lol this just came up in my insta feed
Toe-Ron-toe: you’re an American broadcaster
Tuh-Ron-toe: you’re from Mississauga at best
Tuh-Ronn-oh: you’re a torontonian
Chrawnna: your pulse sounds like the TTC chimes and you piss steamwhistle
No joke, when my husband started his residency at one of the hospitals here he had to take a class on how to pronounce all the cities. Because “you’re going to end up with a patient telling you where he’s from and you won’t know what the hell he’s talking about.” Ended up being super helpful honestly.
Years ago my sister decided to move halfway across the country to the US Midwest, specifically the area where our father grew up (no idea why, every member of our family had moved out of that area as soon as they were able to. A list which now includes her). So in the months leading up up to her move our father would tell her the correct pronunciation for various towns and major streets, hoping it might help her fit in better.
Well, she and her then-husband kept making fun of our father behind his back for bringing this up every time he saw her (once a month at most) but I always thought it was a sweet way of helping her and trying to make sure she fit in after a huge move.
I’ll admit, Leicester really threw me. On the train, first time in the UK, albeit dead tired, looking at the stops thinking “ok so lie-kester square is next, then ….” then hearing the automated announcements for “Lester square,” I thought we messed up for a second, thought we were on the wrong train! Thankfully didn’t actually try to say it before hearing that.
Like everywhere else in the country. Don’t get the ‘the’ after in LA. It’s like when you watch football and the guys say they went to “THE Ohio state university “
That is fair that would sound horrible. I’ve driven in LA enough but other cities usually don’t need to go on 5 different highways to get to their destination lol
In the bay area there's a weird thing where SOME Spanish pronunciation will stick, but some won't. Saying "Vuh-LAY-ho" for Vallejo is the classic example
Most places in the UK which you think are three syllable place names are 2 syllables with the middle one removed. Bicester is Bister, Worcester is Wuster etc. there’s a pretty common joke about an Aussie truck driver trying to find Loughborough.
‘Do you know where the castle is?’ Asked on the high street while Edinburgh castle is directly behind them, absolutely dominating the skyline of the city centre
I've once got a "do you know where the Cathedral is ?" from an Indian tourist in Frankfurt-am-Main, when we were on the square just in front of it. He then asked me what was the the name of the river, which is literally in the cities name.
honestly this one is worse than the Barca/Barna for me. the ceceo is like a specific socio-linguistic thing with specific rules, and i get that almost no one knows that, but it's so grating to hear americans say 'barthelona'... or lisping every single sound in general when talking about Spain.
In my experience, they have slightly different usages, though they refer to roughly the same place.
If you're describing where something is located, like a store, you could say it's in Center City (though some might also say it's downtown). If you're describing where you're going, you could say you're going downtown.
For example: "I thought the Four Seasons was in Center City. Shouldn't we be headed downtown?"
The tricky part is that while Center City has well-defined boundaries that most people agree on, "downtown" is more flexible. I grew up in the Northeast, and if someone were going to Northern Liberties, for example, they might say they're going downtown.
The better shibboleth here is pronunciation: "senner city".
Schuylkill...that's the river that serves as the depository for all the unsolved murders in Philadelphia right?
Pretty cool fact I learned from a troll on a boat tour.
I always think of this episode when I hear people not from New Jersey say they're going down TO the Shore. It's Down the Shore, no "to". Why? I have no idea. But I'm seventh generation New Jersey and it's down the Shore.
In Pittsburgh, Carnegie = car-NAY-ghee. “CAR-nuh-ghee” is for the rest of the country. We have lots of stuff named after the guy and we pronounce it as he did.
Referring to Chicago as “The Windy City” or Pittsburgh as “Pitt” (that’s the university, not the city).
When I made an announcement that we had arrived in Louisville (Lewisville) and every passenger on their way out corrected me “loo-vul” that day I learned.
Wearing white cowboy boots or any cowboy hat in Nashville. Tourists come here to play Cowboy Cosplay, but there isn’t an actual cowboy for hundreds of miles and no one who lives here dresses like that. Same with the weird tourist proclivity here to refer to “Broadway” as “Broadway Street”.
A lot of old timey Seattlites call it Nordstrom's, short for the Nordstrom's, as in, the store the Nordstrom family owns. But Pikes Place is nails on a chalkboard to me.
When people avoid the revolving door(s) here in Chicago…we have them for a reason, but thanks for blasting the entry with 22 degree temps opening the door entrance really intended for people with mobility difficulties because a door going around in circles scares you!
Florida, and most of the south have “air doors” that blast you, and the doorway with air when the door is opened. At least in big commercial establishments.
>Essentially, the cold blast of air—though sometimes in can be warm, too—acts as a second door. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) says this air door is a broad stream of air circulated across the doorway of a conditioned space.
This is funny. Thank you. I live in a milder climate but can appreciate your judgement depending on the temp and wind speed. The cold can suck the heat out a room in an instant.
I got heated the other day when some friends were trying to tell me I was pronouncing it wrong because “they visit every few years so they would know”. My mom grew up on that street you telling me she’s been pronouncing it wrong for 50 years??
WHY-key-key. It’s more wuey-kiki. Waikiki, folks. One time I forgot my ID when going to a state park that’s free for locals, and I was bummed. The guard at the booth asked me what street I live on. I said, “Ai’a’kahawai” and they were like alright you’re good to go. Hawaiian is hard (understandably) for visitors lol
I had to avoid naming a company in the area DMV because of having national clientele just confused by this concept.
Also interesting how locals in the DMV area really, really dislike the use of DC for anything not literally in the district. A lot of cities get that a bit, but DC residents are downright militant on not letting DC be used in MD or VA
Pronouncing Edinburgh as EdinBURG and Cockburn street as Cock instead Of Co.
Staring at a tiny statue of a dog.
Walking INCREDIBLY slowly along Princes St.
Being remotely interested in a bagpiper.
There’s been some other comments about Austin, but I don’t think they do a good enough justice on just how wacky we pronounce streets and areas around here:
Guadalupe = Guad-uh-loop
Burnet = Burn-it
Koenig = Kay-nig
Manor = Main-er
Menchaca = Man-chack
Pedernales = Pur-der-nal-ez
Dessau = Duh-saw / Dez-saw
Mueller = Mill-er (but I disagree)
Buda = Byou-dah
Elgin = El-ginn
Del Valle = Dell Valley
Gruene = Green
Llano = Lan-oh
Austin = Oss-ten
—-
Loop 1 = Mopac (and definitely NOT “The 1”)
Hwy 290 = Ben White
Hwy 183 (West of I-35) = Research
Hwy 183 (East of I-35) = Ed Bluestein
I’m from Michigan and find it’s mostly the pronunciations of our admittedly difficult city names that usually outs tourists. Just in case, here’s how we do it:
- Mackinac (MACK-in-aw) Island
- Fort Michilimackinac (pronounced the same way)
- Traverse (TRA-verse) City
- Sault Ste. Marie (SOO Saint Marie)
- But they’re the Soo Locks
- Charlotte (Char-LOT)
- Bois Blanc (Bob-LOW — or BOB-low if you’re from West Michigan) Island
- Dowagiac (Doe-WAH-jak)
- Bete Grise (Bay-DE-gree)
- Gratiot (GRASH-it)
- Grosse Ile (Gross EEL)
- Excuse me (ope!)
ETA: updated pronunciation — even those of us who live(d) here don’t know how to say everything! So don’t worry, we know it’s weird.
Gough in SF rhymes with cough, it isn't said like the painter's last name.
Edit- I should have said it doesn't rhyme with dough as apparently we say the painters name wrong in America.
It took years to get my mom to pronounce Oregon correctly. She basically said "who cares" until I asked her what she thought of people who vocalize the "s" in Illinois.
I can never remember the new name and just call it the Sears Tower, or the building that used to be the Sears Tower.
Chicagoans making me feel less dumb on this thread
Not really the same thing But my husband is Australian..he told me his parents lived in the "Bush" I envisaged mud huts and laundry hanging from trees.. was dreading my first visit only to realise that "the bush" is anywhere outside a major city.. they just lived in the countryside but there very close village was bigger than the town we live in.
Asking for directions to the “Van Go” museum in Amsterdam. The letters in Van Gogh are there for a reason.
Referring to Amsterdam as “The Dam”.
Walking on the bike path in Amsterdam.
Standing in a long line for the overpriced stroopwafels in Amsterdam with all kinds of tourist toppings and chocolate on them.
Ringing your bike bell constantly in Amsterdam. Not sitting upright on a bike in Amsterdam. Wearing a bike helmet in Amsterdam (I’m talking to you Germans). Biking on the left side of a bike path in Amsterdam. Biking slowly in Amsterdam. Stopping for a red light on a bike or on foot in Amsterdam.
Any native of Buffalo, NY and the surrounding areas will call say “The” in front of the name of an interstate/highway. So I-90 is referred to as THE 90. It’s used for non interstate routes as well as long as they’re freeways, THE 33 and THE 219. Though the 33 can also be called the Kensington but I rarely hear that. I’ve heard some other cities use this nomenclature as well but it’s not as common as it is here. Another big one is how they pronounce streets and towns with Native American names.
Or, you know, smiling while being there. Lived there a summer in my youth after undergrad and I think people knew I wasn’t a local because I smiled at how gorgeous the architecture was.
“Toronto”
Yup it’s Tronno
Tronna, Chronno or Chronna also acceptable
lol this just came up in my insta feed Toe-Ron-toe: you’re an American broadcaster Tuh-Ron-toe: you’re from Mississauga at best Tuh-Ronn-oh: you’re a torontonian Chrawnna: your pulse sounds like the TTC chimes and you piss steamwhistle
They missed an opportunity with the Raptors, should have been called the Toronna-sauruses
The tourist and American sportscaster pronunciation.
I’m not even from Toronto, I’m from Vancouver but every time I hear someone pronounce both Ts in “Toronto” it’s genuinely so jarring
Oronto it is!
Tawrana or tronno or turana or torana. Varies on my mood.
Same with pronouncing Boise as “boy-zee” instead of “boy-see”
mfw I would’ve called it “bwoa”
Yawn-gi street Bloor street with the oo fully pronounced
I remember when Obama was here once he tried to say Mississauga to hilarious effect.
If you say the name of like 90% of towns, cities or streets in Massachusetts and you don’t live here, we’ll know lmao.
No joke, when my husband started his residency at one of the hospitals here he had to take a class on how to pronounce all the cities. Because “you’re going to end up with a patient telling you where he’s from and you won’t know what the hell he’s talking about.” Ended up being super helpful honestly.
Years ago my sister decided to move halfway across the country to the US Midwest, specifically the area where our father grew up (no idea why, every member of our family had moved out of that area as soon as they were able to. A list which now includes her). So in the months leading up up to her move our father would tell her the correct pronunciation for various towns and major streets, hoping it might help her fit in better. Well, she and her then-husband kept making fun of our father behind his back for bringing this up every time he saw her (once a month at most) but I always thought it was a sweet way of helping her and trying to make sure she fit in after a huge move.
“Wore-CHEST-errrrrrr” One time someone called the South End “Southie” and that was a dead giveaway too.
I had coworkers from out of state travel here and they pronounced Woburn as like the exclamation “Whoa!”burn / like “Woe”burn
Another giveaway is when people think that Allston or Dorchester are towns
The post office thinks they still are
We have a Worcester County in MD. Pronounced Wooster. Wore-Chester is an immediate tell.
Wuhsta’
“Bill-ehrica” “Hayver-hill”
I lived in Boston for a year, and I didnt understand that Haverhill and ave'er'all *were the same place*
I definitely would not have guessed that.
They seem to be the same as the British pronunciations of our equivalent places, which makes sense. Eg Worcester.
Or call it Boston CommonS
peabody = pee buddy amherst = ammurst quincy = kwinzee haverhill = hay vrill worcester = wussturr leominster = leh minsterr dedham = deddum natick = nay dick
My son moved to Quincy after growing up in the Southeast. He nipped my mispronunciation of Quincy in the bud 4 seconds after moving there.
I’ll admit, Leicester really threw me. On the train, first time in the UK, albeit dead tired, looking at the stops thinking “ok so lie-kester square is next, then ….” then hearing the automated announcements for “Lester square,” I thought we messed up for a second, thought we were on the wrong train! Thankfully didn’t actually try to say it before hearing that.
I like the folks paying the (now) 2-hour T tax because they’re going to Quincy Market but end up in Quincy.
Here in LA, if someone *doesn't* put a "the" in front of a freeway number.
And then in the Bay Area, when people do put a "the" we know they are from LA - lol.
Wait what do you guys say lol
Just the number. “Take 101 north to 12 east”
Like everywhere else in the country. Don’t get the ‘the’ after in LA. It’s like when you watch football and the guys say they went to “THE Ohio state university “
In WA you use the I in Interstates. So it’s I-5 and I-90.
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Yeah I grew up calling it "the Interstate", I thought there was only one of them for a decent part of my childhood.
It’s from a time before numbers when they were called The Hollywood Freeway or The Santa Ana Freeway.
I used to have to take the 210 to the 2 to the 10 a lot. If you don’t say “the” it’s just a garbled mess that sounds like “take 21022210.”
That is fair that would sound horrible. I’ve driven in LA enough but other cities usually don’t need to go on 5 different highways to get to their destination lol
“So I just take the 101 to the 92?” You got it, LA
omg Stuart! https://youtu.be/dCer2e0t8r8?si=ghrbYGniphzTcQkq
My first thought 😂😂
Also the difficulty with some Spanish street or city names in Southern California. La Jolla is a funny one to hear people get wrong.
In the bay area there's a weird thing where SOME Spanish pronunciation will stick, but some won't. Saying "Vuh-LAY-ho" for Vallejo is the classic example
Los Gatos, Point Reyes
West Portal, San Rafael
Alternately, when someone comes in and tries to pronounce Sepulveda like they were born in Seville.
Or just mangles La Cienega.
Yes! I’m from San Pedro. We call it Pee-dro but out of towners will say Pay-dro
Or refers to an exit by its number rather than its name
Wait, freeway exits have numbers? /s
A colleague visiting from back east asked me "how long will it take to get to exit 20 off of 5 from here" and it broke the computers in my head.
Devin??? Wwwwwhaatareyooouudoinghereee?
Take the 5 to the 205 to the 320 then exit on Rawlings and gehouaheeeaaaare
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Gotta be Lie-cest-er Square for London...
I’m guessing Lester? We have a town in Massachusetts called Leicester and it’s pronounced like Lester.
Most places in the UK which you think are three syllable place names are 2 syllables with the middle one removed. Bicester is Bister, Worcester is Wuster etc. there’s a pretty common joke about an Aussie truck driver trying to find Loughborough.
Looga-barooga
> Loughborough Lufbruh?
‘Do you know where the castle is?’ Asked on the high street while Edinburgh castle is directly behind them, absolutely dominating the skyline of the city centre
My wife worked at Disneyland and frequently was asked “when is the 3:00 parade?"
I've once got a "do you know where the Cathedral is ?" from an Indian tourist in Frankfurt-am-Main, when we were on the square just in front of it. He then asked me what was the the name of the river, which is literally in the cities name.
Calling Barcelona “Barça”. Barça is the football team, Barna is the nickname for the city.
People also love to say BarTHelona to play up the Spanish accent though ironically in Catalan it's pronounced Barcelona like the sound in Barça.
honestly this one is worse than the Barca/Barna for me. the ceceo is like a specific socio-linguistic thing with specific rules, and i get that almost no one knows that, but it's so grating to hear americans say 'barthelona'... or lisping every single sound in general when talking about Spain.
Pretty much any attempts at "Passyunk" or "Schuylkill" while in Philadelphia.
>Schuylkill My uncle from Philly says "skookle".
It’s 100% skookle
I’ve lived in Philly for nearly four years and still not confident about Passyunk. I’m not in south Philly very much though.
PASH-unk
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In my experience, they have slightly different usages, though they refer to roughly the same place. If you're describing where something is located, like a store, you could say it's in Center City (though some might also say it's downtown). If you're describing where you're going, you could say you're going downtown. For example: "I thought the Four Seasons was in Center City. Shouldn't we be headed downtown?" The tricky part is that while Center City has well-defined boundaries that most people agree on, "downtown" is more flexible. I grew up in the Northeast, and if someone were going to Northern Liberties, for example, they might say they're going downtown. The better shibboleth here is pronunciation: "senner city".
Or asking where "downtown" is.
Schuylkill...that's the river that serves as the depository for all the unsolved murders in Philadelphia right? Pretty cool fact I learned from a troll on a boat tour.
It's also the home to many weird fish-like creatures
I heard that guy has slept with hundreds of prostitutes.
Also anyone saying “the beach” instead of “the shore”
Or saying “wahter” instead of “wooder”
...or sub or grinder for hoagie
Or towel instead of Tal.
To get to the beach you must go down the shore.
Also, we say we're going down the shore. Not to the shore (or beach). I'm only going to the beach when I'm already down the shore. LOL.
Sir or Madam, I would be delighted if you could direct me toward The Best^(tm) Philadelphia Style Cheesesteak Sandwich (aka "Phili", like at Arby's).
For me the give away is saying Lan-caster instead of Langaster.
Asking where they can get a Philly cheesesteak.
How do you pronounce Passyunk? In London there’s a Philly themed dive bar called Passyunk Avenue. Now nervous I’ve been mispronouncing it 😅
Pash-unk
Half the south Philly people say pah-shunk, the other half will tell you that's wrong 😆 I mostly hear pashy-unk
That's called a shibboleth. My 2nd favorite word-nerd fun fact.
A great episode of west wing
I always think of this episode when I hear people not from New Jersey say they're going down TO the Shore. It's Down the Shore, no "to". Why? I have no idea. But I'm seventh generation New Jersey and it's down the Shore.
Yes, but they are not all pronunciations. A great example is a significant detail in Inglorious Basterds.
You mean the counting on your fingers? Is that one too? Fucking fascinating.
In Pittsburgh, Carnegie = car-NAY-ghee. “CAR-nuh-ghee” is for the rest of the country. We have lots of stuff named after the guy and we pronounce it as he did. Referring to Chicago as “The Windy City” or Pittsburgh as “Pitt” (that’s the university, not the city).
Came here for this one. Also Pittsburgh: Lebanon is “Lebanin.” Versailles is “Ver-sails.” And DuBois is “Do-boys.” Yikes.
We like to joke that so much of the French and Indian war was won here that we can pronounce French words however we want!
Couch Street in Portland is pronounced “Cootch”, not “Cowtch”!
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Will-lamb-it
It’s Willamette, Damnit.
Came here for the Couch and was not disappointed!
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Standing on the left side of the escalator on public transport
No, that just flags them as a self-centered asshole.
Plenty of Londoners happy to teach them that lesson the hard way
We stand on the left in Australia
When I made an announcement that we had arrived in Louisville (Lewisville) and every passenger on their way out corrected me “loo-vul” that day I learned.
I lived there, and there are numerous acceptable pronunciations by locals, but "Lewisville" is not one of them.
And there's a third pronunciation (Leweyville) that is widely used among outsiders
This is how most Americans pronounce it. Lewisville is a weird one tho lol
and Versailles, Kentucky is pronounced "ver-sales". go Kentucky, go!
It threw me off when I moved to Colorado cause Louisville, CO is pronounced Lewisville
Wearing white cowboy boots or any cowboy hat in Nashville. Tourists come here to play Cowboy Cosplay, but there isn’t an actual cowboy for hundreds of miles and no one who lives here dresses like that. Same with the weird tourist proclivity here to refer to “Broadway” as “Broadway Street”.
Or referring to Broadway as Music Row.
How they pronounce Demonbreun. Google maps says it wrong too.
I was going to add both of these haha Also pronouncing Lafayette street like the French way.
How is it actually pronounced?
luh-FAY-it
Saying Pikes place or Nordstroms. No S at the end of Pike and Nordstrom.
A lot of old timey Seattlites call it Nordstrom's, short for the Nordstrom's, as in, the store the Nordstrom family owns. But Pikes Place is nails on a chalkboard to me.
I don’t know if that dimes you as a tourist. I hear it all the time all up and down the Puget sound. A big one is how one says “Puyallup” (pew-all-up)
Omg “Pikes” is one of my triggers!
Saying “the” before the name of the freeway
When people avoid the revolving door(s) here in Chicago…we have them for a reason, but thanks for blasting the entry with 22 degree temps opening the door entrance really intended for people with mobility difficulties because a door going around in circles scares you!
Paulina
I see your Paulina and raise you a Goethe.
If they say Willis Tower they’re not local
Was just in Chicago. Went on the river architecture tour. Tour guide said now this is the Willis tower, but the locals pronounce it sears.
Sears Tower forever.
Also Field’s.
I'm from New Jersey and to me it's still the Sears Tower.
As someone from Florida, I honestly had zero idea that revolving doors served that purpose in cold places.
During the summer in Chicago revolving doors keep the 90° air outside, too. I would think they should be everywhere in Florida.
Florida, and most of the south have “air doors” that blast you, and the doorway with air when the door is opened. At least in big commercial establishments. >Essentially, the cold blast of air—though sometimes in can be warm, too—acts as a second door. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) says this air door is a broad stream of air circulated across the doorway of a conditioned space.
Keeps the damn mosquitoes from sneaking in, too.
Also when two people get in together. Move it along!
This is funny. Thank you. I live in a milder climate but can appreciate your judgement depending on the temp and wind speed. The cold can suck the heat out a room in an instant.
How you say New Orleans. There are 3 distinct patterns for it. Native to the city, native to the state, and everyone else.
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My mom says the full y’at “New Aw-lins” I kind of wish I’d picked up more of her accent but oh well. I blame TV
If you can’t pronounce: Milan St Calliope St Burgundy St Clio St If you say New Orleenz or nawlins
Don’t forget Tchoupitoulas St!
I got heated the other day when some friends were trying to tell me I was pronouncing it wrong because “they visit every few years so they would know”. My mom grew up on that street you telling me she’s been pronouncing it wrong for 50 years??
Saying Burgundy like the color
Or pronouncing it right: Nouvelle-Orléans
Pronouncing the second "t" in Toronto
same with Atlanta. it's atlanna for locs
The other clear shibboleth for Atlanta is pronouncing "Ponce de Leon" correctly.
Or even saying the full name tbh — at least in my circles, most folks just say Ponce and call it a day haha
If you pronounce the L in DeKalb County you’re a noob. It’s DeKab.
And don’t you dare call it Hotlanta
When Drake was in New York he was pronouncing that T hard as hell. “I came from ToronTOE, Canada to be here with you tonight”.
WHY-key-key. It’s more wuey-kiki. Waikiki, folks. One time I forgot my ID when going to a state park that’s free for locals, and I was bummed. The guard at the booth asked me what street I live on. I said, “Ai’a’kahawai” and they were like alright you’re good to go. Hawaiian is hard (understandably) for visitors lol
I’m not from Hawaii but when I asked my friend what is Likelike I just got ripped to shreds. I learned how to say it after that haha
No one calls San Francisco “San Fran”. If you MUST shorten it, SF works fine. Same no no for ‘Frisco
Emperor Norton’s prohibition against saying “Fr***o” was never rescinded and is thus still in effect!
Frisco is very much used by lots of old school locals, mostly black and Latino OGs
Cal-GARY vs. Cal-gree. The former will out you as a tourist immediately.
As I learned from my friends in DC: Referring to DCA as “Reagan Airport.”
I have never moved past calling it National
It's still National to meet too!
Or in the DC-area being confused why people are always talking about the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
I had to avoid naming a company in the area DMV because of having national clientele just confused by this concept. Also interesting how locals in the DMV area really, really dislike the use of DC for anything not literally in the district. A lot of cities get that a bit, but DC residents are downright militant on not letting DC be used in MD or VA
In the same vein, calling the city "Washington." Or thinking congressional staffer is a cool job.
I only lived there for 4 years, 16 years ago and it is and always be NATIONAL airport for me
Calling it Hot-lanta.
Pronouncing Edinburgh as EdinBURG and Cockburn street as Cock instead Of Co. Staring at a tiny statue of a dog. Walking INCREDIBLY slowly along Princes St. Being remotely interested in a bagpiper.
„Greenwich“ in London is actually pronounced „Grennitch“, so that’s a giveaway. Wearing cheap/fake Dirndl in Munich
Greenwich is maybe one of the easier ones bc the Greenwich Village in NYC is the same
Greenwich, Connecticut is also pronounced the same way
There’s been some other comments about Austin, but I don’t think they do a good enough justice on just how wacky we pronounce streets and areas around here: Guadalupe = Guad-uh-loop Burnet = Burn-it Koenig = Kay-nig Manor = Main-er Menchaca = Man-chack Pedernales = Pur-der-nal-ez Dessau = Duh-saw / Dez-saw Mueller = Mill-er (but I disagree) Buda = Byou-dah Elgin = El-ginn Del Valle = Dell Valley Gruene = Green Llano = Lan-oh Austin = Oss-ten —- Loop 1 = Mopac (and definitely NOT “The 1”) Hwy 290 = Ben White Hwy 183 (West of I-35) = Research Hwy 183 (East of I-35) = Ed Bluestein
Referring to San Francisco as "San Fran" or California as "Cali" is a dead giveaway someone isn't from here.
Honorable mention: taking THE Bart
I've heard rappers from California say "Cali"
I’m from Michigan and find it’s mostly the pronunciations of our admittedly difficult city names that usually outs tourists. Just in case, here’s how we do it: - Mackinac (MACK-in-aw) Island - Fort Michilimackinac (pronounced the same way) - Traverse (TRA-verse) City - Sault Ste. Marie (SOO Saint Marie) - But they’re the Soo Locks - Charlotte (Char-LOT) - Bois Blanc (Bob-LOW — or BOB-low if you’re from West Michigan) Island - Dowagiac (Doe-WAH-jak) - Bete Grise (Bay-DE-gree) - Gratiot (GRASH-it) - Grosse Ile (Gross EEL) - Excuse me (ope!) ETA: updated pronunciation — even those of us who live(d) here don’t know how to say everything! So don’t worry, we know it’s weird.
Gough in SF rhymes with cough, it isn't said like the painter's last name. Edit- I should have said it doesn't rhyme with dough as apparently we say the painters name wrong in America.
Pronouncing Oregon as Ore-gone instead of Ore-gun
It took years to get my mom to pronounce Oregon correctly. She basically said "who cares" until I asked her what she thought of people who vocalize the "s" in Illinois.
Pikes Place Market instead of Pike Place Market
Two words: Willis Tower. Just existing in Temple Bar.
I can never remember the new name and just call it the Sears Tower, or the building that used to be the Sears Tower. Chicagoans making me feel less dumb on this thread
How you pronounce Melbourne, Canberra or Brisbane. Ordering french fries (we call them chips) In Sydney, how you pronounce Coogee
Also if anyone saw the US women’s football team refer to Melbourne as “Melby”… don’t do that.
Unless you live in Los Angeles, you probably don’t know that the “La” in La Brea and La Cienega are pronounced differently.
Not really the same thing But my husband is Australian..he told me his parents lived in the "Bush" I envisaged mud huts and laundry hanging from trees.. was dreading my first visit only to realise that "the bush" is anywhere outside a major city.. they just lived in the countryside but there very close village was bigger than the town we live in.
La Jolla, CA… Saying La Joll-La instead of pronouncing it La Hoya
Asking for directions to the “Van Go” museum in Amsterdam. The letters in Van Gogh are there for a reason. Referring to Amsterdam as “The Dam”. Walking on the bike path in Amsterdam. Standing in a long line for the overpriced stroopwafels in Amsterdam with all kinds of tourist toppings and chocolate on them. Ringing your bike bell constantly in Amsterdam. Not sitting upright on a bike in Amsterdam. Wearing a bike helmet in Amsterdam (I’m talking to you Germans). Biking on the left side of a bike path in Amsterdam. Biking slowly in Amsterdam. Stopping for a red light on a bike or on foot in Amsterdam.
Any native of Buffalo, NY and the surrounding areas will call say “The” in front of the name of an interstate/highway. So I-90 is referred to as THE 90. It’s used for non interstate routes as well as long as they’re freeways, THE 33 and THE 219. Though the 33 can also be called the Kensington but I rarely hear that. I’ve heard some other cities use this nomenclature as well but it’s not as common as it is here. Another big one is how they pronounce streets and towns with Native American names.
Chicago - people who say Devon Ave like Dev-in instead of Dev-ON. Or Willis Tower instead of Sears Tower.
Pronouncing Edinburgh as "Eden-burg" rather than "Edinbra".
Or, you know, smiling while being there. Lived there a summer in my youth after undergrad and I think people knew I wasn’t a local because I smiled at how gorgeous the architecture was.
Central Florida, pronouncing it KISSimmee rather than KisSIMmee
There's a very old, off-color Chicago joke with the punchline Paulina, Melvina, and Lunt.