help help desperately need help help

[franksolich]

Hey, I'm going to be conversing with one of our stars here today, Mr. Wiggum, and something suddenly occurred to me last night--I was dreaming about fox-hunting through the Connecticut countryside with Clare Booth Luce, and abruptly woke up.

I don't want to sound like an idiot with Mr. Wiggum.

Anyway.

How does one pronounce the last name of the next vice-president of the United States?

Really.  I don't know.  I've never heard it.

Is it something like "pay-lin" or "paul-lin" or "pal-lin"?

Most of the time, I can figure out pronunciation, but in this case, it's a proper name, and man oh man have I fouled those up majorly.

I don't want to sound like an idiot with Mr. Wiggum.

[Carl]

The way most are pronouncing it is "pay-lin".

Gotta say Frank that sometimes we need something like this to realize all that we take for granted in life and to really admire what you have accomplished without evidence of bitterness.

It is humbling.

[bijou]

Pay-lin.

[bijou]

The way most are pronouncing it is "pay-lin".

Gotta say Frank that sometimes we need something like this to realize all that we take for granted in life and to really admire what you have accomplished without evidence of bitterness.

It is humbling.

Ditto, H5.

[franksolich]

Thank you, thank you, Carl and bijou; I kiss your feet.

I don't want Mr. Wiggum to come back here and tell everybody franksolich is an utter idiot.

I think what sparked this is that there's a city (population 322), "Hadar," just north of the big city.

Well, that looks like "Hadar" to me--"hey-darr."

I used that word yesterday, and the woman looked at me as if I were Bozo from Outer Space.

I guess it's pronounced "hay-derr."

It's a damn embarrassment.

That however doesn't explain one experience--and bijou's probably the only one who understands it--when in England, I went to the ticket-window of a railway station, and asked for a ticket to Walsingham.

I pronounced that exactly as it's spelled, and got the ticket.

I guess it's actually pronounced "Walsham."

Or something like that.

[bijou]

I'd pronounce it 'Woll - sing- um' but it would vary slightly with different regional accents, the 'um' could equally well be 'am'.

[lastparker]

It happens to everyone...... Last November I was hiking around Manhattan, having piggybacked on a business trip of my Mother's and found myself having to kill time....... after the first stop at Ground Zero, I started meandering back Uptown.  Ended up in SoHo, then NoHo, then I got tired and took the subway back to the hotel.  I had gotten turned around a few times in my wanderings, and spared myself extreme embarassment by being too shy to ask directions.   Because, you see, I thought that the pronunciation of one of the most famous streets in the world was that same as the city in Texas..... "hyou-stun".  Found out later it is pronounced "How-stun".  Had NO idea.

[NHSparky]

And God forbid you ever go to the Demokratik Socialist People's Republik of Massaholechusettsstan, where you'll run into such towns as:

Worcester (pronounced WOO-stuh)
Billerica (pronounced bill-RICA)
Leominster (pronounced Lem-MIN-stah)
Tewksbury (pronounced Tooks-bree)
Haverhill (pronounced Have-RILL)
Groton (pronounced GRAWT-n)

[Carl]

And God forbid you ever go to the Demokratik Socialist People's Republik of Massaholechusettsstan, where you'll run into such towns as:

Worcester (pronounced WOO-stuh)
Billerica (pronounced bill-RICA)
Leominster (pronounced Lem-MIN-stah)
Tewksbury (pronounced Tooks-bree)
Haverhill (pronounced Have-RILL)
Groton (pronounced GRAWT-n)

 

You so nailed it.

[DixieBelle]

Or Oklahoma -

Vian (Vi ANN)
Miami (My AMA)
Eufaula (Yoo Falla)
 
That doesn't even touch the Native American named ones

[Lord Undies]

Or Oklahoma -

Vian (Vi ANN)
Miami (My AMA)
Eufaula (Yoo Falla)
 
That doesn't even touch the Native American named ones

You forgot Doo Rant.   :innocent:

[Lord Undies]

Or Oklahoma -

Vian (Vi ANN)
Miami (My AMA)
Eufaula (Yoo Falla)
 
That doesn't even touch the Native American named ones

Actually, Miami is an Indian tribe. 

[DixieBelle]

Or Oklahoma -

Vian (Vi ANN)
Miami (My AMA)
Eufaula (Yoo Falla)
 
That doesn't even touch the Native American named ones

Actually, Miami is an Indian tribe. 

I know that Hubby was born and raised in the Cherokee Nation. I was pointing it out because it's typically pronounced like the city in Florida.

[Lauri]

my husband has a new (old) stand up arcade (Mrs Pacman) and he and his dad have been talking about the restoring of this thing and for 24 hours i heard the word "deckle" and could not figure out what the heck they were talking about.

apparently, to the canukistanians living in my home .. Decal, which Americans pronounce as "DE Cal" is nowhere near the Canadian pronunciation of 'deckle' ... for anyone still not understanding what i'm taking about; decals are the stickers one uses to restore the faded stickers on the arcades.


 

and have fun with Ralph!

[DixieBelle]

Oh Canada!

"boot" for "boat" gets me.

[Chris_]

In the So Cal Area:

La Jolla (la HOY-a)
Port Hueneme (Port why-NEE-me)
La Canada (La ki-NYA-dah) (NOT KAN-ah-dah)

[MrsSmith]

Seriously, frank, this happens to us all.  Mr Smith has corrected my pronunciation of several area towns...

Arkansas City is NOT pronounced "AR kan saw City", it is "ar KAN zes City"

Neodesha is pronounced "Nee OH desh a" (long a),  not "neo DESH ah"

I once heard a weatherman in Nebraska pronounce Ogallala as OG al a la  (for non-Nebraskans, it's o ga LAL la)

[miskie]

And God forbid you ever go to the Demokratik Socialist People's Republik of Massaholechusettsstan, where you'll run into such towns as:

Worcester (pronounced WOO-stuh)
Billerica (pronounced bill-RICA)
Leominster (pronounced Lem-MIN-stah)
Tewksbury (pronounced Tooks-bree)
Haverhill (pronounced Have-RILL)
Groton (pronounced GRAWT-n)

indeed - and theres;

Peabody (PEE-buh-dee)
Taunton (TAHN-ton)
Gloucester (GLOUH-stuh)
Leicester (LESS-tuh)
Pembroke (PEM-brook)
Dracut (DRAY-kit)
Woburn (WOO-bin)

And where I live
New Bedford (NOO-beffit)