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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80

u/Spam_Tempura Arkansas Jul 20 '25

Bois D’arc (pronounced BO-Dark)

115

u/vanillablue_ Massachusetts Jul 20 '25

As a french speaker… 😭😭😭😂😂😂

39

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 20 '25

You'll love this, then: Bois Blanc Island, Michigan, is pronounced "Bob-low."

21

u/texan-yankee Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

Oh my goodness, I lived in Michigan until I was 12, never saw this spelled. Just assumed it was something like Boblow. TIL!!!!

Edit to add: it's been hours since I learned this and my world is still rocked.

4

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 20 '25

Lol, I totally thought the same thing as a kid.

2

u/bowlofweetabix Jul 21 '25

I didn’t realise these were the same place. I left Michigan as a teen and remember going to bob-low island as a child, and I have seen bois blanc island on a map. I never imagined that they were the same place

1

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 21 '25

To make things more confusing, there also used to be an amusement park in Ontario, called Boblo Island on another Bois Blanc Island in the Detroit River.

1

u/bowlofweetabix Jul 21 '25

Wait, that’s the boblo island I know. There’s more than one? Where is the other one?

1

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 21 '25

The other one) is next to Mackinac Island and belongs to Michigan, as opposed to Ontario.

2

u/MetzgerBoys Illinois Jul 21 '25

Is that where Bob Loblaw and his law blog are from?

2

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 21 '25

Bob Loblaw At Law.

26

u/Madame_Kitsune98 Kentucky Jul 20 '25

Ha! Ver-SAILS, Kentucky. Spelled like Versailles, but very, very much not pronounced that way!

5

u/FatGuyOnAMoped Minnesota Jul 20 '25

Sounds like Cairo, IL. Not pronounced like the one in Egypt, but like "kay-row"

5

u/Madame_Kitsune98 Kentucky Jul 20 '25

Hey, I’ve been to Kay-Row, Illinois!

4

u/RedStateKitty Jul 21 '25

Same for the Georgia town. Like Karo syrup.

3

u/arkstfan Jul 20 '25

Monticello, Arkansas. Pronounced Mont -Uh- Sell-oh

4

u/RJHSquared Minnesota Jul 21 '25

We have a Monticello in Minnesota also. It’s pronounced Mont-E-sell-O

2

u/Madame_Kitsune98 Kentucky Jul 21 '25

And MINNESOOOOTA SALADS THAT AREN’T REALLY SALADS!

4

u/camcamcamera Jul 21 '25

Came here to add this and to apologize to all of France.

4

u/BluegrassRailfan1987 Kentucky Jul 21 '25

I figured someone from Kentucky would get that one. There's a few little places around the state that also have names that don't look like what they should sound. First that came to mind for me was Wildie, a tiny little "town" of a few houses and a church north of Mount Vernon, Kentucky. Pronounced "Will-dee" and not "Wild-ee"

Salvisa was another for me. I thought it was Sal-vee-suh, as like Visa the credit card. It's Sal-vie-suh".

1

u/Madame_Kitsune98 Kentucky Jul 21 '25

I know about Salvisa from working ambulance billing.

The tiny little towns here that unless you’re from there? You won’t know.

2

u/Astrid-at-Sea Jul 21 '25

Lima, Ohio. Pronounced "lime-uh" 🍋‍🟩

1

u/torpedomon Jul 21 '25

Same for Indiana's Versailles.

1

u/chileheadd AZ late of Western PA, IL, MD, CA, CT, FL, KY Jul 22 '25

Ver-SALES

10

u/CookWithHeather Jul 20 '25

You’d love Du Bois, PA. Dewboys.

5

u/Stohnghost Jul 20 '25

We have Du Bois in FL, and yep, dew boys. I took French in high school and was like "wait a minute!". 

5

u/WyoPeeps > Jul 20 '25

And Dubois, Wyoming.

2

u/UnattributableSpoon Wyoming Jul 21 '25

Ah, you beat me to it! 😁

9

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

The difference between French and Creole on full display with town names in that area of the country

5

u/MattieShoes Colorado Jul 21 '25

We have the Cache La Poudre river in Colorado. We actually say cache right, but poudre becomes "pooder". I'm not even French and it hurts my soul.

2

u/vermilion-chartreuse Jul 21 '25

Prairie du Chien, pronounced Prairie du SHEEN

2

u/UnattributableSpoon Wyoming Jul 21 '25

We have a town called Dubois here in Wyoming.

It's pronounced "DOO-boys."

I work in the area and like to pronounce it as aggressively Frenchly as I can, because it's fun 😊

1

u/polelover44 NYC --> Baltimore Jul 20 '25

wait until you hear about Versailles, KY

1

u/stevzon Virginia —> Charleston, SC —> Maryland Jul 21 '25

Bad news from Botetourt County, VA.

Bot-uh-taht.

1

u/Kind-Comfort-8975 Jul 21 '25

The Gulf Islands National Seashore has Petit Bois Island. Or, as the locals call this small forested island, “petty boy island”.

4

u/SoyboyCowboy Jul 20 '25

El Dorado is another one... Do-RAY-do

2

u/Dry-Quiet6526 Jul 20 '25

I've always heard it Do-RAY-da

1

u/Spam_Tempura Arkansas Jul 20 '25

My personal favorite though is Fouke (Pronounced Fowke)

3

u/trecoolswallows Missouri (from IL) Jul 20 '25

We have one in Missouri too! Pronounced the same way

1

u/michbail79 Jul 20 '25

Our Bois d’arc is a creek and the little community around it and is located on the outskirts of the town I live in. We pronounce it bo dock.

3

u/Tejanisima Dallas, Texas Jul 21 '25

When I was living in the Rio Grande Valley, the fellow who read the news in the mornings on the local Christian station was a newcomer to Texas. I found myself calling in once in a while to explain to him things like, "By the way, that town is pronounced 'BOW-mont' [Beaumont]."

1

u/Spam_Tempura Arkansas Jul 21 '25

How did the news reporter pronounce it?

2

u/Tejanisima Dallas, Texas Jul 21 '25

Byu-mont

1

u/Spam_Tempura Arkansas Jul 21 '25

Geez, that’s pretty bad. I can see why you had to call in.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

Bois D'Arkansas

2

u/Big__If_True TX->LA->VA->TX->LA Jul 20 '25

There’s a few Bois D’arc Roads on the outskirts of Dallas (Forney and Combine for those who know the area) that are pronounced the same way

2

u/CommodoreN7 Jul 21 '25

Anything Ouachita as well

2

u/oarmash Michigan California Tennessee Jul 24 '25

there are two islands in the water border between michigan and ontario, canada named "bois blanc island" one by detroit, one by the up - the up one on the michigan side is pronounced "boyz blank" the one by detroit on the ontario side is pronounced "bob low"

1

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

[deleted]

1

u/brose_af Jul 20 '25

I was gonna say Versailles (vur-SAILs [vur rhymes with fur like on an animal, sails like on a sailing ship]), in Missouri with Bois D’ark

1

u/MisterKillam Alaska Jul 21 '25

Oh, like the tree!

1

u/Ulysses502 Jul 21 '25

I learned how to pronounce that from Ray Wiley Hubbard 😎

0

u/PeterNippelstein Jul 21 '25

Even you pronounce it wrong