this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2024
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Today I Learned

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 months ago (2 children)

There was a disagreement on how to pronounce Arkansas; the first two US senators from Arkansas disagreed on how to say it.

Congress ended up having to request the Arkansas legislature in defining how to pronounce the state name.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If you want people to call you Arkansaw, don't spell it Arkansas. Thankyou for coming to my TED Talk.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

French language be like:

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago

Why not just ask the fucking Quapaw tribe they stole the name from?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I, an east coaster, once bought a car from Texarkana. When I learned it was literally on the border of Texas and Arkansas, I think my brain broke. Great share, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Wait till you hear where Calexico and Mexicali are.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Well, which Texarkana did you buy it from?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Arkansas side. Drunken ebay purchase out in the sticks that amazingly worked out. '72 olds 98 that sounded like a c47 on approach. Thanks for listening to my lame nonsense.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Here's the really crazy thing.

Ark City, KS is located on the Ar-KAN-sas River. But this is the same river that flows through Little Rock under the name AR-kan-saw.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

We come through and destroy an entire native civilization, and as a final "fuck you" we butcher their dead languages and name military equipment after them.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Oh, don’t forget putting towns named after some of the military officials that subjugated them on their reservation land.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The Mackinac Bridge connects the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan. It is in Mackinaw City. There is a nearby island, Mackinac.

The bridge is mackin-awwh.
The city is mackin-awwh.
The island is mackin-awwh.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Y'all come to New Orleans and try to pronounce a single street name "right."

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 months ago

It's pronounced "urinal."

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Are you saying "boo" or "boo-urbon"?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (2 children)

There’s a Newark NJ and a Newark DE.

The Jersey one is pronounced Newurk and the Delaware one is pronounced New Ark. It’s mildly inconvenient.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (6 children)

The little town in Texas is also "New Ark".

Some of my other favorites:

Texas

  • Montague = mon-TAYG (hard 'g')
  • Italy = IT-lee (2 syllables)
  • Buda = BUD-duh (EDIT: or is it BYOO-duh ?)

Georgia

  • Vienna = VYE-eena
  • Cairo = KAY-roe

Canada (less experience here, tbf)

  • Newfoundland = NEW-fin-LAND (do NOT slur the "land" part. Enunciate!)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

That's some certifiable insane shit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Texas has so many. Bogota pronounced buh-GO-duh

Arkansas has a Lafayette county pronounced luh-FAY-it even though that county literally borders Louisiana.

Don't even get me started on Bowie, DeKalb, or Houston.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ah yes. "Hoo-ston" and "How-ston" are definitely both things.

"De-kab" and "De-kalb"

Haven't run into the Bowie one.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

In Texas it's Boo-wee. That was the man's name as is the knife that bears it. Outside of Texas people mispronounce it as Bow-ee like Ziggy Stardust.

If you're talking about David (rest in power) Bowie, then it's Bow-ee. But the knife is Boo-wee.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

There's also a Newark Ohio which is pronounced something like 'nu-urk' or even 'nurk' by some (the latter I always took as people being silly, but I don't even know anymore).

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

Arkansas is pronounced Arr-Kansas already though. ;)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

TBH, I’m a native Kansan and have only ever heard it called “Ark City.”

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That makes sense. It's like back in Morocco, how Morocco Mole is just called Mole.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

And in Brazil, Brazil Nuts are just called nuts.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

And on Long Island, it's just called "tea".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

You've got it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They're actually called Castanha do Pará (Pará Nuts), but whatever.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

What do they call the in Pará then?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Fuck if I know, I've never been there lol.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Brazil nuts

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (9 children)

Ohio is great for shit pronunciations of town names.

Bellfountaine - bell FOUN'n (the t drops there in most dialects, some would say 'fountain' with the the first syllable stressed).

Versailles - verSAILS

Medina - muhDYEnuh

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

We have "verSAILS" in Indiana too. Also:

Peru - Pee-roo

Russiaville - Roosha-vil

Lebanon - Leb'nun

My favorite though is that there are two spellings for the Wabash river: Wabash and Ouabache. And despite being in a town that is on the Wabash River, the local Oabache Elementary School is pronounced: Wah-bat-shee.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

The pronunciation of Lebanon you called out may sound like it came from a hayseed, but it’s closer to the way people in the country of Lebanon pronounce it than the mainstream American pronunciation.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Right down the road from Versailles is the town I grew up in and the movie Hoosiers is based off of. Milan (pronounced my - lan)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I think y'all also have KAY-row (Cairo) if I remember right. (or maybe that's Illinois?)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

There's a Miami, Oklahoma. Pronounced, "My-am-uh"

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I learned that from the Big Bang Theory!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

That's some high tier psychological damage right there.

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