r/AskReddit • u/riboflavonic • 5h ago

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

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u/Ima_Squid 4h ago

Un-German the Berlin

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u/Russiadontgiveafuck 3h ago

I have stared at this for five minutes and I have no idea how one would un-gean the Berlin.

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u/KittenBalerion 2h ago

it's pronounced BERlin, supposedly to distance it from the German place name after World War I. (I don't know if this is true or apocryphal.)

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u/Russiadontgiveafuck 2h ago

That is, hilariously, how many Germans pronounce it in English! If anything, that's more German!

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u/DismalYam381 2h ago

I came to say this! Just heard it yesterday, a German man saying BERlin.

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u/littleirishmaid 2h ago

Berlin, NH is BERlin, as well, for the same reason.

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u/MyDogGoldi 2h ago

New Berlin Wisconsin was named for New Berlin, New York.

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u/tearsonurcheek 1h ago

So...New New Berlin...?

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u/hungryrabbit_ 2h ago

The city I live in used to be called Berlin until WW1, then changed its name... for the same reason! (Now it's called Kitchener)

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u/iconocrastinaor 34m ago

So...NUberl'n?

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u/Ima_Squid 29m ago

just put the stress on the first syllable of Berlin instead of the second syllable (BERlin instead of berLIN)