What is it with George H.W. Bush (George I)...he had a VP who couldn't (and probably still can't) spell and then he has a son who can't speak. Combine the two of them and you have the perfect idiot...but then, if we add FillyPhan into the mix for his less-than-impressive use of grammar and spelling and we'll have a creation the world has never seen!
What a loser...
Mispronouncing the state's name \"sets people's teeth on edge.\"
337 days until our regime change

[ December 01, 2003, 09:12 AM: Message edited by: bobby78751 ]

At the risk of being called a Bush-lover, I would just like to say that my partner and I have a reoccurring argument about the pronunciation of place names in the West. He is from Colorado (Colorahdo, according to me). To him, Nevada and Colorado are both pronounced with the stressed syllable rhyming with "bad." Now, I agree that when in Rome, one should do as the show girls do (especially if one is the president and one is looking for votes). But having been accused of murdering the name of the best state in the Union, I'm going to pooh-pooh the aghast Nevadians.

Pooh-pooh.

Caveat: I do not support Bush nor do I support any of his policy initiatives.

[ December 01, 2003, 06:24 AM: Message edited by: araanib ]

People mispronounce Oregon all the time, too. (It's Ore-eh-gun, not Ore-ee-Gone)

And would someone please tell the Brits that LA is "Los Angel-less" not "Los Angel-leez". Oh yeah, and it's San Francisco, not "San Fran" and never ever "Frisco". Frisco is a town just west of Denver, Color-ah-do/Color-add-oh/Color-add-duh.

Whatever.

Don't feel bad guys, there are some locals out here who pronounce my state as Warshington. There is no "r" in Washington!!!

Hmmmm. I lived in LA for four years and always said Los Angel-eeez. Still do.

What about Cincinnatti and Missouri? I was always taught to say Cincinnatt-UH and Missour-UH.

And in New York Houston Street is HOW-ston Street.

You could go on and on.....

[ December 01, 2003, 10:59 AM: Message edited by: Munson Man ]

Oh, yah!? Let's just see how good you guys are with this one: I'm from, originally, a city in central Mass called "Worcester." Now, I know some of you know how to pronounce this name correctly but just how many?

Sparky, its Wooster? Right? What do I win?????? wink

Wrong puckman. Try again. Your close though.

By the way, I meant to say "you're" close. Sorry.

It's Worc(h)ester basically, right? I'm from Montana and people seem to butcher that too, pronouncing the Mon like Monday rather than Mont as on Monty.

And I've been accused of mispronouncing Nevada too. I will say it both ways, it depends on the words around it for which version I use.

[ December 01, 2003, 11:11 AM: Message edited by: stinger85 ]

I believe, if you are from that area, it is "woostah."

I've always said Were-ster.

Hey, Id be happy if the chimp-in-chief could learn to pronounce "America" as opposed to "Murka."

Boys, I guess you could say I've gone off-topic on this thread so I'll end the suspense now. I was born and raised in Worcester and now live in Boston. My Worcester/Boston accent is pretty heavy, from what I've been told, most especially by my boyfriend who is Ft. Lauderdale. To the uninitiated, there is no difference between a Worcester accent and a Boston accent - we both say cah! Or whatever. Trust me though, there is a difference. This info is of no relevance, too. So, why I said that escapes me. At any rate, if you are not from here, or should I say,"heah," Worcester is pronounced "Wister," with equal emphasis on the two syllables. If, however, you are from here you are entitled to pronounce it thus, "Wistah" with a heavy emphasis on the first syllable to the very slight pronouncing of the second. Wicked strange, wouldn't ya say? (NB please forgive me for any misspellings.)

Since I grew up somewheyah else, it took me yeahs of living heah before I realized that Worcester natives pronounce it "Wistah".

(Oops, simultaneous post... What he said!)

[ December 01, 2003, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: redsoxbreath ]

It's Missour-ee in the cities, Mizz-ou-rah in sticks, but Saint Lou-iss ALL THE TIME. I was born in said River City (aka Mound City, Cincinnat-ee being the correct pronunciation of denizens of the Queen City--hey, I didn't make these names up!), and know whence I speak.

A woman I know from Wi-scon-sin always said to me, put the s and c together, not Wis-consin. Is this the case? I believed her because she was very smart and very cool--but any residents or natives who can verify? Another one is New Orleans--is it N'awlins/N'orlins, as many Southrons say, or is New Or-lee-ins or New Or-lins, as my relatives there pronounce it? (They're natives. They also say Lew-see-ana, not Lou-ee-see-anna. The first version is how I've heard John Breaux, Mary Landrieu, and that sexy Marc Morial say it, so I take it as a given.)

As for Worcester, etc., those Massachusetts cities retain the British pronunciations generally but tweak them. So it's Whih-stuh; Gloucester = Gloss-tah; Billerica = Bill-rick-uh; Reading = Redding, etc. BTW, my favorite Mass town name is Hamilton-by-the-Sea. I think the last three words get dropped a lot, but they're lovely. My favorite strange British pronunciations: Chomondeley = Chumley; Crowninshield = Crunshell.

W, if he's going to Ne-vad-uh, ought to pronounce the state's name right. They actually DID vote for him. What's next? Go-ree-gee-uh for Georgia? Va-ginah for Virginia? Taxes for Texas? (I'm just picking those states that aided W in getting close enough to stage his coup.)

[ December 01, 2003, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

English town names can be confusing. Derby = Darby. Leicester = Lester. Maurice is said Morris etc.

Sorry Munson Man, were you pronouncing Los Angeles with a Spanish tilt or like an expat Englishman? The first is OK, the second, well, no, it makes you sound like Phil Collins, something no one should want. It's like people who say La Jolla, emphasis on the J, instead of the correct La Hoya.

Great thread.

[ December 01, 2003, 04:01 PM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

Like Bugs Bunny? wink

How DO you pronounse Nevada?

I've always said Nev-ah-da, too . Is it Nev-add-a? Nev-add-uh?

from Joe in Philly:

Like Bugs Bunny?

And let's not forget the problems he faced when saying "Albuquerque," where he always "knew I should have toined left!"

I am surprised by the number of people I've run into who pronounce "Minnesota" as "Minnsota." Maybe I just know dumb bunnies...

~Adam

Dictionary.com offers two possible pronunciations of the state's name.

Apparently there are several pronunciations for the following words:

"nuclear"
"american"
"terror"

Raze, when it comes to the punk-ass-chimp, I think there are several "mispronunciations" for those words...and more.

In Dictionary.com? I didn't notice that.

No, its called Bushspeak.
"nuclear" = nukler
"american" = murkin
"terror" = terra