When discussing Hurricane Katrina, please follow this guide to pronouncing place names on the Mississippi Gulf Coast even if the word doesn't look as if it would be pronouncedt this way:
Basic Level Pronunciation Guide
Waveland Pronounce as one word
Bay St. Louis You got this one right! Congrats~
Pass Christian (pass Christy Anne or pass Chris-t ann)
Long Beach Correct again! Congrats~
Gulfport (guff' port)
Biloxi (Buh Lux Eeeee)
Ocean Springs Correct Again! Congrats~
Gautier (Go Shay)
Pascagoula (Pass Cah Ghoul ahhh/short "a"; or alternately "Pass Pah Boul ahhh"
Expert Level Pronunciation Guide
Kiln (The Kill) note: home of Brett Farve
Saucier (Sew' Shure)
DeBuys (Duh Bees)
Thank you for your attention to this guide. If I hear one more news person say Bil LOX eee, I am going to take them off my Christmas Card List forever. I mean it.
St. Casserole ( Saint Cass ER roll)
14 comments:
This makes me laugh. Though I live near the far, far other end of the river, we too have many unpronounceable names, mostly of the French and Native American variety. The Weather Channel gets us wrong all. the. time. They put in just too darn many syllables.
Oh-- and you KNOW I know Kiln!
"Pass Pah Boul ahhh" makes my day.
Good to know! I've heard a lot of "creative" pronunciations in the media! :-)
Okay, try these from my corner of the world -
Schuylkill River - skoo kill
Manayunk - man ee yunk
Conshohocken - con shuh hock in
Bala Cynwyd - bala (easy) kin wood (more challenging)
Janvier - (forget everything you know!) jan veer
Oh, and by the way, H2O around here is wooder, not water. :-)
At my college, there is a dorm called Taliaferro, pronounced "Tolliver." I kid you not.
Here in Texas we have Bexar ("bear") and Mexia ("muh-hay-uh"), and also Palestine ("pah-luh-steen," don't you say "pah-luh-styne!")
ROFL :)
I won't even start on names in rural England. Finnish is phonetic that's the ONLY thing that's manageable about that crazy language.
Swedish - which I'm just staring - bishop: "Lorna, Swedish is mandatory. That means it's not optional" :(
Okay, now I feel as if I've been challenged.
Oconomowoc (Uh-CUN-uh-mwoc)
Waukesha (WOK-uh-shaw)
Mukwonago (Mug-WANna-go)
Cudahy (CUD-a-hay)
Menomonee (Mu-NOM-uh-nee)
Kinnickinnic (Knik-knik) also pronounced (Kay-kay) ;-)
and...
Racine (Ruh-SEEN) It is not RAY-seen, no matter what Oprah said last week. She really should know better.
Wow Revmom, those are probably some of the best I've ever seen.
In the area where I attended undergrad we had Rappahannock and Tappahannock - not hard to figure out, just unusual.
I'm going to start practicing now because I want to be on your Christmas card list.
Wow, these are great. I'm trying to think of some interesting pronunciations around these parts, and I honestly can't think of any. What you see is pretty much what you get.
The East Coast of Canada has some fun Acadian names for smaller towns, and the West Coast has some interesting aboriginal roots...but around here, not so much.
Now I'll be watching all those CNN reporters to make sure they are pronouncing correctly!
I don't know if Songbird has been around here, but I heartell there's a lake in Maine that's something like
CHAU-ga-gog MAN-chau-ga-gog chau-ga-GON-ga-maug.
And I'd really like to know if it's real, or if my in-laws are putting me on.
One of my family names is Taliaferro, pronounced "Tolliver" -- Huh. I suppose that is confusing.
Monroe -- MON roe not mon ROE
Marietta -- May RETT ah
reverend mommy, you have "Tolliver" in your family? Cool. I've never known one in real life.
rm, I think they're pulling your leg, but I'll look into it.
A friend from Atlanta told this story about her little niece:
Little Niece--"Ah'll cay-ree it!"
Friend--"Where's she from?"
Sister--"May-rett-uh."
And by the way, I would have said it was Saint Cass-UH-role.
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