Do you have any idea how to pronounce that?
If you pronounced it "poo YAL up," you are hopelessly incorrect. The correct pronunciation is "pyoo AL up."
I grew up in Logan, Utah. Whenever we drove through Sardine Canyon to get to Salt Lake City, we drove past a town called Mantua. When I was very young (5), I used to think, "That is a weird way to spell Montana." In your head, did you pronounce it MAN choo ah? Because guess what? It's pronounced "MAN uh way."
When we lived in Ames, Iowa, there was a town nearby called Nevada. Although, if you pronounced it like the state (nu VAH da), people automatically knew you weren't a local. Because it's pronounced nu VAY da.
And now, I live near a small town called Paragonah that is actually pronounced "pear a GOO nuh." And another town called Hurricane that is kind of pronounced with two syllables: "HER cun."
Bizarre town names are fun. What names of towns do you know of that are pronounced completely differently from what you would expect?
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I DO know how to pronounce it. Only because I am from there - and they have the greatest fair in all the land...
My favorite is Sequim - pronouced skwim. Or Skookumchuck. That is a good one.
I know how to pronounce Paragonah because my favorite college roommate hails from there. I've even visited there!
Tooele is the only one I can think of.
I've been calling it Poo-yall-up. I shall correct myself. Thank you for teaching me the right way!
How about Coxsackie (people not from here call is Cock-sack-ee, but it is pronounced Cook-sock-ee). Also we live near Poughkeepsie - people call it pew-keep-see, but it is pronounced Puh-Kip-see. Funny post Erin! :)
Puyallup is a classic. I remember that one of my room mates in college couldn't stand me talking about "that town" because she didn't like the word. lol. Of course, I have never known how to pronounce it wrong because I have always lived by it. I think Tucson, Arizona is the one I had trouble with. I didn't know until HIGH SCHOOL that it was pronounced how it was. I always thought there were two different towns in Arizona because I had never heard it spelled and said at the same time.
I still have no idea how to say Puyallup.
And Tooele is another good one.
For fun we always called Mantua
Man-Too-a
We love the penny candy store there.
Haha...I'm from Hurricane. There's some old timers out there who not only call it HERcun but call nearby Washington "Warshington". Then there's LaVerkin and Toquerville just next door. It's hard not to feel a little podunk when you are from a town like that.
I have a relative from Puyallup so I knew that one. This makes me think of all the fun names in England. Pontisbright is pronounced Ponsbree and so on. The Nevada one really surprised me, though.
uh, Basalt.
My mom grew up in Tacoma and when we would go to visit my grandparents my dad always had to make a big point of saying "PYOOOO-allup" because it smelled bad. Also he always had to mention the aroma of Tacoma. Good times.
I was going to mention Puhkipsie and Tuwilla, too.
I immediately thought of Toquerville. We always pronounced it To-queer-ville.
My mom is from Enumclaw, which is right by Puyallup! I'm from Parowan, so of course I know Paragonah! Those are good ones that no one ever pronounces right!
My child attended a school with the word Artemus in it's name. It was pronounced "aR Team Us."
I don't know of any that come to mind immediately, but people often do a double take that my town is called 100 Mile House, and that I leave in a rural suburb of it called 108 Mile Ranch.
I always think Paragonah must have been settled by the Irish. :)
Tempe, AZ is one. It's pronounced Tem PEE. Not TEM pee like non-locals will say.
There's several around here, and I'm still learning the proper way to pronounce all of them. Baraga, Ontonogon, etc.
Yep, I also thought of Toole. In Durango, Co there is Florida road, but it is pronounced the Spanish way not like the state. It was the fastest way to know a tourist.
Duchesne, Utah. I want to call it "doo-Chesney" like Kenny Chesney, but it is pronounced "Doo-shayne."
My sister lives in "Athol" Idaho....Hold your tongue with your fingers and say that one!
I was also raised in Coeurd'Alene Idaho...that one gets screwed up all the time!
tell ya what, it drives me nuts but skanataeles up here in the fingerlakes is pronounced "skinny atlas." Try to figure that one out. silly NY accents.
i live near Maryville, TN-- pronounced by the locals as " MuurrVule". Also Wartburg--pronounced"Watt Bur"
Haha, love it! I am proud of myself for knowing how to pronounce all of those! My favorite is when I hear Tooele pronounced "tool-ee". Too funny!
My sister's high school boyfriend was from a little town in Texas called Sachse. Pronounced "sax-y." Dang Texans and their weird spelling...
I went to high school in Duchesne, that was a funny one.
My grandma lives in a tiny town in Utah called Ibapah. You would think it's I-BAP-A, but it's I-BU-PAH. At my uncle's funeral (not it Ibapah), the preacher pronounced it wrong...but most people in Utah haven't even heard of it, so what are you going to do?
Wow. That just tells me that people do not pay attention and generations of laziness have degenerated our language (or other languages, as I believe is the case here) beyond recognition.
Fun post, though, I love it! :)
Near my parents they have the town of Chili, Indiana (CHI-li, so not pronounced like the South American country nor the food) and Peru, Indiana (PEE-ru).
I grew up in Virginia and Thomas Jefferson's home near Charlottesville is called Monticello (pronounced MontiCHello) . It makes me CRAZY to have the Monticello in Utah pronounced MontiSELLo. I understand the Utah town was even named after Jefferson's home.
I just found your blog on MMB and I must say I love your blog title and subtitle--made me smile.
When I lived in Pennsylvania, I learned I had never pronounced a town correctly. Lancaster (Lain-kester) and Gettysburg (Gett-es-burg).
Now I live near a river called Thames (NOT pronounced "tems") and vauxhaul (Vox-hall) which I still manage to mispronounce 2 years later.
How about Buena Vista, Virginia? It's not pronounced with a Spanish accent, despite being named by Spaniards. It's said "B-YOU-Na vih-sta." does that make sense? It took me forever to learn how to say that one. I went to one year of college there at Southern Virginia. :)
There are TONS of unusual native names around here in Seattle.. Tulalip is actually "two-A-lip." go figure. silent L? that's crazy talk.
Buena Vista is on my list too. THAT was a hard one to get used to saying in the native tongue. We were actually there the very first year the college (now University) started.
Holy cow, I'm late to this party. Well, here's my entry: in Louisiana where I grew up we had some funny ones, but the one that threw most out of towners was Natchitotches. It's pronounced NACK-oh-dish.
Justin's aunt lives in Puyallup so I actually did know how to pronounce that one! How funny! :) I never lived in any weird named towns.. so when I think of one, I'll post it.
Oh how I have missed your blog! I never had time to read anyone's blogs... now I am making time. Especially for this one. :)
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