amagansett and Pantigo!   rainey  

I love it! Schenectady is from the Mohawk Indian word meaning "other side of the pine lands". I was taught how to pronounce it by saying: "I'll SKIN your NECK TODAY"

[Raineypark]

Isn't is amazing that they kept the names after they slaughtered the natives?  Wouldn't you think they'd try to pretend they were never here in the first place?

Nope!!....every 15 feet we've got another name which means "having something to do with water since we're surrounded by it on all sides"

My personal favorite is Lake Ronkonkoma (just TRY to guess where the accent goes!)....the bottomless lake where the Sachem's daughter allegedly waits to drag boaters into the murky depths.  

rainey

[dom]

My personal favorite is Lake Ronkonkoma (just TRY to guess where the accent goes!)....the bottomless lake where the Sachem's daughter allegedly waits to drag boaters into the murky depths.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I was going to list a few more until I realized that I could pronounce them but couldn't spell them, lol. I'll never forget the ribbing I took the day I asked where SOY-oh-set (Syosset - pronounced, sigh-AH-set) was.

My fave is the tale of the man who pronounced Yosemite, YO-se-might.

dom (who resides in the San Joaquin - pronounced, San-wah-KEEN - valley [I really messed up that one with - San-Joe-uh-KWIN])

[Raineypark]

Want to start a fist fight?  Tell a local Quoge is pronounced Qw-ahh-g instead of Qw-ohh-g.

rainey

[Bette]

My fave is the tale of the man who pronounced Yosemite, YO-se-might.

dom (who resides in the San Joaquin - pronounced, San-wah-KEEN - valley [I really messed up that one with - San-Joe-uh-KWIN])

Ah yes. Names I grew up with in Madera. My favorite Valley mispronunciations are Tulare (mispronounced as Tu-lar) and Visalia (mispronounced as Viz-alia.) Oh Dom, you really do take me back to my childhood DS years.

Bette

[Birdie]

Wow, I would not even attempt to pronounce any of those names.  It would not be pretty.  

Ringo, Worcester has an airport too!  Of course not many planes  come in.  It is kind of a sorry joke in this part of the country.  They built the new terminal to tall in blocked the tower.  Than somehow one of the run ways has shrunk.

I grew up close to the airport.  Can you believe growing up we could go up in the tower?  How things have changed.  

Birdie

[jennifer]

it is funny in Masschusetts(only state McGovern took in 1972) out in Worcester the accent is so different than'
The Boston accent. I grew up in watertown (right next to Boston) and when i went out west to school (Framingham State college of Christa M. of The Challenger) people there from westerm parts of the state made such fun of my accent! when i go down the cape there isn't that much of a contrast!
have a lotta chowda down there too!

jennifer

[sheenasma]

 Kudos to Nancy Barrett for prononucing the city's name correctly.  Birdie

Now if someone would just get "Bangor" right.

N, Mainiac

[dom]

Ah yes. Names I grew up with in Madera. My favorite Valley mispronunciations are Tulare (mispronounced as Tu-lar) and Visalia (mispronounced as Viz-alia.) Oh Dom, you really do take me back to my childhood DS years.

I know the feeling Bette, that's how I feel when Raineypark & Robin V. mention cities & towns on Long Island. I moved to CA in my thirties and caused a lot of laughter by trying to pronounce most of the Spanish named cites. My first blunder was La Jolla (pronounced - La Hoya) but I, having never taken a Spanish lesson pronounced it as, La Joe-la, . I still get teased about that.

[Philippe Cordier]

Interesting to read about all of these place names on the East and West coasts. I've read of many of the East coast places in books ever since I was a child, but didn't know the correct pronunciations of most.

I wouldn't have too much trouble when it comes to the Spanish names in California, since I've had quite a bit of Spanish.  Unfortunately, sometimes the correct Spanish pronunciation carries over, and sometimes not.  I remember referring to San Pedro to a California friend once (using the Spanish pronunciation, San PAY - dro), and he said they pronounce it San PEE - dro.  How unflattering!

Here in the Upper Midwest (I seem to be the lone representative of this part of the country on this forum), there are also many place names coming from the Indian languages -- Chippewa (Ojibwe) and Sioux (Lakota).  Also French from early fur traders.

Most pronunciations are Anglicized by now.