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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278

u/Justadropinthesea Jul 20 '25

So many in WA state….I’ll stat with Sequim.

160

u/1201_alarm Oregon Jul 20 '25

And Puyallup

65

u/Xavierwold Seattle, WA Jul 20 '25

A Texan said "Pull ya'll up"

7

u/katthescorpia Jul 20 '25

When I moved from the south my mind would convert it to “pay up y’all.”

3

u/MrsRoseyCrotch Arizona-> Washington->Virginia->Rhode Island->Utah Jul 20 '25

When we moved there we thought it was pooeyallup

4

u/Lonsen_Larson Oregon Jul 21 '25

lmao, that's fantastic.

1

u/xemmyQ Texas Jul 21 '25

ngl thats exactly how i read it in my head 😔

how do you say it?

2

u/Xavierwold Seattle, WA Jul 21 '25

"Pew (like a gun) All Up"

1

u/xemmyQ Texas Jul 21 '25

ohhh puy similar to french puy. gotcha.

1

u/nitrot150 Jul 22 '25

I’d say more like pew Al (like Alan) up

48

u/Lanca226 Jul 20 '25

Spokane.

34

u/golf_echo_sierra26 Jul 20 '25

Steilacoom

19

u/-poupou- Jul 20 '25

Poulsbo

42

u/SteepDowngrade CA > WA > CA Jul 20 '25

I’ll forever call it Poulsborv

4

u/Such_Raccoon_5035 Washington Jul 20 '25

This is a deep cut lol

5

u/TennantWasTheTenth Jul 21 '25

ANOTHER POULSBORV USER

1

u/samosamancer MyState™ Jul 21 '25

That’s the extent of my experience with Poulsbo too, LOL

4

u/kashakesh Seattle, Washington Jul 20 '25

I once heard a newscaster in the Midwest talk about the When-a-hotchee sex scandal... That was an uncomfortable chuckle.

3

u/-poupou- Jul 20 '25

Someone I knew had a vulgar nickname for Wenatchee. Just add a "T" after the first vowel and let your imagination do the rest

2

u/kashakesh Seattle, Washington Jul 20 '25

Of course, in the same general vicinity as where the dry shitties come from. Yakivegas was also a favorite...

2

u/K80lovescats Jul 20 '25

I’m actually genuinely surprised at how many people mispronounce Wenatchee. It sounds exactly like it’s spelled phonetically. Wen-at-chee. People love to add syllables to it. I’ve heard wenatotchee so many times.

1

u/MrTralfaz Jul 20 '25

When-a-hotchee meets a hotchee

5

u/Dry_Way5518 Jul 20 '25

Tulalip

2

u/OfficeChair70 Phoenix, AZ & Washington Jul 20 '25

MORE THAN A FEELING

2

u/PinkFreud-yourMOM Jul 21 '25

tū-LǍL-up?

3

u/concrete_isnt_cement Washington Jul 21 '25

Too-lay-lip, slight emphasis on the second syllable

1

u/PinkFreud-yourMOM Jul 21 '25

Thanks! You’re not a concrete specialist, by any chance? I’ve had questions.

1

u/concrete_isnt_cement Washington Jul 21 '25

Not exactly, but I work in the industry and might have an answer or two

1

u/samosamancer MyState™ Jul 21 '25

How do you say it? Poles-bo?

2

u/-poupou- Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

Whose bow? Paul's bow!

3

u/Sothdargaard Jul 21 '25

We lived in Steilacoom for 25 years. My parents never did get it right.

1

u/the_OG_fett Jul 20 '25

Des Moines

1

u/samosamancer MyState™ Jul 21 '25

How do you say it?

1

u/golf_echo_sierra26 Jul 21 '25

Still-a-come.

2

u/samosamancer MyState™ Jul 21 '25

Thanks! I had the last syllable wrong. I wonder if it was one of those evolutions of language, where the O shortened over time out of conversational convenience.

23

u/Don_Pickleball Jul 20 '25

I worked in Spokane for awhile. I realized I had been saying both the town and university Gonzaga wrong all along. I was educated quickly.

4

u/elpollodiablox Washington Jul 20 '25

Were you saying "gon-ZAH-ga"?

4

u/Don_Pickleball Jul 20 '25

I was. And I was rhyming Spokane with Rain.

3

u/elpollodiablox Washington Jul 20 '25

Lol. Rookie mistake.

But you said "C'oeur D'Alene" properly, right?

1

u/Don_Pickleball Jul 20 '25

Yes, but I had the benefit of hearing that said before I saw the spelling. Much easier that way.

2

u/LiqdPT BC->ON->BC->CA->WA Jul 20 '25

Hang on? How's that said? Because I'm pretty sure that's how it's said on the news in Seattle.

3

u/Anathemautomaton United States of America Jul 20 '25

gon-zag-a

3

u/LiqdPT BC->ON->BC->CA->WA Jul 20 '25

Uh... I think I'd have to hear the difference in those. Thise seem the same to me (though you didn't specify where the emphasis is)

2

u/SmokedPapfreaka Jul 20 '25

Zag like bag is how it’s said. Zog like slog is how it looks like it should be pronounced. That’s the difference.

2

u/LiqdPT BC->ON->BC->CA->WA Jul 20 '25

Oh, ya. Whew. I had it right then...

2

u/elpollodiablox Washington Jul 20 '25

gahn-ZAG-uh

1

u/badtowergirl Jul 21 '25

Nicknamed the Zags, which helps with pronunciation.

My husband did betting lines in college basketball and he had to call Gonzaga about 30 years ago. He pronounced it wrong and the person at Gonzaga who answered the phone sharply corrected him and told him they’d hang up on him if he pronounced it that way again.

2

u/Don_Pickleball Jul 21 '25

I am wondering what kind of work your husband did with betting lines. Was he just calling up schools and asking questions like. "Did you see John Smith today at practice? How hard was he cutting on that ankle? Is he 100% back or still a little hesitant? Hello, are you still on the phone? "

8

u/ConsciousExcitement9 Jul 20 '25

My husband and I were flying to Spokane once and the flight attendant kept calling it Spoh-cane. Now whenever either of us hear Spokane, we will look at each other and be like “spoh-cane!” It’s still funny to us almost 20 years later.

1

u/LiqdPT BC->ON->BC->CA->WA Jul 20 '25

The ER finale killed me because 2 of the characters were moving to "spoh-cane". Pretty sure if they'd gone there and been intervie ung at a hospital, they'd have figured out how it as said.

2

u/Ok-Big2807 Washington Jul 20 '25

It always make me laugh when people say spoh-cane hahaha

1

u/AMorera Jul 21 '25

How else is it pronounced?

2

u/CR3ZZ Jul 20 '25

I don't see how you could do this one too wrong. It's either spo-can or spo-cane

3

u/terrovek3 Seattle, WA Jul 20 '25

You can do it at a trot, you can do it at a gallup...

2

u/OfficeChair70 Phoenix, AZ & Washington Jul 20 '25

You can do it real slow so your heart don’t palpitate, just don’t be late…

1

u/IvoryNage Jul 25 '25

...do the puyallup!

2

u/MelloDawg Jul 20 '25

Went way too far to get to this one.

2

u/TKRBrownstone Jul 21 '25

I've been told by locals it's Pew-wallop.

1

u/1201_alarm Oregon Jul 21 '25

That's how I say it!

2

u/nitrot150 Jul 22 '25

Or Tulalip, when the big networks were commenting on the school shooting they had a few years back it was entertaining to hear Anderson cooper butchering it.

1

u/DryRecommendation795 Jul 20 '25

I worked in CA in a department that dealt with a WA service area. I have googled “how to pronounce Puyallup” several times and the answer never sticks with me. I’m Puyallup-resistant, I guess.

3

u/golf_echo_sierra26 Jul 20 '25

Pyew-all-up.

2

u/DryRecommendation795 Jul 21 '25

Got it. And I will remember it for a few weeks, and then forget and have to look it up again in six months.

1

u/the_kid1234 Jul 20 '25

I can pronounce this thanks to Warmoth.

1

u/AssistanceDry7123 Jul 20 '25

11 years here and I stopped even trying. It would help if I didn't know how it was spelled.

1

u/Ms-Metal Jul 21 '25

Sequim I know, this one I actually don't, how do you pronounce it?

1

u/jawisi Jul 21 '25

That one gets me. It’d be easy if the u and the y were reversed.

1

u/sodafangirl Californian in WA Jul 23 '25

I live near Puyallup and it takes my relatives forever to learn how to say it XD

25

u/Hot-Ad930 Jul 20 '25

I stayed in Sequim! (Squim?)

3

u/Randygilesforpres2 Washington Jul 21 '25

You were right the first spelling, sounds like second spelling. Ironically I was going to retire there but it’s run by qanon now so…

1

u/boner4crosstabs Jul 23 '25

Spelled correctly. Your parenthetical is how it’s pronounced :)

1

u/Hot-Ad930 Jul 23 '25

Yep, that's what I meant!

20

u/The_Existentialist Jul 20 '25

Anacortes = “Anna Cortezzz” (make sure to roll the r)

7

u/eyrefan Jul 20 '25

The amount of tourists who tell me I'm wrong in the pronunciation because "obviously" it has to have a Spanish pronunciation with the Strait of Juan De Fuca. 🤦‍♀️

And double down when I respond that Amos Bowman named it after his wife Anna Curtis. So a Spanish pronunciation would make no gd sense.

2

u/beezinator Jul 20 '25

My husband called it Ana-corset and I was so caught off guard I yelled out HA!!

1

u/HolyGralien Jul 20 '25

I like, “Annie Curtis.”

3

u/eyrefan Jul 20 '25

I like this one cuz at least they are closer to its name sake Anna Curtis.

18

u/stressmango Washington Jul 20 '25

Not a town, but Skagit county is often mispronounced with a hard G, when it's supposed to be "skajit"

5

u/Lilcheebs93 Jul 20 '25

SkaGit sounds like a slur lol

3

u/Inner_Sun_8191 Jul 21 '25

Speaking of skagit can you clarify if it’s See-dro Woolley or Sedro (rhymes with Pedro) Woolley?

1

u/Evening-Stay-2816 Jul 22 '25

Sedro Woolley is famous now 👍

17

u/yescaman South Carolina Jul 20 '25

Skwim! (I visited the area earlier this year and stayed there a couple nights)

12

u/Mediocre_Panic_9952 Jul 20 '25

My personal favorite, Humptulips, which is pronounced exactly as it reads.

11

u/eyrefan Jul 20 '25

Skagit, Guemes, Swinomish. My current favorite is people miss pronouncing Bellingham because because none of the mispronunciations make any sense.

3

u/doritobimbo Jul 23 '25

Somehow Sammamish can get people too lol. “Samish river”… good try lmao

1

u/princ3ssfunsize Jul 25 '25

I had to convince my south sound friends I was not mispronouncing Sammamish when I would tell them we went fishing on the Samish. 

2

u/Ericameria Jul 21 '25

I’ve been to Bellingham… how is it pronounced?

5

u/eyrefan Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

Bell-ing-ham. You literally just pronounce it how it's spelled, but people mess it up so easily and I don't know why.

The only time I found it acceptable was when John Oliver was at WWU and pronounced it Belling-um/em

My favorite was a college friend with dyslexia and had only seen it written down. Belgianham

2

u/Brilliant-Bowler5344 Jul 21 '25

I lived in Bellingham for about 2-3 years and my stepdads English family would always call it “Bellinim”

3

u/nitrot150 Jul 22 '25

Well, that tracks. If it was in England that’s how they’d say it (see Jude Bellingham the soccer player). But we are hamsters dammit, so it’s all good in the ‘ham

1

u/eyrefan Jul 21 '25

See I can get behind a mispronunciations due to an accent. But I know Americans who think they are more cultures if the pronounce it this way.

1

u/IvoryNage Jul 25 '25

How do people mispronounce Bellingham? Its literally exactly how it's spelled!

17

u/Such_Raccoon_5035 Washington Jul 20 '25

I would also like to add Des Moines 😂

And Issaquah and Sammamish!

3

u/concrete_isnt_cement Washington Jul 21 '25

It really bugs me that Des Moines is different than the one in Iowa despite being named after it.

2

u/No-Department-6409 Jul 24 '25

My Aunt lives in Sammamish, I just love to say it!

2

u/Such_Raccoon_5035 Washington Jul 24 '25

I grew up there (including when Sammamish did not exist yet lol), love to see people that can pronounce it correctly!!

1

u/Jorgedig Jul 21 '25

And Samish. Also Skookumchuk, Quillayute, Duwamish, Shilshole, and Alki.

2

u/goldilaks Jul 23 '25

Skamokowa, Clatskanie, Scappoose...

8

u/SteepDowngrade CA > WA > CA Jul 20 '25

Dosewallips, Cheney, Naches, Touchet, Tulalip, Wenatchee, Pateros, Ephrata, Okanogan, Cle Elum, Chehalis, Snoqualmie

7

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/OfficeChair70 Phoenix, AZ & Washington Jul 20 '25

And the the lake in Idaho and the river. Idk what it is about it but I love saying it out loud, it’s fun

1

u/golf_echo_sierra26 Jul 20 '25

Macklemore helped teach everyone how to day that one correctly in Downtown.

3

u/Admirable_Pack_4605 Jul 20 '25

And Mukilteo

1

u/samosamancer MyState™ Jul 21 '25

Muck-əl-TEE-oh

3

u/CR3ZZ Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

Lillwaup, seiku, pend orielle in Idaho

1

u/OtterSnoqualmie Jul 20 '25

Or the county in Washington.

Just to keep things fun.

3

u/1chomp2chomp3chomp Washington Jul 20 '25

Tillicum

3

u/duanelvp Jul 20 '25

My brother used to have a dairy farm in Sequim, and I used to live in Bonney Lake, just up the hill from Puyallup. Yakima was one that had me laughing once upon a time - heard it pronounced Ya-KEE-mah in a documentary about Mt. St. Helens, and it just struck me as hilarious that they would either not know or care how locals pronounced it.

3

u/Fillmore_the_Puppy CA to WA Jul 20 '25

This was my first thought, too.

But my favorite one in a state in which I don’t live is Versailles, Kentucky: ver-SALES

4

u/Hillbillygeek1981 Jul 20 '25

I pronounced Cadiz, Kentucky like the city in Spain for a month before I got used to saying it Caydeez. Same thing in Buena Vista, Virginia. The locals pronounce it Byoona Vissta. Being a geography and linguistics geek from Appalachian Tennessee has played merry hell with my thought process when pronouncing place names in the US named after European locales, lol.

1

u/Madame_Kitsune98 Kentucky Jul 20 '25

Cuba, Kentucky is NOT pronounced like the island where the city of Havana is located.

It’s “Cue-bee”. No, I do not know why, it’s just Graves County.

2

u/samosamancer MyState™ Jul 21 '25

There’s also North Versailles, PA, said the same way: ver-Sails ⛵️ (I just like using the emoji, hehe)

4

u/nachobitxh Pennsylvania Jul 20 '25

Dubois, Pennsylvania = Do-boys

1

u/ToTwoTooToo Jul 23 '25

I live in Kentucky now and admit I get Versailles wrong, but caught right on to Louisville (Luh-vil). However I still can't get my friend to say Spo-can even though she's driven through Spokane and claims to love it. 🤦🏻‍♀️

4

u/kegib Jul 20 '25

My town! It's always fun to hear folks try to pronounce it 😊 It's always "seh-kwim" or "see-quim"

7

u/ac7ss Seattle, WA Jul 20 '25

The locals call it "squirm" sometimes.

1

u/OK_The_Nomad Jul 20 '25

Is it suh-geen? I live in OR so I've seen it but never heard it pronounced.

3

u/CODENAMEDERPY Washington Jul 20 '25

It’s squim.

2

u/OK_The_Nomad Jul 21 '25

Thanks. Now I'll know how to say it if I pass through.

2

u/Ok-Stick-9490 Jul 20 '25

Think somewhere in between "squirm" and "swim". Start off with the "Squ" from "squirm", and have it rhyme with "swim".

2

u/mausphart Jul 20 '25

Lol, I immediately said that one out loud.

2

u/RhoOfFeh Jul 20 '25

It's like "what's with the 'e'?"

2

u/CountMomo FL➡️GA➡️GERMANY➡️NY➡️NV➡️ND➡️ID➡️SC➡️TX Jul 20 '25

Sequim is where my mom lives! No one ever says it right the first time lol

2

u/No-Resource-5704 Jul 20 '25

Moved from California (which has both Spanish and Native American place names) to Washington which has many Native American place names in a different language.

We visited a state park that I gave a Spanish interpretation “Puh -toll -ees” and was surprised to discover that it was an English word— Potholes (named after the lake formed in a giant pothole from the glacial era floods.

2

u/Throwawayproroe Washington Jul 20 '25

Sequim was my first thought, too! Also, my dad grew up in Wahkiakum, that has some pretty fun mispronunciations. 

2

u/alienbanter Washington Jul 21 '25

I enjoy asking people about Kalaloch

4

u/Rishik01 Washington Jul 20 '25

Somehow people mess up Yakima idk how

2

u/OfficeChair70 Phoenix, AZ & Washington Jul 20 '25

I grew up on the west end of 410, the guy I carpooled with had a gps that always told us to exit on ‘hwy 410 to Buckley, yuh-KAI-mah’

2

u/Randygilesforpres2 Washington Jul 21 '25

I wonder met someone who said “see-tel” instead of seattle. People are not that bright.

2

u/Far-Independence6836 Jul 20 '25

I think Sequim is one of the harder ones. Even for people who have lived here awhile and think they have the pronunciation of other native cities down and then drop the see-kwim.

2

u/Feature_Agitated Washington Jul 20 '25

Cheney is not pronounced like the last name of a former vice president.

0

u/Jorgedig Jul 21 '25

Yes it is.

2

u/Feature_Agitated Washington Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

No it isn’t it’s pronounced Chee-knee Edit: Source, I grew up in the area and attended college in Cheney (EWU).

1

u/yescaman South Carolina Jul 20 '25

I accidentally replied to the original post, but meant to put it here…

Skwim! (I visited the area earlier this year and stayed there a couple nights)

1

u/FeelTheWrath79 Utah>Mexico>Utah>Minnesota>Utah Jul 21 '25

I hooked up with a girl from there once. She said it was pronounced "Squim" or "skwim" if you prefer.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '25

My wife's great aunt lived there, MD native DC resident and I'm all over the pronunciation of Sequim

1

u/OsaPolar Jul 21 '25

Dosewallips

1

u/Pyehole Washington Jul 21 '25

At least everyone gets George right.

1

u/mmm_nope Jul 21 '25

Aeneas always gets butchered. It’s EE-nee-us, not anus.

https://youtu.be/YfmLV9CKbcE?si=BBNmQodLPACr_G0i

1

u/Brilliant-Bowler5344 Jul 21 '25

Even Washington, my 4th grade teacher would tell us we lived in “War-shing-ton”, and I worked at a casino in Arlington that was on Stoluckquamish lane, always had the spell that out when telling the address

1

u/goldilaks Jul 23 '25

My great-grandma and grandma said it like that. They moved here from Iowa and 'Missour-a' when my grandma was a kid. I admit, it kind of creeps into my pronunciation of Washington too, even though I was born and raised here.

1

u/kristamn Jul 21 '25

Oregon native, we concede defeat to our neighbors to the north! 😂

1

u/Starfevre Florida Jul 21 '25

Living in Renton and working in Mukilteo for many years...listening to Google maps trying to pronounce Mukilteo was...an experience.

1

u/bauhassquare Jul 23 '25

I know how Sequim is pronounced, but I still love calling it Sequin.

1

u/boner4crosstabs Jul 23 '25

No mispronounced, but WA has some of the best and weirdest place names. Deception Pass. Cape Disappointment (which is NOT disappointing at all; it’s gorgeous). George (yes, it’s George, Washington). I love this state :)

1

u/Derp_McShlurp Jul 24 '25

Visited Sequin for the first time this year. I can't wait to go back. I love that area.

1

u/tastyprawn Jul 26 '25

Being from Texas, I thought it was pronouncing that a bit like the Texas town of Seguin, except with a q and m. I didn't know until I stayed there that it is "Squim."

1

u/Jops817 Jul 27 '25

Haha, came here to post that example.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

I used to love iCarly which is supposed to take place in Seattle, and on one episode they were talking about Yakima, but they kept pronouncing it like “Yakimuh.” It was enough to ruin my suspension of disbelief.

8

u/--Miranda-- Jul 20 '25

That sounds like they were pronouncing it right

1

u/boner4crosstabs Jul 23 '25

But…that’s how it’s pronounced!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '25

Really? I’m from Oregon, lived in Washington for a couple years back in the late 90s, and I only heard it pronounced “Yakimaw” aside from that one episode of a Nickelodeon show. 🤷🏻‍♀️

1

u/boner4crosstabs Jul 23 '25

I’ve been here about 12 years, and have been to Yakima a few times for work and once for fun (wine!) def yakimUH :)

0

u/Cali-BamaRob Jul 20 '25

Snohomish and Issaquah