I thought it was Ca jun pass and not Cahon

[chad thomas]

 

mudchicken

Kay-DEEZ

Thanks MC.

[bubbajustin]

blhanel

nanaimo73

They are a long way from nuh-NYE-moe.

LOL, here I've been pronouncing that "Nah-nah-i-mo"!

At least you don't live in western Indiana and use words like wichadijya (wich-uh-did-jua) and yonder, and yunt to (Yu-nt-, to)

[trainnut57]

  Didn't read all the posts but it seems all you guys overlooked one of really odd pronunciations I ever came across, that being Suisun City. Its actually pronounced Sa-soon (rhymes with bassoon). Who'd a ever thunk it?

[Bob-Fryml]

The Butler

 St. Francois, Missouri.  Saint Fran-sis, Miz-er-ah.

Whereas St. Francois is near the south end of the eastern Missouri "Lead Belt," Bonne Terre is pretty close to the north end.  Some folks pronounce the latter name "BAHN-TARE" (2-syllables) while I've heard other call it "Bah-nah-tare." (3-syllables).  Go figure?

 

[CNSF]

There's only one T in Toronto

[bigduke76]

 you can talk all you want about u.s. accents but to get really confused try emigrating to another country as i did 20 years ago.  it's taken me that long to learn to sound the 'u' in 'out'; americans think we're saying 'oot' instead of owt'..  and when i told the guys at the edmonton trolley club i was going to change trains at 'the pass, MB', they all burst out laughing; it's pronounced 'the paw', mixed english & french. -big duke 

[Fireflite]

More on Greenwich:  in NJ it rhymes with "sandwich", but in Rhode Island, it's 'GREN-itch, like in CT.  Of course it's also Grenitch Village in NYC. 

My home state's capital, Trenton, is pronounced Trent'n (the o is silent), or if you're African-American, you can say Trent-en.  Both are acceptable.  Our state's largest city is Newark, pronounced Newerk, spoken as quickly as possible.  It's one long sylable, like Charles.   Meanwhile in Delaware it's New-ark.  It used to be two words:  New Ark.  They will tell you this.  I believe Newark, OH is the same way. 

Worcester, MA is pronounced as it is in England, Wus-ter.  In Pennsylvania its WOR-ces-ter.  Gloucester City, NJ also follows the English, GLOSS-ter.  The town of Lenape, PA, pronounced LEN-a-pee, is named after the Lenni Lenape (LEN-nee Le-NAH-pay) Indians. 

And don't forget Boise, ID (BOY-cee), Versailles, KY (ver-SALES), Mexia, TX (ma-HI-ah), and Humble, TX (Umble, no H),

Of course, our Swiss friend Anatole Mallet (mal-LAY) developed the compound-articulated steam locomotive, generally called a MAL-let in the east and a MAL-ee out west. 

 Tom

 

[tree68]

Fireflite

My home state's capital, Trenton, is pronounced Trent'n (the o is silent),

Kinda like a local idiosycrasy here - leaving out "t's", as in "Clay-un" for Clayton.

[narig01]

garr

Being in the south, how do you think Martinez, GA just outside of Augusta is pronounced?

Jay

Lived in Martinez, Ga ,moved there from Berkeley, Ca  not far from Martinez, Ca.

Rgds IGN

[narig01]

I have lived in various parts of this country. And I still laugh at "English"   By way of contrast, I was born in New York City (lived in Manhattan & Brooklyn)  moved to Berkeley, Ca at 14, lived there til 1990 and then moved to Georgia.    Two years ago moved to South West Arkansas.  

        I drive a truck all over and people still have no idea where I'm from based on my accent.  In addition I've worked for a bunch of Australians and Brits and picked up all sorts of bad habits grammatically.

 

One last comment did anyone know that Arizonia has with there "Immigration" legislation they banned anyone who speaks english with a "HEAVY" accent from teaching?  

Thx IGN

[ChuckCobleigh]

narig01

One last comment did anyone know that Arizonia has with there "Immigration" legislation they banned anyone who speaks english with a "HEAVY" accent from teaching?  

Thx IGN

Assuming without deciding that is true, I wonder if that would have excluded one of my favorite EE profs from oh so many years ago, who was far removed from Mississippi in years but not in accent, which was definitely very heavy...or the Aero prof from India who, I recalled, sounded just like Peter Sellers in The Party.

I do recall some nephews complaining about a couple of profs at Cal Tech whose accents were so thick that the class couldn't follow the lectures half the time, though I never ran into that extreme in my state school experiences. (Not to say that there weren't a few profs whose lectures in perfect English were still hard to follow.)

[henry6]

narig01

One last comment did anyone know that Arizonia has with there "Immigration" legislation they banned anyone who speaks english with a "HEAVY" accent from teaching?  

Thx IGN

If true, and I can't believe it is, there's big trouble...my German teacher in college had such a thick accent he often couldn't be understood....the idea of deporting that sweet young lady in the Portuegese/Brazilian bakery in West Norwalk who, as I was pointing to a tray full of cookies and asking what kind,  responded with,  "good cookie!" (she was right, but I'm still not sure what kind of cookie it was, some kind of nut)...take away Molley Goldberg, Michael Quill, Henry Kissenger, ..hell we probably shouldn't have allowed the Marques de Laffeyette nor Pulaski nor Pike into our midst. Nor most of  our grandparents if not great grandparents!   Ever listen to a conversation between a Downeaster, a Cajun, a WestVirginian Mountaineer, and a Texan at a New York City or Los Angeles deli?  And why is one of PBS's most popular TV shows still the Lawrence Welk show rerererererer(to the 10th power)rerun?   Subversive, anti American all!  Yeah, lets get rid of all accents and all talk the way those who want to rule our souls want us to.  Which is?

[SALfan]

tree68

baberuth73

There seems to be a rule that no one that speaks with a Southern accent will be employed as a so called TV journalist (news reader).

I call it the "Jeff Foxworthy Effect."  If you speak with a southern accent, you must be an uneducated rube.

I once read an article about accents that pointed out this in one movie ("Fried Green Tomatoes?") the four protagonists (all women) spoke with different southern accents, although I don't recall what they were.  There are actually some variations that are quite pleasant to hear, but others, well...

Tree, I think you hit the nail on the head.  I've made a conscious effort not to lose my Southern accent (about as thick and magnolia-dripping as they come) despite living as far north as Maryland, and it is sometimes advantageous.  Too many people from up north think anyone with a Southern accent has an IQ in the very low double digits, and aren't shy about letting that be known; a couple of them had quite nasty surprises when they needed something from me.

 There are definitely different Southern accents.  Tidewater Virginia is very distinctive, and I can pick out some North Carolina accents.  There is a difference between SE Georgia, where I grew up, and SW Georgia (around Albany, or All-BENNY, as the natives pronounce it).   

[dtandi]

 

Actually, I believe the locals in Louisville pronouce it LUV-el. I spent a fair amount of time in Louisville in years past and remember seeing "I Luv Luvel" bumper stickers.

[nanaimo73]

How should I pronounce Père Marquette?

[tree68]

nanaimo73

How should I pronounce Père Marquette?

It's somewhere between pair and pier.  I tend toward pier, myself.

The name comes from an early French explorer in the region.

[georgel]

OK folks, try 20 years of military sevice and see where your vocabulary ends up!

It depends on where you had the closest prolonged contact( east coast,west coast or overseas) and with whom you were stationed with.

My wife,from central Chigago, still has her accent,but I donot hear it anymore.

I was raised in PA.,but use words from many parts of the U.S.A.

I loved this thread.

George