Hi folks. I'll just straight up ask; is it "Lee-high" or "Lay-high"? I've spent my whole life thinking it was the 2nd, but on the news somewhere I heard the first. Big Questions. I'm not afraid to ask 'em. Amanda
During the 1930's and 1940's, we had the LEE'-high Valley, LEE'-high & Hudson River, and LEE'-high & New England Railroads.
Yes, it's LEE-hi. I heard some guy at a recent train show in South Carolina call it the "Lee Valley". I quietly cringed and just let him be.
I'm sure every state has them, but ya gotta love Pennsylvania's: Schuylkill, Monongahela, DuBois, La Jose, Duquesne, North Versailles, Conshohocken, Sabula, Wilkes-Barre, Belsano, Bryn Mawr, and possibly the most mispromounced: Lancaster. And even people who are native-born for generations disagree on whether their town is pronounced "Gett-ees-burg" or "Gett-iss-burg," which is not far from Arendtsville. Ya know, it might be fun to incorporate those names into a model railroad layout, ala John Allen. I have a friend who lives in Home, PA and he often gets hassled when someone asks him where he lives.
Another one for the list is Bala Cynwyd. While the 'Bala' part seems obvious, the 'Cynwyd' part often gets pronounced as 'Sin-wid' when it should be closer to 'Kin-wood'.
I sure don't know the answer, but I wouldn't put any credence in how young newscasters pronounce words or how the bottom rolling scroll spells things. I've noticed this for a long time, and it's atrocious how the language is butchered. Grain of salt and all that. Back to the conversation...
Don't forget this one.... HINT: The pronunciation doesn't sound like the word that deals with literacy.
In Ohio I have heard the newscasters pronounce (on NPR) Astabula (Asta Buh La) as Ass Tab U La. Rick Jesionowski
When we lived in AL, I happened upon a national TV news story from Tuskegee, AL. I watched the segment because it was local and because the Reporter appeared to be there. At the close of the story, I fell out of my chair when the TV reporter completely butchered the name of the town, clearly calling it "TUSK-a-gee". It's pronounced tus-KEE-gee ("g" said as in the word go). The entire story lost all credibility. How could the Reporter have spent time there and not know how to pronounce the name of the place? What made it even more stupid is that Tuskegee is well known for its training of the Tuskegee Airmen in WW-II, the Red Tails, all-black military pilots and support personnel who fought with distinction in the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group.
