Some Local Towns You've Been Pronouncing Wrong Your Whole Life

There's a new list out of towns and cities around the country that you've probably been mispronouncing your whole life. Reading it, I got to thinking about towns in our listening area that usually cause a problem, and I've come up with my own list.

Most of the places listed in the thrillist.com article are places with names you would expect most people to butcher. Towns and cities like Wilkes-Barre, PA, Kissimmee, FL, Spokane, WA, and even Lafayette, LA. All of those I listed are cake to pronounce compared to some local towns in our area.

Let's start off in New York and probably the #1 mispronounced town. A town where, to this very day, the pronunciation debate rages on -- Mahopac. Is it Mayo-pac or Ma-ho-pac? It just depends who you ask.

Now there are certainly other New York towns that make the cut. Towns like Carmel -- or is it Car-mell like the town in California? And Somers -- how many times have you heard people say "Summers?" Then, there's Poughkeepsie. Heck, saying it seems easy compared to trying to spell it.

Here in the Connecticut area, it's a little simpler, but people still seem to mess it up. Towns like Newtown, some say, "New-ton," like the fig cookie. Or Bethel -- I've heard Beth-el many times.

I'm originally from Long Island, the mecca of mispronounced towns. Try saying these towns correctly:

Amagansett - "am-uh-GAN-set."

Commack - "KO-mack."

Copiague - "CO-payg."

Cutchogue - "CUTCH-og."

Hauppauge - "HAH-pog."

Hewlett - "YOU-let."

So, maybe it's not that easy. I guess it just depends on where your from. Even then, some people still run into problems.

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