Thrillist.com posted a list of a bunch of U.S. cities people mispronounce all the time. Here are eight of them. There’s a decent chance you’ve gone your whole life saying at least one of these wrong . . .
1. Boise, Idaho. (BOY-see) Most people say it like there’s a “Z” in there. And it’s a pretty minor difference, but it’s supposed to be pronounced with an “S” sound.
2. Lafayette, Louisiana. (LAH-fee-et) Most people say La-FAY-et, like it’s spelled. But it’s La-FEE-et.
3. Helena, Montana. (HELL-en-uh) A lot of people say Hell-AY-nuh. But the emphasis should be on the first syllable, not the second.
4. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (WILKS-Bairy) The second half is spelled B-A-R-R-E, so a lot of people say Wilks-BAR. But it’s Wilks-BAIRY.
5. Kissimmee, Florida. (Kah-SIM-ee) Some people put the emphasis on the first part, KIH-suh-mee. But it’s Kah-SIM-ee.
6. Norfolk, Virginia. (NOR-fik) It doesn’t actually rhyme with the world “folk.” It’s NOR-fik . . . or NAW-fik if you want to sound like you’re from Virginia.
7. Spokane, Washington. (Spo-CAN) It looks like it’s Spo-CANE, but it’s Spo-CAN.
8. Louisville, Kentucky. (LOO-ih-vull) A lot of people say “LOUEY-ville.” But there’s no hard “E”. So it almost sounds like it’s just two syllables . . . LOO-ih-vull. (Thrillist)
(Check out 12 more hard-to-pronounce cities here.)
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