I found that sticker on my walk home last night. I'm not blogging it because it illustrates my mood or anything like that -- in fact I've been pretty upbeat this week, even though I have a lot going on workwise. The first week of school (for teachers) is always a crazy time as we go through all of the standard all-school meetings and training sessions. Yesterday we had one on creating "courageous global citizens," and today we have child protection training, which is mandated by law.
And of course, we're still setting up the library, so when the training is done I'm organizing shelves and displays and moving stuff around. Yesterday we divided the board games into three different groups for display in three areas, for example. Plus I'm taking departed patrons out of the library system and organizing magazine sign-ups (don't ask) and blah blah blah.
I honestly don't mind it all, but it is boring to write (and read) about. Hence not much to blog about my days at the moment. Students come back on Tuesday.
Blogger Margaret uploaded this entertaining map the other day, supposedly showing the town names in each state that are the hardest to pronounce. (You may have to click on it to see the names clearly.) Like Margaret, who disputed Washington's choice of Puyallup, I took issue with some of them immediately.
In my home state of Florida, for example, the name chosen is Ocoee, which is a city near Orlando. I would have chosen Immokalee, Chokoloskee or Islamorada, all of which I have mispronounced at one time or other. For years I did not know that the "s" in Islamorada is silent, as in island.
What about Mississippi? Their choice is Louisville, and even assuming it's pronounced LEWISville (because why else would it be hard to pronounce?), a quick look at Google maps offered a host of other worthy contenders. There's Hushpuckena, Arkabutla, Looxahoma, Bogue Chitto, Toomsuba, Shubuta, Eastabuchie and Wiehe -- and also Splunge, which is just funny.
Likewise, the choice for Nebraska is Cairo, which I assume must be pronounced KAYro. (Because, again, why else would it be hard to pronounce?) But they overlooked Unadilla, Ohiowa, Otoe, Niobrara, Verdigre, Minatare, Joder (surely not the Spanish curse word?) and Ough.
And finally, Colorado. Seriously? Crested Butte is the best they could do? What about Iliff, Capulin, Abarr, Arickaree, Hoehne and Gulnare?
There are others I could challenge as well, but I suppose the point is that mispronunciation is in the eyes (or mouth) of the pronouncer. Still, it was a fun exercise. It would be interesting to do it for Britain. I'm sure the winners would be somewhere in Wales, home of the famous Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which is an actual place.
And Llanfair PG , as locals call it, had the long name devised by a Victorian to bring tourists....and it is still working,!
ReplyDeleteI did not know that was the origin of the name! Funny! It was very effective.
DeleteWe have some village names that people struggle with every County I reckon. Hoxne not far from me is one but it's too early in the morning to think of others.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm sure every region could tell a similar story.
DeleteWe have loads here too. The locals had great fun catching me out when we first moved here!
ReplyDeleteIt's always the giveaway for who's from "somewhere else."
DeleteA few well known ones in UK spring to mind......Loughborough, Belvoir, and Ulgham ( which is in Northumberland and we were asking directions to it many years ago......it's actually pronounced " Uffam"!) Another fun one is Happisburgh in Norfolk!
ReplyDeleteI would not have guessed "Uffam"!
DeleteI agree about many of the names chosen for the map. There are so many better. I had too look up Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch to hear how it’s pronounced. Wow!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a mouthful. LOL
DeleteAre "courageous global citizens" people like J.D.Vance and Steve Witcoff?
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest place name to say in Yorkshire is Slaithwaite - pronounced "Sla-w-it" or "Slath-wait".
We cannot claim Vance and Witcoff among our alumni. LOL!
DeleteGood luck with Keokuk in Iowa.
ReplyDeleteBirthplace of my best friend and despite 30 years of patience (on her part!) I still cannot pronounce it in a way deemed correct 😀
I always thought it was Kee-OH-kuk. Is that not right?
DeleteWhen we lived in Wales Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, was literally known as Llanfair PG ... so much easier. My favourite mispronunciation is Mousehole in Cornwall. I need to holiday there one day.
ReplyDeleteOf course with my hubby being Scottish he can pronounce all the weirdly ... to my mind ... misspelt Scottish town names, Kirkcudbright and Hawick spring to mind as they look so easy to say, my Mum in law had a good laugh the first time I mentioned them though!!
I supposed they must have a shorter reference. No one could say that long name every time! Yeah, Scotland is a land of interesting names as well. I'm sure when I pronounce them I do it wrong.
DeleteWhat an enjoyable post. There are so many place names that can be mispronounced and cause much hilarity to the cognoscenti.
ReplyDeleteIt makes for a fun discussion!
DeleteFor Michigan: Mackinac Island.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! I pronounced that wrong until very recently.
DeleteNJ is full of trap names, which tell you who's new here! Mainly it's where you put the emphasis, as in Manalapan or Hoboken.
ReplyDeleteNative American names, or those that purport to have Native American origins, can be tricky.
DeleteSouth Carolina has so many places with names that are hard to pronounce, one of them is a street called Huger St. Looks like HEW-ger but is pronounced U-gee.
ReplyDeleteI'm still learning.
I would have said "Huger," as in even bigger than big! Very Trumpian, I know.
DeleteLocally we have Cherryville, pronounced Cherr Ville. But I guess that's dialect more than pronunciation. From when we lived in Ohio there was Versailles KY - Ver Sails. Fun!
ReplyDeleteI've heard of "Versails." It is legendary!
DeleteColorado: Saguache = Sa watch
ReplyDeleteOh, see, I would not have guessed that! I almost put Saguache on the list but I thought it looked too easy!
DeleteI just rolled with my states hardest to pronounce name because I have not heard of the place and it looked reasonably difficult to pronounce. The town I live in is evidently hard to pronounce too as I use it to distinguish if the phone caller is local or not. I have live near here all my life so have always pronounced it the way all the locals do. But outsiders typically say the first syllable wrong with a long instead of short vowel sound and thus tell me they aren't from around here.
ReplyDeleteThat is a dead giveaway to spot an "outsider"!
DeleteYou are so right about Florida. Mostly the places named for the people who lived here before the Europeans "discovered" it. Bogus map is you ask me although I have always loved the sound of Nacogdoches.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that you are feeling upbeat. That is good.
Some of them, like Nacogdoches, I'd agree with. But yeah, a lot of them are malarky.
DeleteGlad your school year has started off well and you are feeling positive.
ReplyDeleteI live on Pottowattomie Court which always has to be spelled out for people. A long name for a short street of 10 houses.
Feeling positive might be overstating it, as you'll see in the subsequent post! A lot of my outlook depends on my mood at the moment, which I guess is true of many of us. Yeah, I can imagine that Pottowattomie throws people into a panic!
DeleteI looked at the map and what they've chosen is hard or impossible to pronounce. A list with one name per state is not enough.
ReplyDeleteIt's really not! I imagine northern Canada is full of challenging names.
DeleteHard to pronounce names usually have a history and the history is generally interesting. Beyond the great history, a simple to pronounce name would be better for everybody. I find, a mispronounce a name usually brings laughter/smiles from the locals. That seems to be worldwide.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're easing back into the library. Things should get lively when the students return.
Yeah, the origins of the names are often more interesting than the pronunciation! Someone should do a map of the town names with the most interesting origins.
DeleteI didn't think too many of the names were that difficult but that may be because I'm pronouncing them wrong: like Houston in NYC versus in Texas. On my own blog, I started up a bit of a kerfuffle over whether it's Pew AL up or Pew ALL up. I say the latter but many say the former. I've lived here for 69 years so I can pronounce it however I want! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to wade into that kerfuffle, because I have no idea! But yeah, I'd say after 70 years you have the right to say it however you want.
DeleteLouisville KY is Loo-ville by many locals. My ex-brother in law was from Looville.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have a friend from Kentucky and she says the same thing.
DeleteWhat a fun map! I'm sure each state could add several more to the list. I'll go with what they picked for Arkansas (Ouachita), but might also add Champagnolle. (both American Indian names) I also think they picked a good one for Louisiana. Plenty of people mispronounce Natchitoches.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about this. There's not (to my knowledge) a city or town in Arkansas named Ouachita. Just a river, a lake, a National Forest, a mountain range, and a county.
DeleteOh, interesting. Maybe it's not just town names but local place names.
DeleteWhat I didn't know is that so many of the hard to pronounce names of towns in BC and even Alberta, are indigenous names. I'm guessing that's the same for many places.
ReplyDeleteAmiskwaskahegan: The original Cree name for the Edmonton area, which was deemed too hard to pronounce and spell by some.
Yeah, the indigenous names can be a mouthful to those of us who don't speak the language. I gotta say, Edmonton is much easier to say! (For me, anyway.)
DeleteI had a good time with this. I remember coming home for the first time with my then husband. He saw a sign for DuBois and said. 'That's neat." And pronounced it in the French way. "Actually," I said, "in this case, it is pronounced Du Boyz'. He was outraged at our ignorance. "Well, I am going to call it the right way!" ,'well then. Prepare to be corrected every single time you say it.'
ReplyDeleteI should have seen how the marriage was going to go.
Ha! I saw a video clip not long ago of a young guy who claimed to be from "DeMoinz." And I thought, you are not from Des Moines. But maybe I'm wrong!
DeleteThanks for sharing this. It would make a good nonsense word phonics challenge for developing readers.
ReplyDeleteBut tricky, because "sounding it out" doesn't always work for some of these names.
DeleteI have been to that actual place in Wales! I don't want to spell out the name, nor do I want to copy and paste it.
ReplyDeleteDave's been there too. I think he has a picture of the street sign.
DeleteBlobby Mc Blob fish is sad because he is endangered...probably can't find a mate either. A sorry existence and is said to taste better than buttered lobster, mores the pity.
ReplyDeleteAs for weirdo names for places the one in Wales is just showing off.
I didn't know it was deliberately engineered to be long, but that's what Gwynneth says above! Those crafty Victorians.
DeleteI can notice a different font for the Welsh name, a copy and paste. I do that myself if spelling doesn't instantly sink into my brain. It took Melbournians quite a while for the pronunciation of two names new to us, Wurundjeri Way and Birrarung Marr, but no doubt not a problem for the indigenous to the area with names that could be many thousands or hundreds of thousands years old.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...the font looks the same to me! But I DID copy and paste it. I'm not typing that out!
DeleteCodex: I actually find it interesting to hear about what schools are doing. Isn't Icelandic supposed to be unpronouncable?
ReplyDeleteI guess not to Icelandic people, but maybe for the rest of us.
DeleteI'd say the US has some weird place names, but I think Australia has them beat with some of the indigenous place names. I don't recall any right now but I'm sure you can google Australian Aboriginal Place names.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Australian map is always entertaining!
DeleteI don't think Puyallup (Puy-all-up) is that bad, I might have used Sequim (Squim). Yachats qualifies, it's Ya-hots.
ReplyDeleteI would not have guess "Ya-hots" correctly. Margaret (above) says Puyallup is Pew-ALL-up. I would have gotten Sequim wrong too!
DeleteThe only thing about Nacogdoches in Texas is the g is silent. Otherwise it's pronounced just like it's spelled.
ReplyDeleteBut that silent G would throw a lot of people off!
Delete