# Toronto, eh?



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

Just watching the NBA all-star game preview on TV ..zzzz Question: Is it just me, or does it seem to anyone else that most americans can't seem to pronounce "Toronto" or "Montreal" quite right?
It comes out as "Toe-ron-toe" and "Monnnn-tre-al" . Not quite right, to my ears, eh?


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## LBCfan (Jan 13, 2011)

I thought it was Tronna


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I've noticed most Canadians can't seem to pronounce Bangor, Newfoundland, or Québec "correctly" let alone just about every city outside of north america (nearly all city and country names have been anglicized from what the locals called it..)

Is it "Mun-tree-all" or "Mon-ree-all"?


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

they all say Munnn-tree-all but parties who say Kweebeck should not visit la belle province

EDIT: earlier post on albanian capital was not quite on-the-money. Here's a corrected version:

in a compilation by news editors of their favourite headlines, one said he fancied a headline about an economic expansion then going on in albania. Capital city is Tirana. The headline said TIRANNA BOOM TODAY.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

I like New-Ark, New Jersey. (don't get me started about New-Fin-Lind..er....I mean New-FOUND-Land) :biggrin:


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

me i say something like NEWF-un-lund (please forgive if wrong) but would love to know how it's supposed to sound.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Newfin-Land.

How about Tatamagouche, Musquodoboit, Whycocomagh, Penobsquis, Apohaqui, Petitcodiac, Quispamsis, Mactaquac, Kuujjuaq? My favourite: Chibougamau.

Most of the US cities have their own pronunciation. Spokane? Louisville? Des Moines? Kissimmee? Puyallup? Patchogue? Schenectady?


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

those maritime names are all first nation names. A little french mixed in. Get those parts straight & then they all sound fine.

the way i hear it though, it's pronounced Shi-boo-ga-moo.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

And Toronto? First nations. Canada? First nations

We've probably bastardized all of their pronunciations.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

m3s said:


> Newfin-Land.


With the emphasis on LAND, right? That's how I've always heard it from Newfoundlanders.

When I lived in the Boston area it was a local pastime to laugh at the out-of-town radio announcers who mangled the pronunciation of towns around Boston.

There's a town there called Woburn, which is correctly pronounced "woo-burn."

There are towns called Dedham, Waltham, Eastham, and Chatham, but the "ham" is pronounced in some cases but not others; Eastham and Chatham are close by each other on Cape Cod, but Eastham is pronounced East-ham and Chatham is pronounced "Chatum." Waltham is pronounced Wal-tham while Dedham is pronounced "Dedum." The town of Chelmsford is pronounced "Chemsfud."


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

brad said:


> There are towns called Dedham, Waltham, Eastham, and Chatham, but the "ham" is pronounced in some cases but not others; Eastham and Chatham are close by each other on Cape Cod, but Eastham is pronounced East-ham and Chatham is pronounced "Chatum." Waltham is pronounced Wal-tham while Dedham is pronounced "Dedum." The town of Chelmsford is pronounced "Chemsfud."



do you think the enduring pronunciations might have depended on whether the original settlers were predominantly british by origin & whether they were numerous enough that the british type pronunciation - ie Chatum, Chemsfud - stuck over the years?

also Eastham might have been 2 separate words in the beginning, as in East Ham, there are village clusters in quebec called Ham with nearby Ham Sud, etc (probably if one looks there's an ancient saxon explanation for calling a settlement Ham in the first place)

... Bala Cynwd though ... they must have been welsh ... Bayla Chinwidd?


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## dotnet_nerd (Jul 1, 2009)

Ways to really annoy people....

Saying "The Muskoka*s*" (plural). They hate that. It's "Muskoka"

Ordering a "Smith wicks" in an Irish pub. It's pronounced "Smitticks"

Pronouncing the southern Caribbean island "Bar bay dose" with a long O. It should sound like "bar BAY duss"

Don't you just hate bad pro-NOUNCE-iation?:biggrin:


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

hahaha...
if you can say: "understand", then you can say "Newfoundland". It's pronounced the same way (under-pronounce the "found" part a bit, so it comes out as "Newfinland")
"Understand" - "Newfinland" ... just like that....now, let me hear you try it ......


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

dotnet_nerd said:


> Ways to really annoy people....
> 
> Saying "The Muskoka*s*" (plural). They hate that. It's "Muskoka"
> 
> ...


How about "wor-ches-ter-shire sauce" for "wor-chis-ter-sher sauce" :biggrin:
Or the classic "St. Pete's Beach, Florida" . It's St. Pete Beach (the locals there hate that too)


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

humble_pie said:


> do you think the enduring pronunciations might have depended on whether the original settlers were predominantly british by origin & whether they were numerous enough that the british type pronunciation - ie Chatum, Chemsfud - stuck over the years?


Yes, that's certainly what happened. There are also places in Massachusetts such as Leominster and Worcester that have retained the British pronunciations of those names.

Interestingly in Vermont the town of Charlotte (just south of Burlington) is pronounced the French way (Char-LOTTE), presumably related to promimity to Québec (there are lots of French names in Vermont) whereas Charlotte, North Carolina is pronounced the English way: "CHAR-lotte." Back to Vermont, the towns of Calais, Barre, and Montpelier use Anglicized pronunciations, so Charlotte seems to be an anomaly.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

jargey3000 said:


> How about "wor-ches-ter-shire sauce" for "wor-chis-ter-sher sauce" :biggrin:


I would pronounce it "Wuhstershure sauce," but I lived for a few years in Worcester, Massachusetts, which is pronounced "Wuuhstah" there.

They also have lots of local words -- what I grew up calling a drinking fountain is called a bubbler in Massachusetts, pronounced "bubblah." And what I grew up calling a milkshake is called a "frappe" in Massachusetts. Oddly enough, in Rhode Island the same thing is called a "cabinet." You can walk into an ice cream parlour and ask for a chocolate cabinet.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

brad said:


> I would pronounce it "Wuhstershure sauce," but I lived for a few years in Worcester, Massachusetts, which is pronounced "Wuuhstah" there



exactly, growing up my parents said "Wuuhster sauce" although the condiment itself has long disappeared from our pantries so i haven't heard the word spoken in years. I believe there are other cases where "shire" has ceased to be spoken, ie becomes a silent syllable, although offhand i can't think of any.

cute - that "ah" at the end of "Wuuhstah" is the local bostonian accent, dropping all those final "r's." But up here we're far enough away to be immune to boston voices.


Edit: would bostonians say "weah fah enough away" ?


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

m3s said:


> Newfin-Land.
> 
> How about Tatamagouche, Musquodoboit, Whycocomagh, Penobsquis, Apohaqui, Petitcodiac, Quispamsis, Mactaquac, Kuujjuaq? My favourite: Chibougamau.
> 
> Most of the US cities have their own pronunciation. Spokane? Louisville? Des Moines? Kissimmee? Puyallup? Patchogue? Schenectady?



My favourite is Terre Haute (rendered in American english as Tara Hot).


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

humble_pie said:


> Edit: would bostonians say "weah fah enough away" ?


Yes, they would. My favourite is "pierced ears," if you say the letters PS-ES that's exactly how it sounds when spoken by a native Bostonian.

You also have the option of saying either "Dawdge Daht" or "Dahge Dawt" and everyone will know you're referring to a Dodge Dart.

As for Worcestershire Sauce, an old roommate of mine had the best pronunciation of all: "What's-that-there Sauce."


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

It is still 'Hogtown' to us and we are so thankful we moved away so many years ago. Don't even like going back for business or pleasure.


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)




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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

fraser said:


> It is still 'Hogtown' to us and we are so thankful we moved away so many years ago.



you are implying toronto not boston i imagine?

but fraser we are all canadian .each:
where is your national maple leaf .each:

here is toronto's latest heroine. Marie Heinen, the criminal defence lawyer who rescued itchyfingers ghomeshi from possible jail.

Heinen is stunning, there's no other word for it. As a dazzled journalist recently wrote, Heinen looks lethal. She looks more new york city than downtown manhattan. Evidently Heinen's legal scholarship is equally impeccable. Terrified should be the crown prosecutors who attempt to plead against her.

in the whole of canada, only toronto - canada's cultural centre & capital - could raise up & host a creature as magnificent as this trial attorney. No other city could keep a leopard like this on its home turf. Not even munnntreal, we are happy to cede the ultimate laurels to toronto.

http://hhllp.ca/
.


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## steve41 (Apr 18, 2009)

VAN-COUVER..... pronounced by newbies and near-newbies.
VANG-COUVER.... pronounced by long-time Vancouverites.


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## Islenska (May 4, 2011)

Try and say Lake Athapapuskow, my hometown spot, Cranberry Portage, Mb.

Other nearby names Kississing Lake, Amisk, Neso, Opasquak, Tonepah, all Cree based names,

Even down the way Egg Lake


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

*"here is toronto's latest heroine. Marie Heinen, the criminal defence lawyer who rescued itchyfingers ghomeshi from possible jail"*
so that's who she is!! all along i thought it go-messhy's twin sister!!!


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

Yes. Her and Rob Ford. 

Big deal.....just like the Leafs.

Not.


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## dotnet_nerd (Jul 1, 2009)

"Leafs" is not a word. Being a hockey team doesn't change that


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