Pronunciation

[davedove]

This came up in the office yesterday. What is the proper pronunciation of the capitol of Louisiana: New Orleans or Nawlins?:confused:

[mkmound]

Baton Rouge!!

[davedove]

Baton Rouge!!

Got it in one!

You should have heard all the variant pronunciations of New Orleans before I said the right answer.

[macwilkin]

Nawleans. Trust me on this one, since I married into a bunch of Cajuns, and Page's mom was born in Nawleans! :mrgreen:

Cheers,

Todd

[SouthernScot]

Having lived there, it really depends on which part of Louisiana (and New Orleans) you are in on how it is pronouced. Funny one though, as most people do tend to overlook the fact the Baton Rouge is the capitol.

[macwilkin]

Having lived there, it really depends on which part of Louisiana (and New Orleans) you are in on how it is pronouced. Funny one though, as most people do tend to overlook the fact the Baton Rouge is the capitol.

Good point. They do talk funny up in the "Yankee parishes" of Northern Louisiana! :mrgreen:

One more point about Nawleans accents: my father-in-law, also a native of the "Big Easy", is often confused for a New York or Boston resident with his gravely Nawleans accent.

Cheers,

Todd

[jjoseph]

Nawleans. Trust me on this one, since I married into a bunch of Cajuns, and Page's mom was born in Nawleans! :mrgreen:

Cheers,

Todd

Well, the capital is Baton Rouge (properly pronounced bahtohn-roojzh) which means "red stick". One of you history buffs will have to explain that one...

"La Nouvelle Orléans" is named after Orléans, France (pronounced Or-leh-ahn)...

Now we have a little thing called the Louisianna Purchase, so imagine a bunch of 'not-quite-English-anymore' speaking Southerners trying to say New Or-leh-ahn. Put that in the pot and let is stew 4 or 5 generations and you get Norlenz. C'est fini ça.

[macwilkin]

Well, the capital is Baton Rouge (properly pronounced bahtohn-roojzh) which means "red stick". One of you history buffs will have to explain that one...

"La Nouvelle Orléans" is named after Orléans, France (pronounced Or-leh-ahn)...

Now we have a little thing called the Louisianna Purchase, so imagine a bunch of 'not-quite-English-anymore' speaking Southerners trying to say New Or-leh-ahn. Put that in the pot and let is stew 4 or 5 generations and you get Norlenz. C'est fini ça.

Not to mention the "melting pot" that is Nawlens -- Creoles, Cajuns (although I must point out that Nawleans and Cajun are not interchangeable, regardless of what many believe!), Germans, Italians, Irish -- you name it, and Nawleans has it. No wonder they don't talk like anyone else! :mrgreem:

T.

[tp_magill]

Got it in one!

You should have heard all the variant pronunciations of New Orleans before I said the right answer.

Living just over the river from Kentucky, we do that same thing with Louisville:

How do you pronounce the capital of Kentucky: Lewis-ville or Louie-ville?









Frankfort!

[GlassMan]

The silliest one I've ever dealt with is New Haven, Ct. Seems like there's no way to mangle that. Yet, students at Yale from around the world almost all place the emphasis on "New" while locals place the emphasis on "Haven." Try it yourself and you'll realize that it actually does sound different and yet it's only a matter of which word is being stressed.