Ever the pedant, I continue

Did you know that natives of Miami, Florida, say "Miam-uh" and natives of Cincinnati, Ohio, say "Cincinnat-uh" and natives of Missouri say "Missour-uh"?

Well, they do.

Atlanta, Georgia, has a street named Ponce de Leon but it is not pronounced “PONT-suh day Lay-OWN” or even the way speakers of Castilian Spanish might say it, “PON-thuh day Lay-OWN”. No, friends, the street in Atlanta is pronounced “PONTS duh LEE-on”.

People all over the world say “Hew-ston” when they’re talking about the largest city in Texas, but Houston Street in Atlanta and Houston County in Georgia are both pronounced “House-ton”.

I kid you not.

My mother referred to Houston, Texas, as “You-ston” but she was from Philadelphia. She and Donald Trump both call (or, in her case, called) very big things “yuge”. He is from New York but he did receive a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Maybe going there affected his speech.

For those of you who travel to Texas, I can assure you that you will be laughed at or at least be looked askance at if you put a “Wax” in Waxahachie. It’s “Walks”.

Natchitoches, Louisiana, where Steel Magnolias was filmed, has only three syllables and they are pronounced ”NACK-uh-tush”. Its sister city, Nacogdoches, Texas, is pronounced “Nack-uh-DOACH-es” however.

People who live in Boca Raton in Palm Beach County, Florida, say “Boca Ruh-TONE” but many other people say “Boca Ruh-TAHN”.

Residents of New Orleans do not say “Nawlins” despite what you may have been told. They say "Noo-AW-lins". No one should ever say "new-or-LEENS". Residents of Baton Rouge say “Batten Rouge”. Please remember when you mention the state where those cities are located that it was named for Louis, not Louise.

In Kentucky, the town of Versailles is pronounced “Ver-SAYLES”, not at all like the one in France. Don’t even attempt Louisville.

When you go to Egypt say “Kye-ro” but in both Cairo, Illinois, and Cairo, Georgia, remember to say “Care-oh” instead.

In Peru, the city of Lima may be “Lee-muh” but the city in Ohio is “Lye-muh”.

I could go on and on. La Jolla, California, is pronounced "La HOY-a" just the way Spaniards would say it. Des Moines, Iowa, is pronounced "Duh Moyn" just the way the French would NOT say it. In Illinois, Des Plaines is pronounced "Dess Playns".

But I grow weary, so I'm pretty sure you do also.

I will make a real attempt to be less pedantic in the New Year.