What's. Your nationality?

[EasterJoy]

There is Central Park, however.

Central Park redeems it, this is true. I could never live there willingly, but if I lived there, Central Park would redeem it.

Ah, and the better thing is that all those people seem happy to be penned up in such a short space. They are happily living elbow to jowl, and the space they aren’t in is happy to be empty, too.

The city mouse and the country mouse both go home, and both are thankful!! That is as it ought to be!

 

[EasterJoy]

You guys are just jealous because I have possibly the coolest name on CAF. A double entendre.

It takes about three hours to drive from Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to the beach at Seaside, and I live somewhere near the middle of that route.

Who’s jealous now?

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

It takes about three hours to drive from Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to the beach at Seaside, and I live somewhere near the middle of that route.

Who’s jealous now?

In my best napoleon Dynamite Voice…

Lucky…

I live somewhere between that smell, and that other smell.

 

[khmsct99]

I was born in Guatemala… I live in KY now due to adoption.

 

[LegoGE1947]

It takes about three hours to drive from Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to the beach at Seaside, and I live somewhere near the middle of that route.

Who’s jealous now?

I have the same name as one of the most popular kids toys in the world. Unfortunately, I am not related!

 

[Ridgerunner]

American of Irish, Italian and Alsatian descent. Southwest Missouri Ozarks.

(“Aux Arcs” is pronounced “Ozarks”. It’s the original French name of the region, and means “where the bows are”…a reference to the excellent bows made of bois d’arc wood common in the region.)

 

[lovedance4ever]

Upstate New York, USA!

 

[DeniseNY]

My Ukrainian parents immigrated to the US after WWII. We live in NE Ohio. Hi, Denise!

Hi!!!

 

[LegoGE1947]

American of Irish, Italian and Alsatian descent. Southwest Missouri Ozarks.

(“Aux Arcs” is pronounced “Ozarks”. It’s the original French name of the region, and means “where the bows are”…a reference to the excellent bows made of bois d’arc wood common in the region.)

My wife is from there. A town called Versailles, MO,

 

[CHRISTINE77]

I have heard that there is a lot of depression there because of so much cloudiness and rain. Any truth to that? Just curious.

I think that SADD is sort of on the wane. People used to say they got depressed here, but you rarely hear that anymore. Now it’s kind of a haven for hipsters, and they certainly don’t seem very depressed. Personally, I love rain, and it sure keeps everything super green.

By the way, when my son lived in Madison, WI, I used to take the bus from O’Hare airport, and it always stopped in Rockford. It always seemed like a pleasant place.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My wife is from there. A town called Versailles, MO,

Well to the north of where I live, but I have been through it. I imagine your wife pronounces it “Ver-sales”. I never heard any of the locals say it any other way.

It’s sort of like the town of “Bois d’Arc”, which everybody pronounces “Bodark”.

 

[LegoGE1947]

I think that SADD is sort of on the wane. People used to say they got depressed here, but you rarely hear that anymore. Now it’s kind of a haven for hipsters, and they certainly don’t seem very depressed. Personally, I love rain, and it sure keeps everything super green.

By the way, when my son lived in Madison, WI, I used to take the bus from O’Hare airport, and it always stopped in Rockford. It always seemed like a pleasant place.

I especially like Sinnissippi Park and the recreation path along the Rock River. There are people working to try and make it a bit more “pleasant” as the city has fallen on some hard times in recent years since the Recession of 2008. Pray for us.

 

[LegoGE1947]

Well to the north of where I live, but I have been through it. I imagine your wife pronounces it “Ver-sales”. I never heard any of the locals say it any other way.

It’s sort of like the town of “Bois d’Arc”, which everybody pronounces “Bodark”.

That’s affirmative! “Ver-sales” it is. Here in Illinois we have a town, Milan, but the locals pronounce it “My-lan” even though it could be pronounced just like the city in Italy “Mee-lan”

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

That’s affirmative! “Ver-sales” it is. Here in Illinois we have a town, Milan, but the locals pronounce it “My-lan” even though it could be pronounced just like the city in Italy “Mee-lan”

What is it with the Midwest and unoriginal names. Close to me there is a Peru, (that’s about right) A Lebanon (an insult to the entire country) And a Kokomo (yeah right)

 

[LegoGE1947]

What is it with the Midwest and unoriginal names. Close to me there is a Peru, (that’s about right) A Lebanon (an insult to the entire country) And a Kokomo (yeah right)

There is also a Metropolis which is a little town in southern Illinois that tries to cash in as Superman’s home town. As to Kokomo, I thought at first that the Beachboys were singing about it But later I discovered they were singing about different places in the Caribbean Sea area. Don’t forget Zion, a town near Chicago!

 

[Ridgerunner]

One that seems mildly embarrassing is the Ozark town of Cabool. “Cabool” is an archaic English spelling of “Kabul”. But the town pronunciation is pronounced “Ka-BOOL” .

And then, there’s “AR-roara” (Aurora). People in Springfield tend to say “SPRANGfill” and some even pronounce “Joplin” as “Jopling”. Now and then one hears someone say “I’m goin’ to Jopling”. Never did understand how people could arrive at that.

Then there’s the town of “Noel”, which is locally pronounced “Nole”. Puzzling.

 

[GEddie]

What is it with the Midwest and unoriginal names. Close to me there is a Peru, (that’s about right) A Lebanon (an insult to the entire country) And a Kokomo (yeah right)

It is said that one can travel to Athens, Paris, Moscow, London, Turkey and Palestine…without leaving the boundaries of Texas

ICXC NIKA

 

[LegoGE1947]

It is said that one can travel to Athens, Paris, Moscow, London, Turkey and Palestine…without leaving the boundaries of Texas

ICXC NIKA

I think the deal is that many original settlers in the Midwest named their new towns after places they left behind in Europe. The French settled in the upper Midwest and as a result lots of the towns and cities reflect a French influence by their names, such as Dubuque, Versailles, Rochelle, Beloit, etc.

 

[John_Lazarus]

If before I was born, God gave me the option of where (and said Australia is not an option), I would have said make me a New Yorker. I have always had a sort of strange homesick yearning for New York and I don’t really know where that came from. It seems to have some mystical sacredness eminating from the soil me thinks?

I think it’s the pizza.

 

[John_Lazarus]

One that seems mildly embarrassing is the Ozark town of Cabool. “Cabool” is an archaic English spelling of “Kabul”. But the town pronunciation is pronounced “Ka-BOOL” .

And then, there’s “AR-roara” (Aurora). People in Springfield tend to say “SPRANGfill” and some even pronounce “Joplin” as “Jopling”. Now and then one hears someone say “I’m goin’ to Jopling”. Never did understand how people could arrive at that.

I’m wondering where you get “AR-kin-sore” from “Ar-KAN-sas”. Or “Nawlins” from “New Orleans”.

Then there’s the town of “Noel”, which is locally pronounced “Nole”. Puzzling.

This I understand. If “Noel” is to be pronounced “No-el”, it should have the dieresis over the ‘e’ (“Noël”). As a forename, I routinely hear it as “Nole”, as in the actor Noel Harrison.

That’s the weird thing about proper names – the relationship between spelling and pronunciation is often far more tenuous than it is for the remainder of the vocabulary.

Here in Newfoundland, we have an ironic example. The name of the town of Baie d’Espoir – meaning “Bay of Hope” – is pronounced “Bay Despair”.