Navigation App Causes Confusion for People Trying to Say Naugatuck

Recently, I came across a Connecticut Reddit post from bCup83 who had a question about the pronunciation of a Connecticut town name. bCup83 wanted to know if they'd been pronouncing Naugatuck correctly because their navigation app said it in a way, they'd never heard before.

bCup83 wrote:

"I've always pronounced the name of the river/region/town as something like Nawg-ih-tuck but Komoot, my navigation app, insists on something like "Nawg-gih-dug" (getting not one, but two phonemes 'wrong'!) and I've always laughed at that as some sort of bad AI thing. Then recently I read I think on reddit that is a legit pronunciation, at least in some parts of the state and I was flabbergasted. So, which is it exactly? Or something else entirely? What's the story with this."

At first, I had a good laugh and thought, "There's no way I’ll ever second-guess how to pronounce a Connecticut town just because a navigation app said so." Then, naturally, I immediately second-guessed that thought, thinking, "Well, maybe I could second-guess it." Turns out, I’m not just a second-guesser—I’m the kind of person who second-guesses the very possibility of second-guessing.

Now, I can relate better what bCup83 was saying. Let's see what the rest of Connecticut Reddit thought of their post.

Responsible-Chest-26: "Naw-ga-tuck is how I pronounce it."

mikemdp: "This is correct. Not sure why this is being questioned."

ColCupcake: "Born and raised here, we say it just like it's spelled. What's funny is your app is almost saying it like the old timers did/do, something like, Nah-guh-duck, but said very very quickly."

Whaddulookinat: "Quick guide for the valley: Naughty Naugy, Dirtywater, Beacon Fails, Dirty Derby, Shelton (not that we don't roast Shelton... just its' name isn't easy to rip on)."

Bulky-Yogurt-1703: "Naw-gee. The tuck is silent."

QuartSar: "Lived there my whole life. Naw-gee or nah-guh-tuck. I notice that only old people not from here call it nah-guh-duck."

Green_Evening: "When my dad was a kid they called it Doggy-nuts."

ale_mongrel: "Naghanna - Nahganna- Naggaanna- NOT gonna go there for any reason!!! Am I right ?!?!?."

How about that? If you're not from Naugatuck (I'm not), you learned something today (I did). The blue hairs in Naugatuck pronounce the town name with some DUCK in there. The older generation was probably so tired from work that they say the hell with that T. I've been breaking my balls all day at that factory, I have no time for T's.

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