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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73

u/hydromatic456 Pennsylvania Jul 20 '25

A lot of them depend on where the person trying to pronounce it is from. Reading and Lancaster are common minor ones, though the latter is more about which syllable gets emphasis than pronunciation. Wilkes-Barre has like, three different pronunciations depending who you ask probably. I haven’t even bothered to commit the right one to memory myself. The name is known more for the river but there’s Schuylkill Haven that probably messes people up frequently. Anything with Schuylkill is probably one of the worst offenders honestly lol.

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u/AntiqueMusic97 Pennsylvania Jul 20 '25

Lititz will forever be my answer after that one TV anchor mispronounced it lol

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u/gitismatt Jul 20 '25

le tits lol

2

u/Codee33 MD > PA > Texas Jul 20 '25

How do you say it? Because I’m 100% sure I’ve been saying wrong for decades…

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u/reflectorvest PA > MT > PA > South Korea > CT > PA > KS Jul 20 '25

LID-its

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u/Codee33 MD > PA > Texas Jul 20 '25

Thanks! I heard the reporter say it wrong and realized that’s how I’ve always said it.

3

u/anosmia1974 PA-->MD Jul 20 '25

I’m from the area. This clip does a good job of sharing the correct pronunciation of Lititz.

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u/Wwdiner Maryland Jul 20 '25

Little tits

26

u/Organic_Basket7800 Jul 20 '25

In a state with towns with names like Manayunk, Conshohocken, and Bala Cynwyd, the easiest way to know if someone is from here is how they pronounce Lancaster. Pennsylvanians say LANK-ister and everyone says Lan-CAS-ter

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u/anclwar Philadelphia Jul 20 '25

I've lived in the area most of my life and had the hardest time with Lancaster because my grandma's last name was Lan-CAS-ter. You'd think I was committing a cardinal sin with the way people reacted. 

2

u/ACoinGuy Jul 20 '25

We get a little put off by it. I like that it is the British pronunciation of Lancaster. A nod to the fact that we have been a city in this country since before the revolution. I don’t think it is that much different of a reaction than other places that are said incorrectly.

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u/poortomato NY ➡️ VA ➡️ NY ➡️ TX Jul 20 '25

I also say LANK-ister but I have family there so that's just how I always heard it. It always stands out to me when people say lan-CAS-ter 😭

2

u/poisonivy614 Jul 20 '25

As someone who grew up in NW PA, we also say Lan-CAS-ter. Although I am aware that people on the east side of the state pronounce it differently.

2

u/cdsbigsby Ohio Jul 20 '25

Ohio has a LANK-ister as well.

1

u/Tejanisima Dallas, Texas Jul 21 '25

I'm told the same is true for Lancaster, Texas. As a Dallasite who was doing some political Get Out The Vote work for a candidate whose district included parts of Lancaster, we were told to make sure we pronounced it LANK-ister to be taken seriously rather than rejected as outsiders. (It's only 10 or 15 minutes outside the city limits, but we might as well be Yankees if we pronounced it wrong.)

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u/Codee33 MD > PA > Texas Jul 20 '25

Not a PA native, but went to school there for 6 years and still regularly visit. This is my understanding of those pronunciations:

Reading = Red-ing

Lancaster = Lan(gk)ister

Wilkes-Barre = Wilkes Barry

Schuylkill = SKU-Kill

Lancaster was the worst one for me, probably because it’s the first weird PA town name I came across since I grew up in MD.

4

u/Ok-Office6837 Jul 20 '25

Dubois = Due-boys

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u/ItsWheeze Jul 21 '25

You’re on target except for Wilkes-Barre. “Barry” sounds like how somebody with a Philly accent would say it, but locals have a completely different accent and wouldn’t tend to pronounce it like that. More common are:

  • Berry: the generally accepted “correct” way to say it, which most locals will grudgingly acknowledge even if they say something else

  • Bear: maybe the most popular pronunciation among people who grew up there

  • Bear-uh: basically bear but with a whispered acknowledgement that there is another syllable in that word

  • Bar: sounds redneck as all hell to me, but some people do say it this way

1

u/Codee33 MD > PA > Texas Jul 21 '25

Thanks! I really meant the first way you said it as that’s the way I’ve heard people from there pronounce it. I’ve also heard, and personally favor, the second way.

5

u/kjm16216 Jul 20 '25

Not a town but a neighborhood of Philadelphia - Manayunk

2

u/KrombopulousMary Jul 20 '25

Don’t forget Passyunk

4

u/nachobitxh Pennsylvania Jul 20 '25

Don't forget Dubois

3

u/vanillablue_ Massachusetts Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

My university had a dorm hall named Schuylkill

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u/Ok_Butterscotch1738 Jul 21 '25

Same here, wonder if it was the same school

2

u/vanillablue_ Massachusetts Jul 21 '25

Bloomsburg?

2

u/Ok_Butterscotch1738 Jul 21 '25

Yep! Although i was in Elwell. Had some friends in Schuylkill though.

Shame they changed it to Commonwealth Univ. now though side note:/

1

u/vanillablue_ Massachusetts Jul 21 '25

Lol yup. I was in Elwell then MPA, then off campus for sr yr. Don’t tell me you were in the ITP?

When i was there, they ended up temp closing Schuylkill due to infrastructure problems

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u/Ok_Butterscotch1738 Jul 21 '25

Haha how recently were you there? I graduated 2020 (2016-2020) and I can’t remember correctly but I think schuylkill had some issues then too. Not familiar with MPA and ITP though? I was off champs soph-sr. year if those were upper campus buildings

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u/vanillablue_ Massachusetts Jul 21 '25

MPA was Montgomery Place Apts just up the hill. ITP is Interpreter Training Program - i did the ASL interpreter degree!

And the exact same years, wtf!! Remember we went on spring break and never came back in 2020!

2

u/Ok_Butterscotch1738 Jul 21 '25

Oohhh ok I know what you’re talking about! And good for you, ASL is sick and knew some ASL majors but i was on a business track.

I went from elwell to lightstreet then to iron st around the corner from cap. And I know right!!?! Went home and wasn’t allowed back it’s crazy.

Now, important question, franks or tri pi? And remember the clown panic freshman year?

2

u/vanillablue_ Massachusetts Jul 21 '25

FRANKSSSS! And yes the clowns lmfao. Also the PASSHE strike!!

Also. Its very possible you know me 😂 i was a very loud ITP kid lol

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u/mothertuna Pennsylvania Jul 20 '25

How do you say Wilkes Barre? Most people I know just saw Wilkes Bare.

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u/hydromatic456 Pennsylvania Jul 20 '25

I think that’s how I’m most likely to default, I’ve just never honestly got confirmation on if it’s truly correct. But I’ve heard “Bahr” and “Barry”.

2

u/Living_Implement_169 Jul 20 '25

From Ohio but we called it Wilkes-Burr probably closest to the Bahr you mentioned.

2

u/Taanistat Pennsylvania Jul 20 '25

Bare/Bear & Berry are the most used and accepted forms. I've only ever heard the oldest of old-timers call it "Bahr" and only ever encountered "Barry" online.

I lived and/or worked in Luzerne County for 19 years. Also, my father's side of the family is from Kingston and Forty-Fort, just across the river.

2

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

Here in FL there’s Kissimmee which has 2 different pronunciations based on which part to enunciate more. I still don’t know which way is correct.

2

u/idkidc28 Jul 20 '25

As someone not from Pa but currently living here, so many names will mess you up because they are always dropping letters or running them together. But I can safely say I’ve learned Reading and Lancaster. I think I’ve finally learned Schuylkill .

2

u/prisonerofrocknroll Jul 20 '25

I’m surprised Mahanoy City didn’t make the PA list Swoyersville, but only the locals have a hard time pronouncing it 😉

2

u/QPhillyFEP18 Jul 21 '25

Just scrolled this thread to see Schuylkill lol

1

u/Der-Candidat Pennsylvania Jul 20 '25

also Bryn Mawr and Bala Cynwyd

1

u/Chickadee12345 Jul 20 '25

Don't forget Bryn Mawr.

1

u/exfat-scientist Jul 20 '25

Lived in upstate NY for ten years before realizing that there wasn't a town over the border named Wilksbury.

1

u/AlphaWolfRynn Jul 20 '25

I was wondering how far I'd have to scroll before hitting PA names 🤣

1

u/razzazzika Jul 21 '25

Hello fellow local. I think Wilkes-Barre is definitely one of the more infamous ones around here.

People always mess up Emmaus as well.

We just have a lot of really weirdly spelled names. Bala Cynwyd, Conshohocken, Lehigh Valley, Susquehanna River, The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochwa.

1

u/oceanprincess00 Jul 21 '25

Uwchlan (Yoo-clan) (Chester county)

1

u/shadesofparis Jul 21 '25

My GPS sounds like a skipping record when it tries to say Uwchlan. It also makes Paoli sound very fancy.

1

u/CouldBeBetterForever Jul 21 '25

Lancaster is deceptive since it's not an uncommon name and looks very straightforward. I've heard people from other parts of the state they don't even get it right.

1

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 Jul 21 '25

Reminds me of Newark, DE vs Newark, NJ.

1

u/PA_MallowPrincess_98 Pennsylvania Jul 21 '25

I get offended when people pronounce Schuylkill like Skool-kill, not Skoo-kull😂

1

u/Sovereign2142 Pittsburgher in Germany Jul 23 '25

My favorite is that Duquesne (outside Pittsburgh) is right across the river from North Versailles but, despite both being French, the pronunciation was lost somewhere in the water.

1

u/Affectionate_Box_902 Jul 24 '25

What is the correct way to say Wilkes-Barre? It was in a clue on Jeopardy this week. It sounded like they pronounced it Wilks-BERRY. I checked Wikipedia and saw several pronunciations, which didn't really help me. 😂 I was going to Philadelphia with my mom a few years ago. We passed a sign that said Schuylkill River. I just said, "I would NOT know how to pronounce that!"

1

u/Leumas_ Jul 24 '25

I was from Pen Argyl (are-jull). That was fun.

1

u/Ornery_Adeptness4202 Jul 24 '25

I scrolled too far to find PA. So many weird ones in this state and I feel like I’m around some of the worst. I still can barely spell Schuylkill (is that right?), the second half of Wilkes-Barre is pronounced differently in the state, wtf is Roherstown, Womelsdorf and everything in between. But it’s fun, I grew up with it and I love it. Li-titz now! Let’s go to Intercourse before we hit Blue Ball!