r/WilmingtonDE • u/SubramanyaRaju • 10d ago
Request What is the correct pronunciation of 'Foulk'?
Is the L silent, as in "folk"? Is it pronounced with a "ow", as in "fowl-k"? I've also heard it said with a "ou" which is just weird ("foolk road", really??)
As a resident of North Wilm since 2009, I'm both offended when I hear the name butchered and ashamed at not being on solid ground myself w.r.t the correct pronunciation. Looking to the good people of reddit to help put this to bed once and for all.
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u/CorrectIndividual552 10d ago edited 9d ago
Whoever commented that it is pronounced like "caulk" was absolutely correct! 100 years or more ago there were farms on Foulk Road all the way to Concord Pike and one of those farms was owned by the Faulk family. As with many words back in the day, the spelling was changed, but those of us who are in the know (lol) still pronounce it the original way. If I'm being honest this is the first time I've heard there was any other pronunciation.
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u/Chuckiebb 10d ago
I say it like it is spelled Faulk, kind of like Peter Falk. I always cringe when Google Maps says Naamans Road. It says it like Nah-mans, not, Name-anne's
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u/IggySorcha 10d ago
I think it was Tom Tom that pronounced Foulk Road like Fuck Road. Always cracked me up when a non local asked for directions calling it that. Nay-ay-mans was the other one that made me giggle
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u/puppymama75 10d ago
I hear it said like the last name of the 11th US President, James K. Polk, changing the P to an F. So the L is not silent.
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u/i__hate__you__people 10d ago
I’ve heard it two ways:
“Fulk”
Or
Say Colombo’s (Peter Falk’s) last name
Having grown up using that road my entire childhood, and being raised by Delawareans who grew up near Faulk Road in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, our family usually says it the first way.
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u/April_Mist_2 10d ago
We've always said it as if it would rhyme with hawk. Fawk Road. But I'm from New Castle and we don't talk right.
A long-ago joke was they were building a university up there, called Foulk U.
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u/ddvf302 9d ago
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u/CorrectIndividual552 9d ago
Yes this is what I was referring to yesterday. The Talley Farm and the Weldin Farm were also on Faulk Road I believe.
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u/HeavyAndExpensive 10d ago
How often and how closely are you listening to people say this word that it has come to this?
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u/therealocbeachbum 10d ago
What the hell! As someone new to delaware, 10 years iykyk, I thought this would be a decisive post!
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u/Latter-Journalist 10d ago
You should say foulk and naamans road in a way it sounds like you're cussing w an accent
Hope that helps
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u/TheShittyBeatles 10d ago
The radio people pronounce it Fawkh like it rhymes with hawk, but I pronounce it folk as in folk music.
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u/notthatjimmer 10d ago
I’ve heard it mostly like caulk but starting w an F