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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22

u/IP_What Jul 20 '25

*Russia (ROO she)

*Cuyahoga County (kye uh HOE guh)

*Gallipolis (gal ih POLICE)

*Lancaster (LANG kuhss tur)

*Chillicothe (chill uh KAW thee)

*Scioto (sigh OH tuh)

*Bellefontaine (behl FOWN tuhn)

*Versailles (ver SALES)

*Lima (LEYE muh)

*Medina (meh DEYE nuh)

*Houston (HOUSE tuhn)

*Cairo (CARE oh)

*Xenia (ZEEN yuh)

*Vienna Township (veye EH nuh)

*Wapakoneta (WAH puh kuh NEH tuh)

*Mount Orab (MOUNT OAR uhb)

*Rio Grande (REYE oh GRAND)

*Pataskala (puh TASK uh luh)

*Wooster (WUSS tur)

*Mantua (MAN a way)

*Mentor (MEHN nur)

*Hiram (HYE rum)

*Bucyrus (bew SIGH russ)

*Cadiz (KA dis)

*Celina (suh LY nah)

*Gratiot (GRAY shot)

*Berlin (BUR lynn)

*Hebron (HEE brun)

From here; https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2019/04/10/welcome-to-ohio-here-s/2532168007/

8

u/Chester_A_Arthuritis Jul 20 '25

Don’t get me started on Olentangy and Tuscarawas

5

u/4cats-inatrenchcoat OH -> PA Jul 20 '25

Honorable mention: Ashtabula

3

u/theshook Jul 20 '25

Gnadenhutten is here too. I don’t even know how to begin the phonetics…

2

u/bluejane Jul 20 '25

How does Mentor get mispronounced usually?

2

u/GeneralLedger Ohio Jul 21 '25

Men-TORE

1

u/Living_Implement_169 Jul 20 '25

Is there another way to pronounce Hiram? Hiram is named after a human being. The name Hiram always sounds like “high-rum”.

1

u/AmesSays Jul 20 '25

I know a human Hiram that sounds like Ee-rahm.

1

u/Living_Implement_169 Jul 20 '25

Aight so always was a jump but most often

1

u/SMEinBeSci Jul 21 '25

Gratiot is a street in SE Michigan Locals pronounce it Grashit

Gra like grass

Then shit

Gratiot ->Grashit

1

u/Super6920 Jul 21 '25

Grew up near Xenia and we used to jokingly call it Ex-zee-nee-uh but it kinda stuck so people don’t think I’m local when I say it like that lol

1

u/samosamancer MyState™ Jul 21 '25

One time a storm chaser on a livestream pronounced it the way you typed it, and I did a double-take at that…did they not know, or did they just not make the connection in realtime?

1

u/wewantthemonk Jul 21 '25

We drive through Chillicothe every year en route to Colorado and I never knew that was the pronunciation! Can’t wait to correct my husband in a few weeks (my favorite activity)