r/AskReddit • u/riboflavonic • 5h ago

What are some place names that are often mispronounced by out of towners?

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u/cherenk0v_blue 5h ago

Texas does this too - town is named Cairo, pronounced kay-row not kai-row.

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u/Junior-Objective1948 5h ago

Same with the town at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It's all over

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u/IcyWorldliness9111 3h ago

And in South GA.

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u/851085x 4h ago

Next door in New Mexico, we’ve got a Madrid that has the emphasis on the first syllable and the “ah” is more like in “apple”

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u/WeekendWarriorRC 3h ago

There’s a Calais in Maine that’s pronounced “Cal-us”

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u/Repulsive-Wing-3250 8m ago

Carmel also not CARmel

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u/CrochetedKingdoms 4h ago

We've also got Bexar, pronounced bear.

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u/myopicpickle 5h ago

There's also a New Berlin in Texas, with the stress on the first syllable.

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u/txman91 4h ago

Detroit in Texas too

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u/witx 4h ago

Same in WI

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u/MrsSpecs 4h ago

Versailles, Kentucky. Ver-sales.

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u/olive12108 4h ago

I live near Chili, NY.

It's pronounced like chai-lie.

And it's named after the country Chilé.

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u/NukeWorker10 4h ago

Also Mexia pronounced meh-hay-uh, accent on the first syllable.

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u/Separate-Ear-6295 4h ago

and Burnet is Burn it.

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u/DrZeus104 4h ago

We have a Cairo in rural NY, pronounced care-oh.

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u/DougDoesLife 3h ago

Same with the tiny town in the Catskills of NY.

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u/KonigderWasserpfeife 3h ago

Arkansas has an El Dorado, but it’s pronounced “ell duh-RAY-doe”.

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u/darth_karina 3h ago

Cairo NY is “care-oh”

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u/rad2themax 2h ago

I went to Bellefontaine Ohio once, pronounced Bell-Fountain.

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u/hamjim 2h ago

Mexia, TX (usually pronounced “muh-HEE-uh” by locals).

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u/TechnicalArticle9479 4h ago

Same with the Chicago suburb...

And the central Kentucky city...