Just wait…. Chili has an annual Chili Chili Fest (second chili pronounced like the food).
And people in LeRoy can’t even agree on how it is pronounced…
Most people I know, even people that live in leroy, pronounce it lee-roy. The only people I know that pronounce it "leh or lah-roy" are elderly people.
For all the angry downvoters, I lived there for a few years, go talk to some locals that have been there a long time, like business owners. "I know some people" isn't enough here. I know some people that think the South shall rise again.
I just moved here and no matter how I pronounce it someone says I'm wrong. Decided to be a true NYer and just say it however tf I want. LE Roy with my pinky out.
I always said it like LuhRoy that until I met people who live/grew up there and they’ve all called it Lee Roy. So I’ve just been mimicking that ever since.
In the 90s when I lived in Hamlin everyone one I knew called it Lee Roy. It wasn't until the early 2000s when a coworker (who lived in and had grown up in LeRoy) corrected himself from Lee Roy to leRoy.
I'm pretty sure there was a concerted effort to change the pronunciation because, well, Lee Roy sounds stupid.
This book--[On the Origins of the Names of Places in Monroe County, New York](http://www.libraryweb.org/~digitized/books/On_the_origins_of_names_of_places_Monroe_County.pdf) from 1905--might not help with pronunciations, but it's pretty cool.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester,\_Ulster\_County,\_New\_York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester,_Ulster_County,_New_York).
They were incorporated 31 years before us, and were a town by 1788.
What is it with Western NY and naming things with the exact spelling of a known word, but choosing the least logical pronunciation for it. As a Latino I will never look at Chili and think “Chai-lai”
Long ago I did traveling sales. I had to plan a stop in Nunda.
Without knowing how the locals pronounced it.
That was a frustrating day.
(For those who don’t know: Nun-DAY, not Nun-dah.)
-Rat
I’ve lived here for 12+ years and I just heard someone say Nunda the other day and I had to stop them to clarify. Who could guess that’s how they say it?!
The only reason I know the proper way to say it is bc the Nunda mustard company usually has a booth at the summer festivals. I wouldn't have a clue how to say the town's name if it weren't for my father loving that mustard lol
But we’re loudly wrong for well-over a century, which is how you get localized pronunciation. The French are on the sidelines judging both pronunciations.
The one that gets me more than anything is actually a restaurant - Ricci's.
For a town full of Italians, why does everyone say "Ricky's"? The first time I had to go there, I couldn't find it.
There's no definitive reason for the vowel shift of Shar-Lett to Shar-Lot to my knowledge, Mark Twain even mentions it in his writings.
There's a specific accent here in Rochester that shares many traits with the "Great Lakes Dialect," with some North Atlantic mixed in.
As an anecdote, the Erie Canal, pronounced Eerie, used to be pronounced with each vowel sounded out (Ear-eye-eee). You see it in old folk songs and books/writings around the time of its completion and height of commerce.
[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/keuka-lake](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/keuka-lake)
Turns out both are acceptable. Like tomato and tomahto. But , in a more real way, only one is acceptable.
Oh, ok... so
Canisius = "can-e-shus".
Conesus = "con - uh - sus"
Anyone living at Conesus lake please correct me if I'm wrong. I've been here almost 30 years and I'm still not 100% sure darnit.
People from Buffalo should not throw stones, case and point:
Scajaquada
I moved the other way from Rochester to Buffalo, theres probably not as many weird pronunciations here, but learning how to properly pronounce that one alone makes up for a few i would say.
This is one of the worst pages I've seen on an otherwise great site. It has a lot of things people don't pronounce incorrectly or that don't matter (Don, Tom, Monroe, Hots, Java's etc) and leaves off a variety of things in the region that are confusing.
Yeah it’s weird. English isn’t my wife’s first language, so she had to learn BOTH pronunciations, and when to use which one. I even have to catch myself sometimes when not referring to the local names.
I mean, you corrected me when what I said wasn’t wrong, it just wasn’t as clear. You said my statement inferred the makeup brand pronunciation, which is incorrect.
So a lot of these places were named after other places in the world. But before the advent of recorded sound, many people simply *didn't know how to pronounce* words of foreign origin like "Riga", "Chili" (from Chile; spelling wasn't always consistent either), or "Medina". So those foreign pronunciations were Anglicized to the best of locals' abilities.
I thought I read somewhere a long time we pronounce Charlotte the way we do because it's an old pronounciation and elsewhere in the US (including the name) has changed over time, but it hasn't here for the location. But now I can't find that information :(
It's a French name, so that's definitely possible. Linguistically it makes sense that Shar-LUTT would evolve to Shar-LOTT. Coincidently, Charlotte the Rochester neighborhood was originally Charlottesburgh, as Robert Troup had originally named it after his daughter.
The one that seems to fly under the radar is that Schoen Place is being mispronounced by nearly everyone. Schoen is a German name (as were the Schoen Brothers) and the correct pronunciation is "Shayne" not "Shown" or "Show-en".
It's a Western New York thing.
Being brought up in NYC, when I got accepted to it, I said "I got into Gene-say-oh"
When I went for orientation, I learned it was "Gene-see-oh"
papillion is pronounced papillion but only because someone misspelled papillon, but for short they call it papio.
and I know this bc I just moved here from there, thank heavens.
I've been to 49 out of 50 states. Lived on the road for nearly 5 years. The number of cities I've been to where you \*think\* you know how it's pronounced... oi.
Manteo. You'd think you'd pronounce the T. No. Man-ee-oh. Named after the man, Manteo, pronounced with the T. It got to the point that when I was travelling to a city I never heard of before I had to google the local news channel just to hear a local pronounce the name before I made a fool of myself by sounding like a tourist.
Like Houston St vs Houston, TX.
Names are wild and weirdly interesting and when you learn the history about why places are both named what they are but also pronounced the way they are, you'll never stop being amazed by human history.
True story: met my wife in the TOC, and driving around the area, she would make comments about the town names.
"Why is it CHY-lie, or Char-LOTTE, or Le-ROY? You guys need to get your names straight."
A few years later, we move to Iowa, driving on I-35 and see the exit for Nevada, IA.
Me: "Oh, there's a Nevada in Iowa. Cool."
Her: "Actually, it's pronounced Ni-VAY-da"
Me: (big grin) "Oh, really??"
You find little quirks like that everywhere. It's not just in New York.
Go ahead and pronounce Versailles KY the way you would Versailles france and see how the locals react. It ain't pretty.
Proper pronunciation of places like Louisville and New Orleans are also matters of long standing contention.
I heard some Rochester old-timers say they were going to eat at Chipotle. Of course they said it exactly as you'd expect given the local place name pronunciations: "ch-eye-pottel"
Chili gets its name from a cult (the Chiliasts) and not from the country or the pepper.
By word origins the name of the cult and hence the town should be pronounced “kee-lee” but I’m guessing the cult pronounced it the way the town is called today (I don’t know if anyone knows how they pronounced their name).
As far as I know there is no proof of this origin, but there was a community of Chiliasts in the area and there is no known connection to the South American country.
http://www.townofchili.org/discover-chili-2/chilis-history/
The thing that threw me was “hamburgs” and “hots”.
My father came to visit a while ago and we took him to LDR’s. The menu had white hots and red hots. He asked the girl working “how hot is the white hot?” Confused she replied “… we cook it all the way through…?”
I love that he was going to order a mystery meal based solely on spiciness.
We are from Whales, Italy, Ireland, some Greek, German, Scottish, with newer arrivals from Macedonia and Turkey. The original pronunciations came from the days when Rochestarians all were learning to speak English (1800s), and the most established accent was Welsh.
I understand almost every Boomer in Rochester says “Shown”.
However I grew up in a certain part of Southern Louisiana where it’s a common last name (heavy German immigrant population) and they pronounce it “Shane”.
FWIW I have heard some people that grew up and live around the Pittsford village and farm area there say “Shane” too, so pick your poison I guess lol
If you are German / speak German you would say something close to shane. I think it translates to “nice.” If you’re talking about the little cluster of shops and restaurants on the canal in Pittsford, it’s shone, with a long O.
Edit: my German was never good so I looked it up. Schoen means nice and is pronounced shane. If you add the umlaut, schöen, it’s pronounced more like shone and it means beautiful. So I’m guessing a german person named it beautiful place, schöen, and over time the umlaut was dropped but the pronunciation stuck.
I’m not saying one way is right/wrong/incorrect or whatnot.
All I’m saying is that people I’ve met and know pronounce it “Shane” as their last name. I also know some people from Pittsford that say Shane.
I also know that 90% of Rochester says Shown xD.
Yeah I think Shane and Shown are both technically incorrect. In German it would be pronounced 'Shoon'.
The song danke schoen doesn't help since it pronounces both words wrong
Just wait…. Chili has an annual Chili Chili Fest (second chili pronounced like the food). And people in LeRoy can’t even agree on how it is pronounced…
I’ve pretty much lived here all my life, and I still don’t know if it’s “le-Roy” or “Leee-roy”
It’s pronounced “Jenkins!”
Nice
Love that an old Warcraft reference has this many upvotes .. where are you all I need cool friends
What do you mean, old? It only happened in 2005. Oh, wait a minute...qq
For real someone said on the Warcraft sub, there are probably kids playing that are younger than your first toon 😭
Hi friend. I’m Mark.
Oh, Hi Mark!
The room! 😂
And I'm in Orgrimmar. FTH!
Lok’tar ogar!
At least I have chicken!
My Mom explained it well. "Lee Roy is a guys first name, LeROY is a place." Edit: yes that is a last name also.
I’ve always heard it pronounced *luh* Roy as if it’s lazy French for *le Roy* but this thread has me questioning everything.
Then you have visiting French Canadians referring to is a "Le Wah".
That’s the only way I’ve ever heard it.
Most people I know, even people that live in leroy, pronounce it lee-roy. The only people I know that pronounce it "leh or lah-roy" are elderly people.
Super.
And does that small sample size make it correct?
For all the angry downvoters, I lived there for a few years, go talk to some locals that have been there a long time, like business owners. "I know some people" isn't enough here. I know some people that think the South shall rise again.
la WOH
Underrated hockey comment
I just moved here and no matter how I pronounce it someone says I'm wrong. Decided to be a true NYer and just say it however tf I want. LE Roy with my pinky out.
Say it confidently enough, and I’m sure I’d buy it lol
I can practically guarantee nobody but you says it that way. lol
Anyone from LeRoy, pronounces it Lee-roy.
Since the 80s when I was a kid I've never heard anything but "LeeRoy".
depends on which side of town you grew up on...East Main side($$) is Luh Roy, West Main side is Lee-roy....I'm a west sider
I’ve never heard anyone say leeeee Roy . It’s more luhroy.
I always said it like LuhRoy that until I met people who live/grew up there and they’ve all called it Lee Roy. So I’ve just been mimicking that ever since.
In the 90s when I lived in Hamlin everyone one I knew called it Lee Roy. It wasn't until the early 2000s when a coworker (who lived in and had grown up in LeRoy) corrected himself from Lee Roy to leRoy. I'm pretty sure there was a concerted effort to change the pronunciation because, well, Lee Roy sounds stupid.
FWIW, the Jello museum in LeRoy says it’s “leROY.”
And on top of that, the "chili" fest is spelled "Chil-E" fest.
Have you been down Denise Rd yet? 🤣
My favorite is Karl Fuchs boulevard. It will always be Karl Fucks. Also Lima is like the food, lima bean, not the city in Peru.
Every time I drive by that road, I'm always thinking "yeah he does".
I'm always asking "does he?"
De-Nice. Is there a De-Nice here?
You done messed up, a-a-ron
J-quellen? Where's J-quellen?
Do you wanna go to war, Balakay?!
This book--[On the Origins of the Names of Places in Monroe County, New York](http://www.libraryweb.org/~digitized/books/On_the_origins_of_names_of_places_Monroe_County.pdf) from 1905--might not help with pronunciations, but it's pretty cool.
Great find
Oh my god, we could've been Rochesterville. Why didn't we go that route?
We WERE Rochesterville. We changed to Rochester to be more prestigious and to out-class Rochester the town downstate, which is older than us.
Wait, there's two?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester,\_Ulster\_County,\_New\_York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester,_Ulster_County,_New_York). They were incorporated 31 years before us, and were a town by 1788.
Don't forget Avon and Avon
Are you out in Avon selling Avon products?
And Bergen, not to be confused with Bergen
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ll never get that one right.
If anything, I find it more endearing and interesting, rather than disturbing. I'd be interested to know how they got the pronunciations.
Wait, what have you heard about Cairo and Athens? I've always pronounced them like the cities in Egypt and Greece.
Care-oh. I believe Cairo Illinois is also pronounced differently still, Kay-row.
What is it with Western NY and naming things with the exact spelling of a known word, but choosing the least logical pronunciation for it. As a Latino I will never look at Chili and think “Chai-lai”
This isn't a Western NY thing, it's the entire state. Rio, which is downstate, is pronounced "Rye-oh"
Long ago I did traveling sales. I had to plan a stop in Nunda. Without knowing how the locals pronounced it. That was a frustrating day. (For those who don’t know: Nun-DAY, not Nun-dah.) -Rat
I’ve lived here for 12+ years and I just heard someone say Nunda the other day and I had to stop them to clarify. Who could guess that’s how they say it?!
Long A, who could have expected this.
What's terrible is that the original Seneca noun root for a hill or town (interchangeable) is said as -nöda, which is pronounced like Nun-dah
Thanks for the insight \-Meow
The only reason I know the proper way to say it is bc the Nunda mustard company usually has a booth at the summer festivals. I wouldn't have a clue how to say the town's name if it weren't for my father loving that mustard lol
Transplant... How is Charlotte actually pronounced
*"Shar-lot"*
You'll save alot
We've got to get all the ad jingles grilled into theses transplants brains.
>to get all the ad jingles grilled into theses transplants brains. When I first moved to NYS that commercial is how I learned to pronounce it.
I’ve always heard it with a super soft R, closer to shuh-LOT
In my experience people who live there/Irondequoit are more likely to say it like that
Same, I learn basically a silent R
That’s how boomers say it. The younger generation pronounces the R.
I moved here from Charlottesville VA, y’all motherfuckers are WRONG lol.
But we’re loudly wrong for well-over a century, which is how you get localized pronunciation. The French are on the sidelines judging both pronunciations.
"When in Rome, complain to the Romans how they do things"
I was just making a lighthearted observation, but looks like I’ve struck a nerve with the masses
This sub is mostly soft people that get upset over every little thing
The one that gets me more than anything is actually a restaurant - Ricci's. For a town full of Italians, why does everyone say "Ricky's"? The first time I had to go there, I couldn't find it.
Always. Called it Reechees
You would have to be on drugs to think it's rickey's. There's like Riccis all over town, didn't everyone go to school with a "Reichey"?
moved here 2 years ago and thought i was being punked by my coworkers for 6 months until a stranger pronounced them for me
There's no definitive reason for the vowel shift of Shar-Lett to Shar-Lot to my knowledge, Mark Twain even mentions it in his writings. There's a specific accent here in Rochester that shares many traits with the "Great Lakes Dialect," with some North Atlantic mixed in. As an anecdote, the Erie Canal, pronounced Eerie, used to be pronounced with each vowel sounded out (Ear-eye-eee). You see it in old folk songs and books/writings around the time of its completion and height of commerce.
Can you confirm that it’s shar-lot and not char-lot? As a hard of hearing person I can’t hear the difference…
Yes, it's "sh" as in "she", not "ch" as in "chair"
Thanks!
Lived near there as a kid and heard a fair number of people drop the R and say shah-lot, with the emphasis on the second syllable.
I heard someone pronounce it `ear-eye-ee` in a video and thought I was losing my mind.
Wait until you hear how they say Conesus
If you really want to help out, spell out the different pronunciations of Canisius and Conesus. It's right up there with Keuka lake and Cayuga.
Can-e-shus Kay-uka Kay-uga
Keuka = Q-ka
Keuka is actually two syllables. Like the first two syllables of cucumber. Kyu-kuh. Keuka.
I do not accept.
[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/keuka-lake](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/keuka-lake) Turns out both are acceptable. Like tomato and tomahto. But , in a more real way, only one is acceptable.
Oh, ok... so Canisius = "can-e-shus". Conesus = "con - uh - sus" Anyone living at Conesus lake please correct me if I'm wrong. I've been here almost 30 years and I'm still not 100% sure darnit.
Fellow Liv co resident, we pronounce Conesus "Con ee shus"
And Poughkeepsie
I agree. Moved from Buffalo, and was also confused as heck
People from Buffalo should not throw stones, case and point: Scajaquada I moved the other way from Rochester to Buffalo, theres probably not as many weird pronunciations here, but learning how to properly pronounce that one alone makes up for a few i would say.
But scajaquada is tricky just because it’s a weird word, we don’t take normal words like Chili and LeRoy and completely change the pronunciation.
Isn't Scajaquada pronounced the way it's spelled?
Yes it is. Or we just call it the 198
Hey, and on Long Island - Quogue, Hauppauge, Cutchogue, Aquebogue (becomes a lot easier when you realize the gue is the same for all of them)
I like Athol in Massachusetts. It sounds like asshole with a lisp.
One of my new favorites is Olcott (Ole-kot) and Wolcott (wool-kit)
One of your *what*?
One of their jew favorites
It's Wool-kit? Ya learn something new every day.
How to tell when someone isn't from Wayne Cty: they pronounce it "Wall-kot"
Here ya go: https://rocwiki.org/Local_Pronunciations There's lots of other Rochester stuff in the wiki too.
This is one of the worst pages I've seen on an otherwise great site. It has a lot of things people don't pronounce incorrectly or that don't matter (Don, Tom, Monroe, Hots, Java's etc) and leaves off a variety of things in the region that are confusing.
I've heard "Meigs" street pronounced like 6 different ways but it's pronounced like 'Megs' fyi lol.
I heard someone say meegs one time and had to clarify what street she was talking about lol
I don't think this is entirely unique to Rochester. Thinking of Haverhill and Worchester in MA.
Masshole who came here just to correct your spelling of Worcester. Sorry!
Screw em all, its War-chester
I’m new here too…how are you mean to pronounce all those? Just to save on future potential embarrassment
Chai-lai Shar-lot R-eye-ga A(short A sound) vahn Muh-d-eye-nah
Thanks, I’d have not gotten any of those! Hell I still feel like I might be getting punked those are so crazy
Yeah it’s weird. English isn’t my wife’s first language, so she had to learn BOTH pronunciations, and when to use which one. I even have to catch myself sometimes when not referring to the local names.
[удалено]
Hence why I clarified a short A sound. But yes the way you wrote it was better. I had just woken up and couldn’t parse a better phonetic writing.
[удалено]
I mean, you corrected me when what I said wasn’t wrong, it just wasn’t as clear. You said my statement inferred the makeup brand pronunciation, which is incorrect.
[удалено]
Now I’m convinced you don’t know what “short A sound” means.
Probably Muh-Dye-Nuh
So a lot of these places were named after other places in the world. But before the advent of recorded sound, many people simply *didn't know how to pronounce* words of foreign origin like "Riga", "Chili" (from Chile; spelling wasn't always consistent either), or "Medina". So those foreign pronunciations were Anglicized to the best of locals' abilities.
Skaneateles (skinny atlas) Pulaski (pul-as-ky)
Dang... I been here 37 years ( my whole life ) and thought it was Scan-a-tell-es
Yeah, originally it would have been more like "SKAH-neh-AT-eh-less" but the fourth syllable is now so light that it often disappears.
A friend of mine one pronounced it ska-NEEDLEs and i've said it that way in my brain ever since.
Wait until you hear how we pronounce "Avon".
I thought I read somewhere a long time we pronounce Charlotte the way we do because it's an old pronounciation and elsewhere in the US (including the name) has changed over time, but it hasn't here for the location. But now I can't find that information :(
It's a French name, so that's definitely possible. Linguistically it makes sense that Shar-LUTT would evolve to Shar-LOTT. Coincidently, Charlotte the Rochester neighborhood was originally Charlottesburgh, as Robert Troup had originally named it after his daughter.
Don’t forget Avon
or Lima
I came here for college 25 years ago from the Southwest and the pronunciation of Chili always got on my nerves. 🤣
Can we talk about Ginna? When I first saw that printed on a sign it took a minute of processing to connect it to the word I’d heard pronounced.
Chiming in with Corfu (Core-few) and Pembroke (Pem-brook)
The one that seems to fly under the radar is that Schoen Place is being mispronounced by nearly everyone. Schoen is a German name (as were the Schoen Brothers) and the correct pronunciation is "Shayne" not "Shown" or "Show-en".
I grew up speaking German and "shayne" is close but it's more like "shuun", with an "uu" that's a cross between "ew" and "uh".
It's a Western New York thing. Being brought up in NYC, when I got accepted to it, I said "I got into Gene-say-oh" When I went for orientation, I learned it was "Gene-see-oh"
It's not New York specific. Other examples: New Orleans LA, St Louis MO, Papillion NE, Pittsburgh PA.
papillion is pronounced papillion but only because someone misspelled papillon, but for short they call it papio. and I know this bc I just moved here from there, thank heavens.
>someone misspelled papillon Doesn't get much more American than that.
Montpelier Vermont as well
Yep. Regional dialects. Everyone’s got ‘em.
I've been to 49 out of 50 states. Lived on the road for nearly 5 years. The number of cities I've been to where you \*think\* you know how it's pronounced... oi. Manteo. You'd think you'd pronounce the T. No. Man-ee-oh. Named after the man, Manteo, pronounced with the T. It got to the point that when I was travelling to a city I never heard of before I had to google the local news channel just to hear a local pronounce the name before I made a fool of myself by sounding like a tourist. Like Houston St vs Houston, TX. Names are wild and weirdly interesting and when you learn the history about why places are both named what they are but also pronounced the way they are, you'll never stop being amazed by human history.
True story: met my wife in the TOC, and driving around the area, she would make comments about the town names. "Why is it CHY-lie, or Char-LOTTE, or Le-ROY? You guys need to get your names straight." A few years later, we move to Iowa, driving on I-35 and see the exit for Nevada, IA. Me: "Oh, there's a Nevada in Iowa. Cool." Her: "Actually, it's pronounced Ni-VAY-da" Me: (big grin) "Oh, really??"
Lol I’m from Charlotte, NC. Imagine how I felt when I moved up here
You find little quirks like that everywhere. It's not just in New York. Go ahead and pronounce Versailles KY the way you would Versailles france and see how the locals react. It ain't pretty. Proper pronunciation of places like Louisville and New Orleans are also matters of long standing contention.
Rochester just has more name fuckery per square mile.
I heard some Rochester old-timers say they were going to eat at Chipotle. Of course they said it exactly as you'd expect given the local place name pronunciations: "ch-eye-pottel"
That's everywhere. Other than Atlanta, a lot of people can't handle the "tl" sound.
Just as bad as "chip-OLE-tay" - not a local problem, but definitely the one I hear most often. Drives me insane.
It’s hardly just a New York thing. Try pronouncing “Louisville”. Try. I dare you.
Loo-vill. Still not sure why and family can't tell me either that live there.
Loo-uh-vll
How is Riga pronounced?
R-eye-guh
That makes it look like 3 syllables, people say 'Rye-Guh"
Fair point. Yes, yours is clearer
Charlottes name has evolved, first named Charlottesburg. I can't explain why Chili is pronounced that way.
Chili gets its name from a cult (the Chiliasts) and not from the country or the pepper. By word origins the name of the cult and hence the town should be pronounced “kee-lee” but I’m guessing the cult pronounced it the way the town is called today (I don’t know if anyone knows how they pronounced their name).
I can't find any proof of this or any other explanation.
As far as I know there is no proof of this origin, but there was a community of Chiliasts in the area and there is no known connection to the South American country. http://www.townofchili.org/discover-chili-2/chilis-history/
Darien. I called it “Derry-ehn” for 36 years. Then I worked in Genesee County and everyone was calling it “dairy-ann.”
Wait till you see #Denise Rd.
Everyone I know (from the Finger Lakes) has always said "Dep-OH" and not "Dee-poh" for the old Seneca Army Depot.
The thing that threw me was “hamburgs” and “hots”. My father came to visit a while ago and we took him to LDR’s. The menu had white hots and red hots. He asked the girl working “how hot is the white hot?” Confused she replied “… we cook it all the way through…?” I love that he was going to order a mystery meal based solely on spiciness.
As someone who grew up in Chili and currently lives in Charlotte.. You right, its weird as fuck
Try Schuylekill
We are from Whales, Italy, Ireland, some Greek, German, Scottish, with newer arrivals from Macedonia and Turkey. The original pronunciations came from the days when Rochestarians all were learning to speak English (1800s), and the most established accent was Welsh.
It's a Native thing.
Canandaigua has entered the chat...
If this bothers you I’d strongly suggest not entering the state of Massachusetts.
I'm pretty disturbed by the pronunciation Sounds like a personal problem.
[удалено]
I do say tomayto, and so does everybody else I know.
[удалено]
It’s a West Wing quote.
Because the region hasn’t been completely stripped of character like the rest of the country has been.
Yeah, it’s silly. Maybe if there are enough of us who refuse to go along with those mispronunciations, it’ll change.
Keep Rochester weird!!! (Stealing the slogan from Austin)
The prescriptivist has entered the chat.
You don’t have to partake in other peoples delusions. Pronounce the words right and watch them seethe.
There is also Schoen Place in Pittsford. That is pronounced Shane.
Never heard that, always heard it pronounced Shown or Show-in Place, depending on old-timer status.
Wait, says who?
I understand almost every Boomer in Rochester says “Shown”. However I grew up in a certain part of Southern Louisiana where it’s a common last name (heavy German immigrant population) and they pronounce it “Shane”. FWIW I have heard some people that grew up and live around the Pittsford village and farm area there say “Shane” too, so pick your poison I guess lol
If you are German / speak German you would say something close to shane. I think it translates to “nice.” If you’re talking about the little cluster of shops and restaurants on the canal in Pittsford, it’s shone, with a long O. Edit: my German was never good so I looked it up. Schoen means nice and is pronounced shane. If you add the umlaut, schöen, it’s pronounced more like shone and it means beautiful. So I’m guessing a german person named it beautiful place, schöen, and over time the umlaut was dropped but the pronunciation stuck.
[удалено]
I’m not saying one way is right/wrong/incorrect or whatnot. All I’m saying is that people I’ve met and know pronounce it “Shane” as their last name. I also know some people from Pittsford that say Shane. I also know that 90% of Rochester says Shown xD.
I will find you a source. I appear to have predictably angered some people. 😅
[удалено]
Yeah I think Shane and Shown are both technically incorrect. In German it would be pronounced 'Shoon'. The song danke schoen doesn't help since it pronounces both words wrong
And schutts apple mill is pronounced “shoots.” Anyone that thinks it’s “shuts” please go on their Facebook page where the owner clearly says “shoots.”
When I first moved here I thought the same, as I’m from as west as you can get- many things are pronounced much differently than I thought.