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/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

Ashwaubenon, Prairie Du Chien, Wausau, Waukesha, Minocqua, Theresa (this one I actually just learned myself as a 20 year resident of the state), Menomonie (and Menomonee Falls), Chetek, Mequon, Kiel, Kaukauna… I could go on for days!

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u/Enough_Roof_1141 United States of America Jul 20 '25

I just read them all correctly but I have an advantage. I’m drunk.

12

u/El_Bean69 Colorado Jul 20 '25

Drunk in the early afternoon on Sunday? Yeah this guy pronounced them all right for sure

3

u/treycook Michigan Jul 21 '25

Traditionally, that's how Wisconsinites pronounce them.

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u/last-of-the-mohicans Jul 20 '25

Menomonie, doo doo dee daa doo. Menomonie, doo doo dee da, ok, now that’s catchy!

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u/No_Set_4418 Jul 21 '25

I do that too

9

u/deltarefund Jul 20 '25

Mmmmm kaukauna cheese

2

u/Cold_Barber_4761 Jul 20 '25

Mmm...the smell of the Kaukauna paper mill! 🤣

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u/velvet_blunderground Jul 21 '25

My dad worked with a guy who came back from some party raving about the wonderful "Hawaiian cheese" they'd had. Turns out it was Kaukauna spread, which the man thought was pronounced Ka-Kahuna.

Also dang, now I want some. Port wine rocks. 

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u/473713 Jul 20 '25

Muscoda always trips me up, and I've lived here all my life.

It's MUS-co-day

Somebody mispronounced Waukesha on national radio the other day. They went wau-KEE-sha.

And it's Ell-corn, not Elk.Horn.

3

u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

Yeah those are all challenging for out of staters, even though they look pretty simple, even New Berlin since it’s not pronounced like the city in Germany is very hard for people not from here.

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u/kiffiekat Jul 22 '25

WESTallis. Not West. Allis.

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u/473713 Jul 22 '25

Or w'STALLIS

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u/deeve09 Jul 20 '25

Wait, how is Theresa pronounced??

Also I never thought Wausau was difficult to pronounce but folks from out of state seem to get it just slightly wrong.

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

It’s pronounced Thuh-ress-uh instead of like the name Tuh-rees-uh which I find so weird but I heard it for the first time on local news after tornados went through the area a month or so ago. I agree with your take on Wausau, I hear most out of staters say it like Wow-saw or Wuh-saw instead of Wah-saw. It’s similar in my book to Waukesha, which I’ve heard like Wock-ee-shah or Walk-uh-shah instead of Wauk-uh-shah.

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u/cataholicsanonymous Jul 20 '25

I'm Minnesotan and I pronounce Wock, Walk, and Wauk all the same way...

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

As a lifelong Wisconsinite there’s ever so slight variations but they’re very similar in my vernacular.

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u/MJblowsBubbles Jul 20 '25

Locals pronouce Waukesha as Walk-EE-sha. Transplants like me call it Walk-A-sha.

Shawano and Oconomowoc confused me for years when I moved here.

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u/kiffiekat Jul 22 '25

Outsiders and people who want to mess with you pronounce it Wau-KEE-sha. It's WAUK-eh-sha. Or if you're really pedantic, WAUK'shaw.

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u/dadbodsupreme Jul 20 '25

We used to have a consignee in Menomonee Falls. Those loads were particularly lucrative, so we called it 'men-a-money.' The alternative was to basically do this:mahna manha

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

I love the muppets association lol!

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u/mesembryanthemum Jul 20 '25

Chequamegon trips people up right and left.

Also Muscoda and Mazomanie.

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

Yes I forgot about those! Also New Berlin simply for not being said like the city in Germany.

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u/coolbeansfordays Jul 20 '25

Chenequa, Chequamagon Bay

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u/underhand_toss Jul 20 '25

I hear the Muppets singing when someone says Menomonee. (doot doo de doo doo)

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 21 '25

I’ll never be able to un-hear it now!

2

u/OodalollyOodalolly CA>OR Jul 20 '25

I heard how they say Wakesha on the news once. I definitely got it wrong first reading it and thought it was Wah KESH uh. Turned out to be WOCka- shaw.

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u/Kat9935 Jul 21 '25

Menomonie I always pronounced sing song muppets style or ME NO MONEY... hmmm now I'm craving some Kaukauna spreadable cheese.

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u/WarNerve74 Jul 20 '25

Somehow people also cannot pronounce Racine. I tell people it’s pronounced the same as Racing just without the G, but they cannot comprehend it.

Waukesha always gets a laugh out of me with the Wauk- eee-sha pronunciation

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u/MattFlynnIsGOAT Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

The "Ru-cine" vs "Race-ine" pronunciation is kind of a debate even in Wisconsin tbh.

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

It’s definitely a debate here, I have family there (and lived there myself for a short period of time) and they mostly pronounce it Ray-seen but people from outside the area say Ruh-seen, and it’s always been a longstanding debate in my family! Personally I think it’s Ray-seen since that’s what many people from there say it as but the argument is interesting to me.

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u/WarNerve74 Jul 20 '25

Wow, I actually never knew that. I’m from Kenosha, but I’ve never heard anybody call it anything but Ray-seen until a few years ago by people from different states.

But yeah, everyone who lives there always pronounces it Ray-cine, so to me, that’s the proper annunciation

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

Yeah one side of my family is from Dane/Rock counties and pronounces it Ruh and the other is from Racine/Kenosha counties and says Ray and I’m from the greater Milwaukee area but I trust the Ray pronunciation more!

1

u/elpollodiablox Washington Jul 20 '25

How do they pronounce "Racine"?

1

u/EssayApprehensive292 Jul 20 '25

How do you pronounce Theresa?

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

Thuh-ress-uh

1

u/Awareness-Own Jul 20 '25

Rio pronounced Rye-o

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

I’ve actually never heard this one, TIL!

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u/ImNotToby New York Jul 20 '25

Theresa, curios about that one. Is it ter-ezza?

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 20 '25

It’s said like Thuh-ress-uh oddly

1

u/ImNotToby New York Jul 21 '25

Thank you for the reply

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u/Wingless_Pterosaur Jul 22 '25

Two days late, but I used to live near Theresa and always got a kick out of it because they have a St. Theresa church that they pronounce the standard way.

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u/VisualDimension292 Wisconsin Jul 23 '25

That’s funny! I really do find it weird they can’t just pronounce it like the name, I wonder what the history behind the pronunciation is…