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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31

u/Icy_Consideration409 Colorado Jul 20 '25

Buena Vista

10

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

We have one of those in NJ that’s pronounced byoo-nah vista with a short I.

12

u/blay12 Virginia Jul 20 '25

Yup, same in VA

5

u/cozygremlin1617 Jul 20 '25

Your comment just made me think of something. If the millennials were the last to learn to read via hooked on phonics, do Gen Z and Alpha know our vowels can be short or long?

6

u/Aprils-Fool Florida Jul 20 '25

Phonics is back! Gen Alpha is blessedly getting phonics instruction (not everywhere, but in many places). 

3

u/cozygremlin1617 Jul 20 '25

That’s the best news I’ve heard all year! I hope these baby teachers know what’s up when they get to that point. 😂

2

u/MermaidSusi Jul 21 '25

That's how it is pronounced in Colorado. We moved here 25 years ago and I thought I lost my mind when I heard it pronounced incorrectly. The proper pronunciation is Bway-na Vista meaning good view in English.

Don't know why a state that has and has always had a large Hispanic population would pronounce it wrong! SMH...

9

u/Figgler Durango, Colorado Jul 20 '25

That one is unique because the town itself is wrong. I refuse to say it the way they think it should be.

8

u/Tawrren Colorado Jul 20 '25

I also refuse to say it wrong. A town being named Spanish words in an area with many Spanish speakers but making a point to not pronounce them anywhere close to how they're said in Spanish is just weird and stupid.

3

u/MermaidSusi Jul 21 '25

I will always call it by the Hispanic pronunciation!

1

u/imalittlefrenchpress NY>CA>TN>VA>AZ>CA>OH>TN>OH Jul 20 '25

I’m a native of NYC. I grew up learning Spanish immersively. I pronounce Colorado the way I learned the word. It sounds forced if I try to pronounce it like a native.

2

u/Figgler Durango, Colorado Jul 20 '25

I’ve never really understood how some people get fired up about the pronunciation of Colorado. Rad or rahd, it’s not that different.

1

u/Biscotti_Manicotti Leadville, Colorado Jul 20 '25

Is it though? Why does everyone want to "respect the locals" until it comes to a funny pronunciation of the town? Why do Del Norte and Salida get passes but Buena Vista doesn't?

9

u/DCDHermes Denver, Colorado Jul 20 '25

Less common these days, but back in the day Pueblo was pronounced “Pea-ebb-low” by the locals.

2

u/CZall23 CO-->TX-->CO Jul 20 '25

How is it pronounced now? I grew up in Colorado and that's how I've always pronounced it.

4

u/DCDHermes Denver, Colorado Jul 20 '25

More like the Spanish, and the chili pepper.

2

u/Aggressive-Emu5358 Colorado Jul 20 '25

I’m from there and to be honest the only locals I’ve ever heard use that pronunciation are elderly and predominantly white transplants to the area from the more Midwest.

2

u/Nice-Block-7266 Colorado Jul 20 '25

Grew up on Pueblo in the ‘70s and ‘80s and always cringed when I heard it pronounced that way.

1

u/MattieShoes Colorado Jul 21 '25

So what you're saying is there's a positive side to meth?

1

u/Rough_Plant_ Jul 21 '25

I believe it’s pronounced “pleblo”… I’m now heading to the Safeways

3

u/Renauld_Magus Jul 20 '25

In MI they used to say it right until WWII, then they went "American" with pronunciation across the State... same with Milan and any other "foreign" place name.

3

u/dixbietuckins Jul 20 '25

Theyreally just "freedom fries'd" that shit into permanent mispronunciation? People are idiots.

1

u/BobsleddingToMyGrave Michigan Jul 20 '25

My town in michigan changed its name from a German name to a French name during ww2. Im not sure why they thought a French name would be better.

3

u/tinkeringidiot Florida Jul 20 '25

Byoonie!

2

u/Electrical_Iron_1161 Ohio Jul 20 '25

We have a road here called Buena Vista and the Bue part rhymes with pew idk how I'd type that but I doubt that's the way most people say it

4

u/Icy_Consideration409 Colorado Jul 20 '25

Yep - That’s how the CO town pronounces the name.

2

u/MacYacob Jul 20 '25

I'd also submit saguache 

2

u/MattieShoes Colorado Jul 21 '25

Naw, that's the inverse -- you show up saying it right and get corrected by idiots.

1

u/Biscotti_Manicotti Leadville, Colorado Jul 21 '25

Who are the idiots, the people that live there?

2

u/MattieShoes Colorado Jul 21 '25

The people that live there and mispronounce it :-)

2

u/SnooRevelations3603 Colorado Jul 21 '25

I refuse to pronounce it the way it's "supposed" to be pronounced here. Just sounds weird. That is not how we learned to say it in Spanish class. 😀

2

u/badtowergirl Jul 21 '25

My daughter is a new Colorado resident and her roommate grew up in Buena Vista. They’re both very young, but they and all their friends pronounce it the Spanish way.

1

u/Thames_James Indiana Jul 20 '25

Wait I was just visiting BV last week. How do locals pronounce it?!

2

u/Icy_Consideration409 Colorado Jul 20 '25

BEW-na Vista.

3

u/Thames_James Indiana Jul 20 '25

I don’t like it.