Mispronouncing Ottawa

[Guild B301]

Another way different accents can cause you trouble: In different areas of the US, people will say “Eleven” as ‘leven, as if the first E is silent. I was on tour years ago, and my tour manager (who spoke with that accent), was supposed to get us all to a record release & autograph event at a large record shop. We had to go straight there, as soon as we got to town, prior to the show. We couldn’t find the corner of 11th & 9th on a map. The drivers asked everyone. No one had heard of it. We checked with the promoter. Our driver told us: “He said corner of ‘leventh ‘n ninth, but that doesn’t exist!” They called the shop. Turns out they were actually saying “Corner of Lemon & Knight” NOT “11th & 9th”. We barely made it on time. It was funny afterward.

 

[nutdog]

Cairo, Missouri, is a place. Wasn't as nice as the original. Also not pronounced the same.

Cairo, GA is pronounced Kay-ro.

Dekalb IL and Dekalb GA....why the "L" does only one pronounce it?

I remember looking for Lafayette Ave. in Nashville when I first moved there and trying to figure out if it was somewhere near this La-FATE street people kept talking about.

De Kalb, TX was called Dee-cab by the locals when I stayed in Texarkana in the 90s. Side note, Ricky Nelson and his band died in a plane crash near De Kalb.

 

[Mark Reccord]

For sure. I think there are also a lot of Torontonians who likely think that Toronto is the capital of Canada the universe.

FTFY

I for one pronounce Newfoundland New-fin-land

New-fah-lan

New-fin-LAND or New-fen-LAND. The cadence is like "understand." I think most people not from here miss the emphasis on LAND. I hear it pronounced New-FOUND-land a lot.

Now don't get me wrong, we mispronounce just about everything so I'm not on a high horse here.

We have a lot of French place names but most of them are bastardized beyond belief:

Baie D'Espoir -> Bay Despair
Grand Bruit -> Grand Brit
Quirpon -> Carpoon
Griquet -> Gricket

When I first moved to Ottawa from St. John's via Halifax I asked someone where something was and was told it was on Dalhoosie Street. I was like, "you mean Dalhousie St. right?" And they were like "you must be from Halifax."

 

[DirtDog]

FTFY





New-fin-LAND or New-fen-LAND. The cadence is like "understand." I think most people not from here miss the emphasis on LAND. I hear it pronounced New-FOUND-land a lot.

Now don't get me wrong, we mispronounce just about everything so I'm not on a high horse here.

We have a lot of French place names but most of them are bastardized beyond belief:

Baie D'Espoir -> Bay Despair
Grand Bruit -> Grand Brit
Quirpon -> Carpoon
Griquet -> Gricket

When I first moved to Ottawa from St. John's via Halifax I asked someone where something was and was told it was on Dalhoosie Street. I was like, "you mean Dalhousie St. right?" And they were like "you must be from Halifax."

I've said that so many times, I've lost track.

I even know some folks from "Bay Despair"!

 

[Mark Reccord]

I've said that so many times, I've lost track.

I even know some folks from "Bay Despair"!

I bet you have, hahaha!

I love how the NL pronunciation means the opposite of the literal translation of Baie D'Espoir. There are a lot of NLers living in Ottawa for sure so I'm not surprised you know people from there.

 

[David Jayne]

FTFY





New-fin-LAND or New-fen-LAND. The cadence is like "understand." I think most people not from here miss the emphasis on LAND. I hear it pronounced New-FOUND-land a lot.

Now don't get me wrong, we mispronounce just about everything so I'm not on a high horse here.

We have a lot of French place names but most of them are bastardized beyond belief:

Baie D'Espoir -> Bay Despair
Grand Bruit -> Grand Brit
Quirpon -> Carpoon
Griquet -> Gricket

When I first moved to Ottawa from St. John's via Halifax I asked someone where something was and was told it was on Dalhoosie Street. I was like, "you mean Dalhousie St. right?" And they were like "you must be from Halifax."

Huh. I've always heard and said NEWfinland. Wrong eh? But it's where NOOfies live. : D

 

[Mark Reccord]

Huh. I've always heard and said NEWfinland. Wrong eh? But it's where NOOfies live. : D

Yeah, the emphasis is more on the "land." It's said with the same cadence as "understand."

That's exactly how you say newfie, but best be careful using that term in the presence of one if you're not from here.

 

[David Jayne]

One day as a kid pumping gas I watched a rather well-used car with Georgia plates pull in. I leaned in to see what the operator wanted and he said "Yall got small?" It took a few tries.

 

[Vinny_G]

We have a lot of French place names but most of them are bastardized beyond belief:

Baie D'Espoir -> Bay Despair

It's ironic that the Baie D'Espoir (Bay of Hope) has become the Bay Despair.
How's the weather over there?

 

[Bass Viking]

It's ironic that the Baie D'Espoir (Bay of Hope) has become the Bay Despair.
How's the weather over there?

There’s a fine line between hope and despair!

 

[Mark Reccord]

One day as a kid pumping gas I watched a rather well-used car with Georgia plates pull in. I leaned in to see what the operator wanted and he said "Yall got small?" It took a few tries.

It would be "got smile dere, b'ys?" Or in some regions h'ile or h'oile.

As they say: "they drop the "h" off in 'Olyrood (Holyrood) and pick it up in H'avondale (Avondale). Many people here also say Chicargo and Califonia, which drives me insane.

It's ironic that the Baie D'Espoir (Bay of Hope) has become the Bay Despair.
How's the weather over there?

It always makes me smile when I think about the total reversal in meaning from this mispronunciation.

The weather is marginally less terrible there than it is on most of the rest of the island.

 

[nutdog]

One day as a kid pumping gas I watched a rather well-used car with Georgia plates pull in. I leaned in to see what the operator wanted and he said "Yall got small?" It took a few tries.

I’m in north GA and I have trouble with south GA accents. Once had two guys walk into our shop asking if those “hass trollas were fa sol”. My dad, raised in S GA/AL, had to translate. There were 3 single wide ‘house trailers’ on the end of the property and they wanted to buy them. Us hillbillies are a completely different brand of redneck.