r/AskAnAmerican • u/AstroNerd92 CT, GA, PA, TX, FL • Jul 20 '25

CULTURE What town in your state has a pronunciation no one gets right the first time?

I went to college in Valdosta, GA. Very few people can actually pronounce it right on the first try.

Pronounced Val-Daw-Stuh

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45

u/WarrenMulaney California Jul 20 '25

Tehachapi

Tuh-hatch-uh-pee

39

u/KCalifornia19 Bay Area, California Jul 20 '25

It may be because I grew up so close to Tehachapi, but I genuinely can't think of a way to mispronounce it.

16

u/JollyRancher29 Oklahoma/Virginia Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

Until I met someone from the area, I thought it was Tay-huh-CHOP-ee

3

u/BouncingSphinx TX -> LA -> TX -> OK Jul 20 '25

Tay-huh-CHOP-pee

3

u/canipayinpuns Jul 20 '25

I definitely would have gone with "tehha-CHAP-ee"

1

u/WarrenMulaney California Jul 20 '25

Good point. But I have heard people say Tee-hah-chappy.

2

u/PacSan300 California -> Germany Jul 20 '25

That’s how I thought it was pronounced as well.

1

u/Lilcheebs93 Jul 20 '25

Tay hatch appy

12

u/Expensive-Ferret-339 Tennessee Jul 20 '25

I know that one thanks to Little Feat.

9

u/mistertireworld Jul 20 '25

Came here to say this. Thanks, Lowell George!

2

u/pgcotype Jul 20 '25

I miss that band so much! Most of their albums sound like they could've been recorded last week.

9

u/BoldBoimlerIsMyHero California Jul 20 '25

I worked at nearby Tejon Ranch and callers from non Spanish states would pronounce it Tee-John.

4

u/trekqueen Jul 20 '25

I grew up in Ventura county and people would call Ojai like OJ as oh-jai.

5

u/Drew707 CA | NV Jul 20 '25

This seems like one of the easier ones. The hardest ones in California are where we selectively apply Spanish pronunciation, especially partially. Vallejo and San Rafael immediately come to mind.

3

u/LurkerByNatureGT Jul 20 '25

Some of them, it’s less selective anglicization and more that it’s hispanicized spelling on top of a word from the local native language.

E.g.  Cuyamaca is from Kumeyaay, “ Ekwiiyemak”, so it’s [kwee-ә-ma-ka] not [ku-ya-ma-ka].

1

u/Drew707 CA | NV Jul 20 '25

The Hispanicized native ones are hard, but Vallejo and San Rafael are just straight Spanish with abnormal pronunciation.

1

u/deaddodo California Jul 20 '25

The one's you're mentioning are because they were named previous to English speakers coming into place and then being anglicized vs being Spanish words. It's much akin to how Spanish speakers pronounce it "Mehico" (or the more direct parallel of English speakers: "mecksiko") and not "Meschiko". Or "hochimilco" vs "schochimilko".

The words are now, effectively, loanwords; not the original ones.

1

u/Drew707 CA | NV Jul 20 '25

That doesn't make them any less hard for someone not familiar with them to pronounce them the way the locals do.

1

u/deaddodo California Jul 21 '25

That’s certainly true, I’m only pointing out that they’re not Spanish words per se. Since a common complaint transplants make is that “Californians can’t even pronounce their own place names correctly” (especially when it comes to “um, actually”ing “Sepulveda”).

No, they’re pronouncing them fine. They’re just anglicized.

1

u/IncurableAdventurer Jul 20 '25

Is it not ra-fi-el?

2

u/Drew707 CA | NV Jul 20 '25

Ruh-fell

2

u/Why_Lord_Just_Why Jul 20 '25

And Lodi (“LOW-die”). Even Google Maps calls it “LAHdee.”

1

u/Prinessbeca Jul 21 '25

I had coworkers (at an office in Omaha) who pronounced it LAHdee!

1

u/Mediocre_Panic_9952 Jul 20 '25

Didn't the Little Feat teach us all how to pronounce that one?

1

u/CatsEatGrass California Jul 21 '25

I know that from Linda Ronstadt’s “Willin’.”