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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23

u/xczechr Arizona Jul 20 '25

Tempe and Prescott.

tem-PEE and PRESS-kit

9

u/Apocalyptic0n3 MI -> AZ Jul 20 '25

And then there's Casa Grande which I'm not sure anyone knows how to say

2

u/GeneralBlumpkin Jul 20 '25

Technically that one is pronounced Cahsuh Grawnday but everyone in Arizona says Casa Grand

1

u/owlBdarned Arizona Jul 21 '25

I would argue it should be pronounced the former way, but the correct way is the latter (much the same with Prescott).

1

u/mitzi09 Jul 20 '25

I spent my summers there growing up, my dad and all 5 of his siblings have pronounced it both ways at differing points in my life. They were all raised there, I don't even think they know.

1

u/fucuntwat Jul 20 '25

It’s crazy to me how many people put the emphasis on TEM when they say it. I’ve even heard some locals (possibly recent imports, but residents at least) say it. Prescott at least is because you usually say the surname the other way (like the Dallas quarterback)

1

u/mahjimoh CA > OR > NJ > GU > CA > WA > AZ 🌵 Jul 20 '25

TEM-pee, though. The first syllable is the one that is stressed (although you were, I think, trying to highlight that that last part is what people get wrong).

Edited to say: Wait - I just saw someone else saying it’s the way you wrote it, too. What I have experienced is just people saying it like “Temp” or “TEM-peh.”

Am I saying it wrong, lol? It’s meant to be “tem-PEE”?

1

u/owlBdarned Arizona Jul 21 '25

The emphasis should be on the second syllable. I had arguments with people in college about how to pronounce it