We’ve all been there before: Tripping over pronunciation that locals make effortless. Like people in any country, Americans can have their own ways of pronouncing things, most notably places. As the good people of Milan, Mich. will attest, local pronunciation can be entirely different to what most expect. So, when the city of Salina, Kan. was the intended resting place for a marvelously-resurrected Holy Grail Jeep Grand Cherokee, semi-local commenter 10001010 was quick to chime in with a pronunciation tip.
I have family in Eastern KS so I know that it’s pronounce Salina and not Salina, like everybody thinks.
Ah yes, that clears things up perfectly. Commenter Bomber can sympathize, as reading 10001010’s comment as a local could feel akin to psychological warfare.
I hate that I read Salina both right and wrong in that sentence
Thankfully, for the sake of everyone, our own David Tracy chimed in to set the record straight.
Suh-Lie-Nuh!
Oh, and in case you might have trouble remembering how to pronounce Salina, commenter A. Barth has an easy trick for remembering that I’m sure you won’t forget anytime soon.
Rhymes with saliva but not with sativa.
So there we go. Click, click, boom. Now you and I both know how to pronounce Salina, which means one down, many more to go on the list of American communities with names that will perplex and amuse non-locals. I supposed I shouldn’t be throwing too much shade, though. After all, I live in the same city as a neighborhood named Roncesvalles. Glass houses and all that.
[Ed Note, I have to give some props to SquareTaillight2002 for this comment:
Of Holy Grails
There is but one
Oh yes they’re tales
Of others, son.
But know what’s true
And that is just
Jeeps are not rare
Even though they rust
Nice. -DT]
(Top image: Logan Diekmann)
Used to live in Spokane, WA which is Spo-KAN…out of towners would call it Spo-CANE, etc…there’s a FB group called Spokan’t Drive (also a parking one) since there’s some horrible drivers there especially in snow/ice. My favorite is SpoCOMPTON since it’s ghetto (in some parts & nothing like the real Compton) Ahh, the memories of my party days!
There are some good ones in middle Tennessee.
Santa Fe TN. Its Santa FEE. Santa FAY is in New Mexico
Lebanon is Leb land according to the local dialect. Just think of how you would say that only slurred together as one word if you were drunk.
Shelbyville is kind of the same. Shelvelville. Almost no emphasis on the B, say it like you are slurring your words drunk. I need to ask my Mexican friend how they say it, since they are now about 1/3rd of the population down there now days
If you don’t cuss when you’re talking about Norfolk, VA, you’re pronouncing it wrong.
There’s a town near me named New Prague. That’s Noo Prayg according to the locals, despite the fact that it is most definitely named after the more famous Prague.