It's important to learn the pronunciation of a place before you go there and try to talk to the locals. I say this mostly out of respect for the locals and also so you, the learned traveler, do not look like a moron.
This also goes for landmarks, people's names, and menu items. However, if the pronunciation is not accessible until the awkward looks start appearing on the faces of said locals, at least try to pronounce it correctly once they have fed the correct pronunciation to you.
Here is a good place to start!
http://inogolo.com/pronunciation/
Help us all out here! If you live in a place that people frequently mispronounce, help us all out by leaving the correct pronunciation here on The MannersCast Blog!
Trent
Sunday, June 03, 2007
EPISODE 41: New Orleeens
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2 comments:
I just finished listening to Mannerscast 41 and loved your discussion on how to pronounce New Orleans.
My dear wife's Cajun side of the family has lived near Lafayette, LA for many generations. When she first took me to meet them I noticed that all of them, every single one, pronounced New Orleans as "Nawlins". However the one time I pronounced it that way my wife's very proper and polite Aunt took me aside and quietly corrected me that it was properly pronounced "Neworlins." Then she made me repeat the name a couple times until she was convinced I had it right so that I could fit in better. If it had been any other member of the family I would suspect that she was messing with me. But she is not the type.
The funny part of this was is that in the 20 years I have know these people that is the only time I have heard any of them pronounce the name as anything other than Nawlins. Later I tried saying Nawlins a couple more times until one of my new 9 year old cousins snickered that I say Nawlins like a tourist. When I asked how I was supposed to say it she said "Nawlins."
So I gave up and just say Neworlins so that they would leave me alone. Apparently they hear themselves saying "Neworlins" and my ears hear "Nawlins."
From my own experiences of growing up in South Dakota how would you pronounce the state capitol - Pierre. Most people say Pierre (like the french pronouncation of peter) but every resident of the state knows that the name is pronounced "Pier", like where the boats dock. The only thing in the state that will label you a tourist quicker than mispronouncing that name is a Wall Drug bumper sticker on your car.
I actually got in trouble in High School in Cheyenne WY because I insisted on repeatedly correcting my history teacher's pronounciation of Pierre. He and I had a running argument over this for several years until he vacationed in SD one summer and started asking around about the name. He finally admitted that he was mistaken.
David
Ridgecrest, CA
I live in Oregon, and I can tell you something that drives Oregonians crazy -- when people pronounce the name of our state "oar-uh-GONE." The correct (or preferred anyway) pronunciation is "OAR-uh-gun."
I also ran into some Nevadans last summer who got a bit irked when someone pronounced their state's name with a soft "a" in the middle -- "Nev-ah-da." They prefer a hard a -- as in "can" -- "Nev-a-da" (I don't know how to write that phonetically).
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