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I'm sure there are a million examples of words that people pronounce differently. (Do you pronounce the 's' at the end of Illinois?, Missouree or Missourah, etc.)

But I'm gonna start with one that I wonder if I'm weird cause I hear people pronounce it one way and I think its just wrong:

Topo

While technically not a word, it is the name of a software package, and is frequently pronounced as an abbreviation.

I think its "top-oh" (rhymes with mop, flop, hop). I hear others pronounce it with a long-o: "tow-poh" (taupe-oh?). It drives me crazy.

Of course, I derive this from the original "topographic" which the initial o is pronounced "ah" versus "oh". (At least according to Dictionary.com)

Any thoughts on Topo, or other words that Dubya might have misunderpronuncicated?

I KNOW it is correctly pronounced Tehva but dangit, it sounds better as TEEvuh and I am gonna say TEEvuh no matter what. So there.

That "nucular" mispronunciation just killed me ever since ol' W was running for prez and I first heard him say it. His wife even made fun of him about it at the National Press Club mtg, so maybe it was a point of pride with him to sound ignorant. I noticed Palin pronouncing it the same way--perhaps on purpose? We's all ignant inbred rednecks and we like it that way, and don't confuse us with facts.

azbackpackr wrote:We's all ignant inbred rednecks and we like it that way, and don't confuse us with facts.

George W was the best at making up words to sound edumacated. His speeches are missed.

kevinweitzel75 wrote:George W was the best at making up words to sound edumacated. His speeches are missed.

"We recently learned that he tried to acquire uranium...in Africa!!"

jeffmacewen wrote:We recently learned that he tried to acquire uranium...in Africa!!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evIdgL8mJPM

our boy frank

That guy does such an excellent impression...

My all-time favorite is how to pronounce "Mogollon." I've always pronounced it as "mug-ee-own."
I once saw in print that the way to pronounce "Mazatzal" as "mah-tuh-zell." That still makes no sense. "Mah-zaht-sell" is how I like it.
"Prescott" is not "preh-scott," but rather "preh-skitt."

Yes, but when you tell people how to pronounce it, telling them to think of two actual words, "muggy" and "own" will help them remember it.

I remember talking to a snowbird in Tucson one time who just could not get how to say saguaro. I finally said to him, "Forget how it is spelled, just remember how to say it: sawahro!" He kept trying to get the "g" in there somehow.

My friend who grew up in Buckeye insists that Harquahala is pronounced "harqua HAY la."

Down in Tucson they never pronounce Galiuros the old Spanish way. Instead, they say "galeros."

Up here in Eagar, we despair of ever educating people how to spell the name of our town.

Also, spell-check will "correct" the spelling of Eagar to "Eager." I also hear tourists calling it Edgar at least once a season. Eagar is a family name, very common here and in Utah, where there is also a town called Eagar. In fact, my first boss when I moved here was Mr. Eagar, more usually known as Bishop Eagar. No, that job was not a fun time for me... Recently we had a Mayor Eagar, but she was nice. But now our mayor is my hiking pal, has lived here 6 years, and is from Tucson.

And just east of Springerville a few miles there is Quemado, New Mexico. It is prounouced Keh mah doe NOT KWEH mah doe. The Spanish "QU" is always pronounced like "K."

I'll have to ask my Ant, my moms sibling. She is fluent in Greek but never could pak a car.

I think most Americans do say "Ant," at least Westerners do, but my DIL from Minnesota says it the old-fashioned way.

Chiricahua and Huachuca are two others that get badly mangled by newcomers...

Hawaiian is even more fun: Kalaniana'ole, Kealakekua, Mokuaikaua, Anaeho'omalu, etc.

English has enough words to screw up ... do we need to add English mispronunciations of Spanish and Hawaiian words?

I AM AS Mazatzal AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!

azbackpackr wrote:Down in Tucson they never pronounce Galiuros the old Spanish way. Instead, they say "galeros."

The first time I heard that pronunciation was in the local pub. The proprietor and chef is a Tucsonian.

By the way, has anyone else been reading the AGFD Jaguar transcripts? It's hilarious how badly the stenographer butchers the spelling of almost every mountain range in eastern AZ. Sometimes she just goes with a phonetic representation of the common (mis)pronunciation. More often I think she just never knew how those words are spelled.

That's funny! I hadn't been keeping up with that. I get the AGFD newsletter in email, usually read it.

We have our own issues with pronunciation and mispronunciation up here in the White Mtns. There is a local road near Greer (FR 118/AC1325) and a spring called "Iris Spring," after the many blue flag iris flowers that bloom nearby. But locals almost always call it "Irish Spring" like the soap, with no apparent sense of humor, they just think that is how you say it.

Hannagan Meadow: Flatlanders (which is what we mountain folk call you Phoenix folk) nearly always misspell it "Hannigan's Meadow."

Show Low is two words, not "Showlow." It has a (probably bogus) history of a card game.

My personal favorite: A local tourism promoter, or some other misinformed person, started the idea that "Nutrioso" means "beaver-bear" because in Spanish, a nutria is a beaver, and an oso is a bear. There are Nutrioso t-shirts and hats you can buy, picturing the beaver and the bear. What they failed to recognize is that when "oso" is at the end of a Spanish word, it is actually a a very common suffix, which is exactly and precisely the same as "ous" in English.

For example, in Spanish, peligro + oso = peligroso, which in English is danger + ous = dangerous. Maravilloso means marvelous, etc. Therefore "Nutrioso" means "beaverous!"

I wondered about Nutrioso on the way through. The stream running through the broad flat valley looks ideal for beavers (the same holds for Alpine). What I really wondered about, though, was how long and unpleasant the winters must be.

Isn't there an excellent book on Arizona place names? History and stories behind just about everywhere in the state? I've never read it, but I've heard it discussed a few times. And perhaps referenced by Republic columnist Clay Thompson? (who answers quirky questions from the public).

@chumley Arizona Place Names by Barnes is very entertaining.