Every part of the country has names that are pronounced "funny" according to the lights of those who live elsewhere. We all have regional dialects. Some are just more pronounced than others. New Englanders and Southerners are the most notable. Does that make them wrong? Not a chance. I live in Idaho. We don't have much "accent." But, we do pronounce things differently. Sequim, WA is pronounced Squim. Hmmm! Isn't that kinda like Billerica where the "e" is omitted? Puyallup is pooh-ell-up. Colville and Colfax are Call-ville and Coal-fax. Spokane is Spo-can, not cane. Pend O'Reille is Ponderay. Coeur d'Alene is Core da lane although a few people do use the French pronunciation of Ker. Moscow is Mahs-koe, not cow as we tend to pronounce the Russian capital city name. I believe that the people who live in an area know the proper pronunciation for the towns in that area. I think that it is only proper for those who live elsewhere to do their best to pronounce them properly and NOT to tell those living there that THEY are wrong. In the case of our New England cousins, they are rapidly approaching 400 years of pronouncing them the way they do. I believe that type of seniority and history should be given precedence. Now, all of that said, this thread has lived out its life and should be put to rest. As list administrator, I'm saying no more on this subject. Thank you. :-) John Slaughter In loving memory of our son, Brennan. 11/10/88-5/31/01. http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Brennan.html MA-Bay-Colony list moderator USGenWeb County Coordinator Essex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex Middlesex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~mamiddle USGenWeb Town Coordinator Ipswich, Essex, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~macipswi >From: "ancestors wanted" <ancestorswanted@pembroke.myrf.net> >To: MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [MAMiddle] PRONUNCIATION OF TOWN NAME >Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 06:57:58 -0700 > >Dora, You may not like our way of pronouncing words but we have been doing >it for alot of generations. ANd if you have New England ancestors I dare >say the talked like we do. I am proud of my New England accent . Most of >the Texans I have known also have an accent that is interesting to say the >least. I don't find it necessary to find fault with the way you do >things-- please don't find fault with the way I say things. Judie >----- Original Message ----- From: "Dora Smith" <tiggernut24@yahoo.com> >To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> >Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2006 10:16 AM >Subject: Re: [MAMiddle] PRONUNCIATION OF TOWN NAME > > >>I usually pronounce names the way they are spelled. That goes for >>Worcester, and Gloucester. I figure that if folks want it pronounced >>differently, they can change the spelling. I can live with changes in the >>language over time, like silent e's, and silent gh, but "Worcester" = >>"Wooster" is just too ridiculous. Even "ketchup" has changed its spelling >>from teh hopelessly outdated "catsup", and that's a far less important >>word. Though it is used more often, and I can see thousands of impatient >>people refusing to write "catsup" for ketchup. >> >>Is this a product of the whole word method of teaching reading in schools? >> >>If Billerica isn't bill - er- ee'- kah or bill -er -eek' @ (where @ is >>some sort of universal symbol for the scwa), that's still how I'm saying >>it! >> >>I can't imagine how good old fashioned solid feet on their ground New >>England stock, of which I am one, could possibly go along with Gloucester >>- Glooster and Worcester - Wooster. When did it get to be Glooster >>anyhow. When I was a kid, it was Foster from Gloster! >> >>Anyhow, it isn't a stupid question. Gloucester = Glooster could >>reasonably have people asking if bat is still pronounced bat. >> >>Yours, >>Dora Smith >>Austin, TX >>tiggernut24@yahoo.com >>----- Original Message ----- From: "John D. & Peggy Ledrich" >><ledrich@sssnet.com> >>To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> >>Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2006 10:57 AM >>Subject: [MAMiddle] PRONUNCIATION OF TOWN NAME >> >> >>>Hello >>> >>>I have been on this list / digest for a while now and was wondering if >>>someone could tell me how is the name of Billerica pronounced??? >>> >>>I am a phonetic speller but this one I think is different than this OHIO >>>gal knows. >>> >>>I do know from a friend that Worcester is pronounced (Wuster), but the >>>other town I cannot ask her about. >>> >>>Thank you for you patience and assistance!!! >>>Peggy in OHIO >> >> >> >>-- >>No virus found in this outgoing message. >>Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. >>Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.6/257 - Release Date: 2/10/2006 >> >> >>============================== >>Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the >>areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. >>Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx >> >> > > >============================== >Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the >areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. >Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

Hello John , you missed the best of the mispronounced stuff , try Yakima ! ; it is not Jac ema as one famous TV guy said , its Yac a ma , Phil , in Seattle , miss that an you get shot at dawn ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Slaughter" <mamiddlegenweb@hotmail.com> To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 10:22 AM Subject: Re: [MAMiddle] PRONUNCIATION OF TOWN NAME > Every part of the country has names that are pronounced "funny" according to > the lights of those who live elsewhere. We all have regional dialects. Some > are just more pronounced than others. New Englanders and Southerners are the > most notable. Does that make them wrong? Not a chance. > > I live in Idaho. We don't have much "accent." But, we do pronounce things > differently. Sequim, WA is pronounced Squim. Hmmm! Isn't that kinda like > Billerica where the "e" is omitted? Puyallup is pooh-ell-up. Colville and > Colfax are Call-ville and Coal-fax. Spokane is Spo-can, not cane. Pend > O'Reille is Ponderay. Coeur d'Alene is Core da lane although a few people do > use the French pronunciation of Ker. Moscow is Mahs-koe, not cow as we tend > to pronounce the Russian capital city name. > > I believe that the people who live in an area know the proper pronunciation > for the towns in that area. I think that it is only proper for those who > live elsewhere to do their best to pronounce them properly and NOT to tell > those living there that THEY are wrong. In the case of our New England > cousins, they are rapidly approaching 400 years of pronouncing them the way > they do. I believe that type of seniority and history should be given > precedence. > > > Now, all of that said, this thread has lived out its life and should be put > to rest. As list administrator, I'm saying no more on this subject. > > Thank you. :-) > > John Slaughter > In loving memory of our son, Brennan. 11/10/88-5/31/01. > http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Brennan.html > > MA-Bay-Colony list moderator > USGenWeb County Coordinator > Essex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex > Middlesex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~mamiddle > USGenWeb Town Coordinator Ipswich, Essex, MA - > http://www.rootsweb.com/~macipswi > > > > > > >From: "ancestors wanted" <ancestorswanted@pembroke.myrf.net> > >To: MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com > >Subject: Re: [MAMiddle] PRONUNCIATION OF TOWN NAME > >Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 06:57:58 -0700 > > > >Dora, You may not like our way of pronouncing words but we have been doing > >it for alot of generations. ANd if you have New England ancestors I dare > >say the talked like we do. I am proud of my New England accent . Most of > >the Texans I have known also have an accent that is interesting to say the > >least. I don't find it necessary to find fault with the way you do > >things-- please don't find fault with the way I say things. Judie > >----- Original Message ----- From: "Dora Smith" <tiggernut24@yahoo.com> > >To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> > >Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2006 10:16 AM > >Subject: Re: [MAMiddle] PRONUNCIATION OF TOWN NAME > > > > > >>I usually pronounce names the way they are spelled. That goes for > >>Worcester, and Gloucester. I figure that if folks want it pronounced > >>differently, they can change the spelling. I can live with changes in the > >>language over time, like silent e's, and silent gh, but "Worcester" = > >>"Wooster" is just too ridiculous. Even "ketchup" has changed its spelling > >>from teh hopelessly outdated "catsup", and that's a far less important > >>word. Though it is used more often, and I can see thousands of impatient > >>people refusing to write "catsup" for ketchup. > >> > >>Is this a product of the whole word method of teaching reading in schools? > >> > >>If Billerica isn't bill - er- ee'- kah or bill -er -eek' @ (where @ is > >>some sort of universal symbol for the scwa), that's still how I'm saying > >>it! > >> > >>I can't imagine how good old fashioned solid feet on their ground New > >>England stock, of which I am one, could possibly go along with Gloucester > >>- Glooster and Worcester - Wooster. When did it get to be Glooster > >>anyhow. When I was a kid, it was Foster from Gloster! > >> > >>Anyhow, it isn't a stupid question. Gloucester = Glooster could > >>reasonably have people asking if bat is still pronounced bat. > >> > >>Yours, > >>Dora Smith > >>Austin, TX > >>tiggernut24@yahoo.com > >>----- Original Message ----- From: "John D. & Peggy Ledrich" > >><ledrich@sssnet.com> > >>To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> > >>Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2006 10:57 AM > >>Subject: [MAMiddle] PRONUNCIATION OF TOWN NAME > >> > >> > >>>Hello > >>> > >>>I have been on this list / digest for a while now and was wondering if > >>>someone could tell me how is the name of Billerica pronounced??? > >>> > >>>I am a phonetic speller but this one I think is different than this OHIO > >>>gal knows. > >>> > >>>I do know from a friend that Worcester is pronounced (Wuster), but the > >>>other town I cannot ask her about. > >>> > >>>Thank you for you patience and assistance!!! > >>>Peggy in OHIO > >> > >> > >> > >>-- > >>No virus found in this outgoing message. > >>Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. > >>Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.6/257 - Release Date: 2/10/2006 > >> > >> > >>============================== > >>Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > >>areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > >>Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > >> > >> > > > > > >============================== > >Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > >areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > >Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! > http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ > > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx >