...Big D, little a, double l, a, s.
Except that I'm not. I'm from Mansfield, a former wide spot in the road that now has 75,000 residents and is actually closer to Fort Worth in the sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex than to Dallas. By the way, Fort Worth is not pronounced FORT WORTH by locals. Locals say FOTE-worth (with the accent on the first syllable, which has no discernible R) instead.
Here are some more oddities one encounters in the pronunciation of place names:
Many people who grew up in Missouri call it Missoura, many people who grew up around Cincinnati call it Cincinnata, and many people who grew up in Florida say Miama, not Miami.
It's true.
People in other parts of the U.S. may say kah-loh-RAH-doh and nuh-VAH-duh but people who live in Colorado and Nevada say kah-loh-RAD-oh and nuh-VAD-duh.
Mrs. RWP (the lovely Ellie) and I lived in Boca Raton, Florida, for several years and the place is pronounced bo-ka ra-TONE, not bo-ka ra-TAHN, no matter how many times you may have heard it pronounced the second way.
The residents of the town of San Jacinto in Riverside County, California, pronounce it the Spanish way, san-hah-CHEEN-toh, but the place near Houston, Texas, where Texans remembered the Alamo and defeated Mexican General Santa Anna's army in 1836 is called sanja-SIN-ta.
Versailles may be pronounced vair-SIGH in France, but the town in Kentucky spelled the same way is ver-SALES. I kid you not.
Lima in Peru may be LEE-muh but the Lima in Ohio is pronounced LYE-muh. Similarly (or, rather, dissimilarly), Egypt's Cairo may be KYE-roh but the towns in Illinois and Georgia are both called KARE-oh, like the syrup.
We must not forget the twin curiosities of Nacogdoches, Texas, (NAK-uh-DOH-chiz) and Natchitoches, Louisiana (NAK-uh-tish).
When I tell you stuff like this I have the distinct feeling that I may have told it to you before. If I have repeated myself, chalk it up to the fact that I'm old and my memory isn't what it used to be
Don't get me started on England, which has Gloucestershire (GLAW-stir-shir), Leicestershire (LESS-ter-shir), Worcestershire (WUSS-ter-shir), St. John's Wood (SIN-jinz wood), and the Thames (TEMZ), none of which the English find the least bit odd.
In closing, when I tell you stuff like this I have the distinct feeling that I may have told it to you before. If I have repeated myself, chalk it up to the fact that I'm old and my memory isn't what it used to be.
Did I mention that I'm from Big D?
In Iowa Des Moines has been pronounced as Dees Moynes and Dee Moyne. In Detroit there is a major street named Livernois. Some call it liver-noise while others call it liver-noy. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteEmma, Illinois falls into that category as well. I have heard Illi-noise and I have heard Illi-noy. French names and American Indian names can be tricky though. I lived in New England when I was young so I know that the two native Americans who helped the pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, were Squanto and Massasoit (pronounced massa-SOYT). But my high school history teacher in Texas insisted that his name was pronounced massa-SWAH "because that is how it is pronounced in French". When I said "But it isn't a French name" he wouldn't budge. He also read the word hieroglyphics as "hee-aero-giraffics" and called the city of Schenectady in New York SKEN-ik-TAY-dee to my complete dismay. I had stopped correcting him by that time. I felt sorry for his students. I am by no means perfect, but that man was a special case, a fount of misinformation.
DeleteThere used to be a 'world traveler' on TV in Detroit. He loved including stories of his beloved Himalyas. Where he got that pronunciation was always a mystery.
DeleteSorry for the delay in responding. I've been in the hospital for a couple of days due to a couple of kidney stones that have now been removed. "Himalya" is howt they say it in England. The English also gave us Caribbean with the accent on the second syllable ("rib"), which caught on in the U.S. much better than the other one. Strange how that works.
DeleteNot to mention Scotland's Milngavie (MulGuy), Cullross (CooRus or CooRis), Auchtermuchty (Och (as in the Scots 'loch') ter muck tee (or tay) or Kirkudbright (Kir koo bray). I could go on but......
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay in responding, Graham. I have been in the hospital this week having some kidney stones tended to. The only place names in Scotland that I'm familir with are Glasgow, Edinburgh, and of sourse Stornoway and Auchtermuchty because of you and Adrian. It's a real gap in my knowledge. Oh, yes, and St. Andrew's Golf Club.
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