Funny City Names

[irishmick]

So, I was thinking about the names of some of our cities on a recent trip, and was wondering if any of you had strange city names out your way as well. A few of ours are below, and 10 extra points to the person who can correctly pronounce them. heh You can always tell when someone who isn't familiar with the area is talking about these places because they never get it right.

Puyallup
Sequim
Tualatin
Deschutes
Tullalip
Tukwila
Willamette
Oregon (this may seem like a no brainer, but people get it wrong *all* the time)

[Jenna]

So, I was thinking about the names of some of our cities on a recent trip, and was wondering if any of you had strange city names out your way as well. A few of ours are below, and 10 extra points to the person who can correctly pronounce them. heh You can always tell when someone who isn't familiar with the area is talking about these places because they never get it right.

Puyallup
Sequim
Tualatin
Deschutes
Tullalip
Tukwila
Willamette
Oregon (this may seem like a no brainer, but people get it wrong *all* the time)

So how do you pronounce Oregon?

Reminds me of this poem:

I have fallen in love with American names,
The sharp names that never get fat,
The snakeskin-titles of mining-claims,
The plumed war-bonnet of Medicine Hat,
Tucson and Deadwood and Lost Mule Flat.

Seine and Piave are silver spoons,
But the spoonbowl-metal is thin and worn,
There are English counties like hunting-tunes
Played on the keys of a postboy’s horn,
But I will remember where I was born.

I will remember Carquinez Straits,
Little French Lick and Lundy’s Lane,
The Yankee ships and the Yankee dates
And the bullet-towns of Calamity Jane.
I will remember Skunktown Plain.

I will fall in love with a Salem tree
And a rawhide quirt from Santa Cruz,
I will get me a bottle of Boston sea
And a blue-gum man to sing me blues.
I am tired of loving a foreign muse.

Rue des Martyrs and Bleeding-Heart-Yard,
Senlis, Pisa, and Blindman’s Oast,
It is a magic ghost you guard
But I am sick for a newer ghost,
Harrisburg, Spartanburg, Painted Post.

Henry and John were never so
And Henry and John were always right?
Granted, but when it was time to go
And the tea and the laurels had stood all night,
Did they never watch for Nantucket Light?

I shall not rest quiet in Montparnasse.
I shall not lie easy at Winchelsea.
You may bury my body in Sussex grass,
You may bury my tongue at Champmedy.
I shall not be there. I shall rise and pass.
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee.

--Stephen Vincent Benét

[Buttercup]

I know that it's juvenile, but I always giggle at these Pennsylvania town names: Intercourse, Blue Ball, and Bird in Hand.

I'm not sure, but I think that Climax and Paradise are nearby.

[2 Blue 4 U]

I know that it's juvenile, but I always giggle at these Pennsylvania town names: Intercourse, Blue Ball, and Bird in Hand.

I'm not sure, but I think that Climax and Paradise are nearby.

mmmmmmmm, I wonder what was on their minds when they named those towns. There has got to be an interesting story behind it, right?

[irishmick]

Jenna...it's Or-uh-gun. A lot of people say Or-uh-gone...which drives me crazy! heh

[Jenna]

Jenna...it's Or-uh-gun. A lot of people say Or-uh-gone...which drives me crazy! heh

OK I pronounced it right then.

I guess a good way to remember it would be to think of what someone might say if asked to guess what weapon is in the box:

"Well I guess it could be a knife, or a grenade, or a baton, Or-a-gun!"

[Buttercup]

Jenna...it's Or-uh-gun. A lot of people say Or-uh-gone...which drives me crazy! heh

I learned that many years ago when I had a second job doing telephone market research. I was calling people in Orgeon and had to ask a question using the state name, and I pronounced it Or-uh-gone. The woman I was talking to said, "You're not located in Oregon are you, sweetie?" I told her my location and then asked how she could tell, and she very nicely told me the correct pronunciation.

[catcher T]

I am about 20 mins from Hell, on a hot day we go get ice cream in Hell, and I have seen Hell freeze over many times

[sgtbear111]

Some more WA names of towns
Washtucna - located NW of Wash State Univ on SR-26
Pe El - west of I-5 south of Olympia
La Push - delightful remote Pacific oceanfront village
Moxee - famous for brewers hoppes and mint located east of Yakima
Aeneas - town in north centrlal state

Two great websites for vacation plannerd who hate freeway travel.

USA
http://www.epodunk.com/

Canada
http://ca.epodunk.com/

[CTR man]

Jenna...it's Or-uh-gun. A lot of people say Or-uh-gone...which drives me crazy! heh

Ah! So thats one of the ways you can tell when a Californian is in your state.

And we all know how much Oregonians hate Californians.

Before I was set straight, I used to pronounce it Or-eee-gun. Even worse is Or-eee-gone.

[catcher T]

I am a Michigander, with a Canada accent, I pronounce everything with a nasal, gone sound, so its ore-gone, can't say it any other way

[Kate]

I know that it's juvenile, but I always giggle at these Pennsylvania town names: Intercourse, Blue Ball, and Bird in Hand.

I'm not sure, but I think that Climax and Paradise are nearby.

I'm only about an hour from Intercourse, but it's been awhile since I've been there. So close, but yet so far!

There are also some other unsual town names here in PA:

Butztown
Youcumtown
Lickdale
Reamstown
Moreheadsville
Desire
Gaysport
Fertility
Needmore
Virginville
Beersvile
Littlehope
Fearnot
Defiance
Normalville
King of Prussia

[irishmick]

I am a Michigander, with a Canada accent, I pronounce everything with a nasal, gone sound, so its ore-gone, can't say it any other way

Then you're fired and never allowed to come here. heheheh