That's NOT how you say it !!!

[Mad Townie]

OK, anyone want to take a shot at the correct pronunciation of this one?

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Zizz'-ix?

Where is it?

 

[brianW]

There is always the "anoying" way Wachusett is said in the commercials.

By the way Wachusett Mountain is a mountain in Princeton, Ma. Mount Wachusett is a community college in Gardner (Gaad-na) MA. and of course there is that other Wachusett that comes in 12oz bottles.

 

[NewHampshire]

OK, anyone want to take a shot at the correct pronunciation of this one?

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Awwww, c'mon, that one is easy. Its pronounced "road" .

Brian

 

[Mark Schaefer]

OK, anyone want to take a shot at the correct pronunciation of this one?

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Zounds! It is in California of course. Where else could something so zany be located. It's near the Soda Lake, just west of Mojave National Preserve, off of I-15. I have no idea how to pronounce it, but I would guess Zzikes! (rhymes with hikes).

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Zizz'-ix?

Where is it?

Yup, Mark Schaefer has the correct location, and most pronounce it z-zix'.

As far as I know, no one lives anywhere in the vague vicinity of the exit. But, there's not uncommon in some of the vast expanses of the west. In Utah, they refer to that type of exit as a 'ranch exit' - (i.e. - if you drive far enough, there'll be a ranch out there somewhere).

 

[jjmcgo]

Truh Pello Rd.

I'm not sure I can agree with NH_Mtn_Hiker's speculation that New Hampsherites in the mid-19th Century wouldn't be familiar with the proper pronunciation of Tripoli, because it was the location of America's first "voluntary" war, the attack on the Barbary Pirates.
The hero of that war, Stephen Decatur, was honored all over New England. Back when telephone numbers began with name exchanges, our Newton, Mass., exchange was DEcatur 2 xxxx.
Lincoln made a speech in Decatur, Ill., in 1830, 10 years after Decatur died in a duel with a military-officer rival. So, Decatur was one of the most famous of all Americans in the 1800s, based on his victories in Tripoli.
The words to the Marine Hymn ("to the shores of Tripoli") were written by a forgotten author in the mid-1800s, although the music was introduced in a Paris play in 1859. The Marines copyrighted it in 1919.
I'm inclined to think the local usage derived from a shortening of tripolite.
I remember the 1970s yuppies trying to change the pronunciation of Trapelo Rd. from Truh pello Rd. to Trap ah low Rd.

 

[TroutBumNH]

thanks / a fun thread..

a) thanks... the Kanc thing has driven me nuts for years! MAG-us.....
b) my $0.02.... the ravine names.....

Tuckerman Ravine
Huntington Ravine

just another pet peeve.. they're not possessive... "I'm doing Tuck's.." or "I'm going through Huntington's" just ain't right.... drives me cuckoo...

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I have to bring some NJ names in as well
Wanaque
Pequannock
Musconetcong
Frelinghuysen
Ho-Ho-Kus

I think it is Wa-nake and Pe-kwan-nuck. Joisey does have some interesting names, many thanks to the Lenni-Lenapi natives. The spellings are often fairly good for pronunciations, but it can be fun assigning a meaning in English.

Cheesequake (cheesecake made with Jell-O).
Hackensack (one of the foreign teams that plays in the Meadowlands).
Hoboken (Ken on the road), actually from Hopoakan, which means "a pipe for smoking".
Ho-Ho-Kus (A Christmas dinner of couscous), name actually means "red cedar".
Kittananny Ridge (a hootenanny locale for young cats).
Manunka Chunk (Willy Wonka's new chocolate bar).
Parsippany (any average drink while on the greens).
Piscataway (a canine's plan for felines).
Ramapo River (a kayaker's off ramp from the NYS Thruway).
Secaucus (any selenium compound).
Succasunna (you spent too much time in the sun).
Weehawken (a Kestrel), name actually means "place of gulls".

One of my faverite names is Wala Wala Washington

In my youth I spent a summer in Walla Walla ("land of many waters" in the language of the native tribe). However, it resembles a dry dirt desert, and very little grows without irrigation. The Walla Walla tribe spent most of their time near Wallula on the Columbia River, between the confluences with the Snake and Walla Walla Rivers which makes more sense for the name. So how do you think Babwa Wawa would pronounce Walla Walla? Wawa Wawa.

Everyone forgot Appalachain. There is the northern way and the southern way. Which is correct?

FWIW, The southern pronunciation is represented in Apalachin, NY. I suppose it depends on where you are from. Similarly it is Missouri in the eastern, and Missoura in the western parts of that state. Both insist they are correct.

 

[David Metsky]

just another pet peeve.. they're not possessive... "I'm doing Tuck's.."

"I'm skiing up in Tux" is OK. It's a nickname, not a possessive. But "I'm going skiing up in Tuckerman's" bugs me as well. The USGS generally doesn't allow possessives in place names.

 

[TroutBumNH]

"I'm skiing up in Tux" is OK. It's a nickname, not a possessive. But "I'm going skiing up in Tuckerman's" bugs me as well. The USGS generally doesn't allow possessives in place names.

Good point... as a nickname, you're right... i was referring to your second use.

 

[F-Face]

Kancamagus...

How do you get the first and third syllables to rhyme with "'bang"?!!!

Think "beer kan " for the first syllable. The second and third syllables rhyme with "ah". The last syllable sounds like the name "gus".


can-cah-mah-gus, not cang-ga-mang-gus.


Happy Trails

I like to call it Kan-ker-sore

 

[F-Face]

Warning: Controversial topic ahead (or so I've heard)...

What is the correct pronunciation of the following:

Kancamagus
Moosilauke
Coos (as in the county)
willey (as in the mountain)
Scaur (as in the ridge)
Pemigewasset
Nauman (as in the campsite)
Bond (kidding)

...any others?

Coos = Coe-oss

"oss" as in Boss is how I pronouce it.

Scaur = scar

 

[F-Face]

Take a bow in Bow, NH

or

Tie a bow in Bow, NH.

So which is it?

This one is similar to "row" (as in the boat) and "row" (as in an argument). Both pronounced differently, the latter used more often in the Queen's english than in American english

 

[Chip]

Warning: Old Thread Bump !

This was a good thread though.

Coos = Coe-oss

"oss" as in Boss is how I pronouce it.

Can I get a confirmaion on "Coe-Oss" (ryhmes with Row-Boss) ? I pronounce Coos like it rhymes with booze.

What prompted me to look for this thread is I hate saying "Karen" (for Cairn) or kayerrn, like a drawn out, one syllable word. I like saying Karn.
Turns out I might be right.

It comes from the Irish: carn (plural cairn) or Scottish Gaelic: càrn (plural càirn).

So it's a Carn and they are Cairn. That's what I'm going with. So sue me.

 

[Davehiker]

My New Hampshire native parents pronounce it "COE-OSS" County.

When they lived in Oregon, however they learned to pronounce Coos Bay as "Coose Bay." (rhymes with "loose")

 

[dug]

My in-laws who live in Coos County pronounce it Coe-OSS.

 

[arghman]

Can I get a confirmaion on "Coe-Oss" (ryhmes with Row-Boss) ? I pronounce Coos like it rhymes with booze.

For issues like this, aside from talking to locals, turn to the Julyans' "Place Names of the White Mountains"

My in-laws who live in Coos County pronounce it Coe-OSS.

with stress on the 2nd syllable? are you sure? That's unusual -- New England place names tend to be accented on the first syllable. Out of 259 townships in NH, all but three or four are accented on the first syllable (neglecting prefixes e.g. "North" or "New") -- the exceptions being Laconia, Franconia, Success, and possibly Westmoreland.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

It's interesting. This thread first started and ran its course about six months before I was born.

In July of 2007 I was born and named after Mt. Moosilauke so I know how it should be pronounced.

If you're not sure how to pronounce it just check with me on it some time.


Lauky

 

[Paradox]

Interviewees from Coos County on NHPR introduced as from "Coe-Oss" The interviewers are never corrected.

 

[SteveHiker]

If you look closely at the county line sign as you come into Twin Mountain on Route 3 from the south, you can see the name is spelled "Coös". This would indicate that both vowels are to be pronounced. I'm not sure if this is officially part of the sign or graffiti, I suspect the later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umlaut_(diacritic)