Does the Way People Pronounce "Nevada" Ever Bother You? (Reno: 2014, schools)

[mamacatnv]

Originally Posted by sargentodiaz

Good for you.

I've lived here for more than 30 and I don't know anybody who does.

I lived there for 20 years and I know many who care. Several of us relocated with my NV employer to a place where no one pronounces Nevada correctly and we can often be heard correcting our co-workers pronunciation. We actually talk and laugh about how important it was to Nevadan's. Maybe your social circle is more transplants and less natives where mine was more natives and long term residents.

[sargentodiaz]

Originally Posted by mamacatnv

I lived there for 20 years and I know many who care. Several of us relocated with my NV employer to a place where no one pronounces Nevada correctly and we can often be heard correcting our co-workers pronunciation. We actually talk and laugh about how important it was to Nevadan's. Maybe your social circle is more transplants and less natives where mine was more natives and long term residents.

My social circle is Mexican and they all pronounce it with the accent on the a.

[cyberphonics]

This is interesting. I've never in my life heard anyone pronounce it anything other than Ne-VAH-da. I would say that maybe it's because I'm from the East Coast since someone said it's regional except that I've never heard anyone say Ne-VAA-da who's from anywhere else either, including the handful of people I knew from Nevada. Not even on television or the web. Weird. Learn something new every day, thanks!

Originally Posted by Coco6163

When I was in New York City, I kept asking for directions to a major street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Being a new resident in NYC, I pronounced the street just like a city in Texas: Houston. How else would you pronounce that street? I did not understand why people smirked or chuckled a little while pointing out the way toward the street. Finally, my DW (and long-time NYC resident) explained, the street is pronounced, HOW-ston.

I always felt this was like an inside joke only you're smug about it for some reason like knowing the proper pronunciation proves you're better in some way. Pronouncing it like Hewston is what any person would rationally do if they've never been there before, so I've never had that hehehe, you said Hewston, silly outsider, Trix are for kids reaction a lot of other New Yorkers have when someone does it. I just figure they're not local but have common sense lol

[Joe LoGiurato]

I live in Carson City, and the pronunciation of our state's name is definitely a "shibboleth"... Virtually ALL the locals here in the capitol say "Nuh-VA-duh" ("A" as in "and"), not that other thing... Also, if correct Spanish pronunciation is the goal, "nay-BAH-thah" might be a closer approximation of the Castilian word for "snowy" than the truly hyper-foreign sounding "nih-VAH-da"... It's like saying "gar-BAZH" for "garbage"; that is, it's an affectation. No one ever says, "SAHN frahn-SEES-ko" or "los ANG-hay-lays", unless they are speaking Spanish, right? (Except for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he is certainly one guy who is allowed to pronounce words however he pleases... I love the way he says "kah-lee-FO-nee-yah"!) Most Nevadans aren't going to get offended if you pronounce our state's name in a funny way, but you will definitely get teased and be instantly identified as a non-Nevadan if you do... It's not a big deal either way... If I went to Illinois and insisted on pronouncing it "ee-yee-NWAH", I would expect more than a few raised eyebrows; know what I mean?

[jlawrence01]

How someone pronounces "Nevada" and their possession of a solid blue license plate is a general communication of how long they have lived in the state and is not to be taken too lightly. (g)

[It is 57 below zero]

I pronounce it with the longer "a" sound, as in "apple".

I'm not bothered by the way people pronounce it, especially since there's no uniform agreed upon pronounciation of the word.

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by It is 57 below zero

I pronounce it with the longer "a" sound, as in "apple".

I'm not bothered by the way people pronounce it, especially since there's no uniform agreed upon pronounciation of the word.

It's just regional dialects coming into play. People from the NorthEast tend to say Ne-vah-da (my wife included)

But, she also says Aunt, pronounced Aw-nt. I'm originally from California, so say Aunt, pronounced Ant. No biggie, just different ways we were taught to speak.

[Tek_Freek]

I grew up not too far from Nevada, Iowa.

That's with a long "a" as in ate.

I find it hilarious that people get all bent out of shape over it. People called my native state Ohio and Idaho quite often. And you should hear some of the pronunciations of Des Moines.

Iowans are so laid back that they just get a chuckle out of it. Sometimes they politely correct the person.

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

I grew up not too far from Nevada, Iowa.

That's with a long "a" as in ate.

I find it hilarious that people get all bent out of shape over it. People called my native state Ohio and Idaho quite often. And you should hear some of the pronunciations of Des Moines.

Iowans are so laid back that they just get a chuckle out of it. Sometimes they politely correct the person.

My brother and sister in law are here from CT. We played "pronounce that Nevada city" game last night Ely, Tonopah, etc, are pronounced completely different than how they would think. Heck, I still find it hard to remember how Tivoli Village is pronounced. In New England, it would have been Tiv-OH-li. Here, it's TI-vo-li.

[Hotfeet]

Also commonly mispronounced, even around nearby Reno, is 'Verdi' (correct way is ver-die).