Pronunciation poll
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Fishin-Jay
Well-Known Member
wil-LAM-it, which is also how the people who live in the Willamette Valley say it.
I pronounce it gimmee-nother-beer-BE-for-eye-snap-GRAH-muh. but I didn't see that as an option, so I didn't vote.
Mongrel
Well-Known Member
Half the country can't even pronounce Oregon correctly. We should start with that before moving on to Willamette.
boydster
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While I am fully aware the PNW pronunciation puts the stress on the second syllable and sharpens the 'a' considerably, I put the stress on the last syllable because it comes off the tongue more easily and sounds better to my ear.
drainbamage
Keep HBT weird.
I've always said will-ah-MET, which is apparently wrong. Meh.
mayhaps they oughta spelled it like it sounds, and not completely different.
I had a friend from there, she taught me the right way to say it.
A newer friend heard me say it the right way, and called me luddite because of it.
Isn't Willamette with the last syllable emphasized, a french-derived word? I'm sticking with saying it the way local hop farmers say it.
*edit - Willamette reminds me of Lafayette, which is why I figured it might be a french word. According to some wikipedia searchin', it is a Native American word, or orginated from one.
A newer friend heard me say it the right way, and called me luddite because of it.
Isn't Willamette with the last syllable emphasized, a french-derived word? I'm sticking with saying it the way local hop farmers say it.
*edit - Willamette reminds me of Lafayette, which is why I figured it might be a french word. According to some wikipedia searchin', it is a Native American word, or orginated from one.
drainbamage
Keep HBT weird.
So, now I can't help but wonder, how do you pronounce Oregon?
Brewskii
Well-Known Member
My Mom is from the PNW and I have to stop and think before I say this word because she gets pissed! Wouldn't be an issue except I worked for 18yrs around people who relentlessly mis-pronounced it "will-im-ET".
"will-AM-it" is correct -as I was taught by many people who lived in the region for many,many,years.
"will-AM-it" is correct -as I was taught by many people who lived in the region for many,many,years.
a crap ton of people pronounce beer bud-LIGHT. doesn't make it right. people pronounce things they way they are spelled. does one smoke a cigarette or a cig-a-RIT?
People don't always pronounce things the way they are spelled, especially in English. In England they say 'alumin-ee-um' when they are talking about the metal soda cans are made from. Is that wrong? ... it could be argued all day, but you'll never change the way it is said in England.
Language is cool like that, kind of like syles of beer are cool. People do it a certain way, lots of people start to like it, and then that is the 'right' way, no matter what the 'rules' or style guidelines say is 'right'.
Language is cool like that, kind of like syles of beer are cool. People do it a certain way, lots of people start to like it, and then that is the 'right' way, no matter what the 'rules' or style guidelines say is 'right'.
jakenbacon
Well-Known Member
haha about to post this also. I kept pronouncing it wrong and everytime I had to think WIL-LAM-IT DAMMIT!
brandonhagen1
Well-Known Member
agreed on this fully and its pronounced OR I GIN
I say will- ah- MET, because the other way sounds stupid. I don't care if that's how the people there say it. I'm a classically trained singer and have studied diction in 6 languages. I'm not going to pronounce it in a way that sounds stupid.
jakenbacon
Well-Known Member
Haha, lamest thing I have heard all day. "it doesn't sound good so I am going to continue to mispronounce it." LMFAO
you need to swing by my work if that's the lamest thing you heard all day.
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That's the trick we've always used too.
drainbamage
Keep HBT weird.
See, the thing about that is, although English has silent letters, "al-u-min-ee-um" pronounces letters that aren't there. I don't care if they invented the language, the Brits are wrong on that one
Yup, I used to live in the Willamette valley.
Exactly.
That's a bit like pronouncing montrachet mount ratchet because you don't like how it sounds. It's a proper place name from another language. The pronunciation from that language is, therefore, correct. Would you call Los Angeles "The Angels"?
I pronounce it the same way signpost does and I will continue to do so until the occasion comes when I am in the Willamette Valley and need to pronounce it "properly" because I think the "proper" way sounds wrong. Eloquent speech should flow off the tongue smoothly and wil-AM-et doesn't do that.
Same thing with Worcester, Mass. How the hell do you get Woostah from Worcester!? I will always pronounce it as spelled even if I find myself there one day.
ORY GUN.
OR GUN works, especially if you have a chainsaw in the cab of your truck, live off a county road, or have a dip n lip.
My sister spent more of her life in the vicinity of Versailles, MO than she really cared to.
When she first went there, asking a local how to get to "Ver-SIGH", all she got was a blank stare. It took a while before she realized to ask for "Ver-SAILS"...
Worcester is another word from England and I love it too! The characters on the paper don't matter, it is the sound/thing/place/meaning they represent. Worster is how it sounds in England. Turned to 'wooster' by the time they got to America, though it is named after the same place the sauce comes from. Both are right!
And in MO it is versails!
And in MO it is versails!
drainbamage said:See, the thing about that is, although English has silent letters, "al-u-min-ee-um" pronounces letters that aren't there. I don't care if they invented the language, the Brits are wrong on that one
Originally (and still in Britain) the extra letter was in there. We just stopped saying it for some reason, so we dropped it.
You pronounce things? I pronounce it by pointing and grunting. Learned the language in home improvement stores.
I'm from Massachusetts and can't pronounce anything the right way.
Backwoodsbrewing
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Ok then settle an argument pronounce almonds I say it is pronounced without the L like salmon and get crap for it from a buddy off mine
I'm from Massachusetts and can't pronounce anything the right way.
I've lived in New England for a cumulative four and a half years and I still don't understand where these weird (to me since I am originally from Texas) pronunciations come from. So far I've done a good job of not picking up the accent, but I slip up sometimes and say "wicked."
Calichusetts
Well-Known Member
I know that its a native American word and that the chinook/kalapuya or other people in the area would not have spoken the word suggested in this post. As a person from Mass, with our amazing pronunciation, I can also attest to the irony of our state. Massachusetts is not what the natives called it, its our interpretation of their word. Some suggest the correct Mass pronunciation is closer to Mos-wet-u-set. (moss weyt u c-et)
WOW! I finally got to use my masters degree! Haha, so worth it. I often tell my students to just take any native american word two or three letters at a time.
WOW! I finally got to use my masters degree! Haha, so worth it. I often tell my students to just take any native american word two or three letters at a time.
nukebrewer said:
Melana said:I'm from Massachusetts and can't pronounce anything the right way.
Yar, I know what ya mean!
Backwoodsbrewing said:
Just the other day, a guy was talking about someone he knows who used to play with the "Ahman" Brothers band. Cracked me up that he was mispronouncing "almond" instead of Allman. Just wrong all the way around. But that's how we talk neah Wista.
The strange part is that there's a distinct geographic line of separation for a MA accent. When I drive a half hour east to where I grew up, everyone has the accent, but it's not heard in Western MA.
Fishin-Jay
Well-Known Member
Yup. I have family in Dayton, OH and in downtown Dayton is the Oregon District. But the way these fools say it makes me want to backhand them every time. Their pronunciation is the "Ory-gone" District.
Calichusetts
Well-Known Member
The stereotypical mass accent is basically the north shore. Most places have a light accent at best. Its the fact we use "wicked" and "jimmies" and "bubbla" that gives away our area.
My friend (who lives in the Willamette Valley) heard me pronounce it will-ah-MET and corrected me, saying it's pronounced "wil-LAM-it." I told him it's actually pronounced "stop drinking my beer for free and get out of my house." He saw it my way after that.
I actually thought it was derived from French as well. The "correct" pronunciation is seeping into my speech, but it somehow just sounds more ignorant that way to me.
I actually thought it was derived from French as well. The "correct" pronunciation is seeping into my speech, but it somehow just sounds more ignorant that way to me.
GrogNerd
mean old man
See, the thing about that is, although English has silent letters, "al-u-min-ee-um" pronounces letters that aren't there. I don't care if they invented the language, the Brits are wrong on that one
need to inject a "well, actually"
aluminum or aluminium?
both are correct
but, consider there is potassium, magnesium, helium, barium, sodium, chromium, calcium, cadmium, lithium, titanium and 60+ others that all end in "ium" but only a few (4) that end in "um"
if you type both in the POST QUICK REPLY box, neither will show a red squiggly line indicating a misspelled word
on topic: I have been mispronouncing it, but I will defer to the locals' pronunciation of Willamette, as in dammit
That's wicked awesome.
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