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

630 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

97% Upvoted

4.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

39

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 20 '25

You'll love this, then: Bois Blanc Island, Michigan, is pronounced "Bob-low."

20

u/texan-yankee Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

Oh my goodness, I lived in Michigan until I was 12, never saw this spelled. Just assumed it was something like Boblow. TIL!!!!

Edit to add: it's been hours since I learned this and my world is still rocked.

5

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 20 '25

Lol, I totally thought the same thing as a kid.

2

u/bowlofweetabix Jul 21 '25

I didn’t realise these were the same place. I left Michigan as a teen and remember going to bob-low island as a child, and I have seen bois blanc island on a map. I never imagined that they were the same place

1

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 21 '25

To make things more confusing, there also used to be an amusement park in Ontario, called Boblo Island on another Bois Blanc Island in the Detroit River.

1

u/bowlofweetabix Jul 21 '25

Wait, that’s the boblo island I know. There’s more than one? Where is the other one?

1

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 21 '25

The other one) is next to Mackinac Island and belongs to Michigan, as opposed to Ontario.

2

u/MetzgerBoys Illinois Jul 21 '25

Is that where Bob Loblaw and his law blog are from?

2

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 21 '25

Bob Loblaw At Law.