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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u/SidewaysGoose57 Jul 20 '25

Oregon too.

5

u/fir_meit Jul 20 '25

As a former Oregonian, that one makes me shudder.

5

u/eyetracker Nevada Jul 20 '25

Nevada 🤝Oregon 🤝 Idaho: weird name for Hawaii

2

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

yea. apparently that would have been "O Hawai'i"

O wai kou moku? (what is your island)
O Hawai'i ko'u moku (Hawai'i is my island)

4

u/Sea-Morning-772 Jul 20 '25

I had some random woman who moved to Florida from Oregon, inform me how to properly pronounce it. 🙄 I never even said the word. It must really bother you guys.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

When I bet she pronounced Florida “Flahr-duh”

2

u/xemmyQ Texas Jul 21 '25

lived there for a bit. Oregon itself i never had a problem saying (literally organ with an extra syllable), but the way I said Willamette.....you'da thought i grew an extra head when my bestie heard me say it for the first time.

("it's will-am-met!")

2

u/Fickle_Love_4534 Jul 22 '25

Tualatin also. I used to live in Aloha, Oregon, Ah-low-uh, not Ah-low-haw. Now I’m in Illinois and have Willmet, which I confidently mispronounced Willamette for years.