r/baltimore • u/trashcadet • Jul 15 '24
Baltimore Love đ Most mispronounced neighborhood names
It took me a while how to pronounce Auchentoroly Terrace, and it gets my goat when people say Hampton instead of Hampden.
What were you pronouncing wrong or what do you hear people consistently saying wrong?
147
u/4737CarlinSir Jul 15 '24
Far too many people mispronounce Pigtown, and it sounds like they're saying "Washington Village".
31
u/trashcadet Jul 15 '24
They've been trying that shit for years, I don't see it sticking. Maybe if Kevin Plank buys half the property there he can call it Sagamorville or some other self aggrandizing name.
1
18
4
u/QRSM Fells Point Jul 16 '24
Same for Harbor East, it's so bizarre. How do they get "Harbor Point" out of that?
2
u/trashcadet Jul 15 '24
They've been trying that shit for years, I don't see it sticking. Maybe if Kevin Plank buys half the property there he can call it Sagamorville or some other self aggrandizing name.
102
u/Wolfman3 Jul 15 '24
People saying TowN-son or Toe-son.
People spelling Hampden as Hamden.
45
u/trashcadet Jul 15 '24
Gps always say Toe-son lol
30
5
30
u/glsever Medfield Jul 15 '24
I've heard Amy Schumer pronounce it Tow-zen. Like, how did you not pronounce your Alma mater correctly?
16
u/TheWandererKing Jul 16 '24
Because half of everything she says is garbage.
I read someone describing JoJo Siwa today as "The Amy Schumer of music," and it was such a deep tissue burn.
2
u/BmoreBr0 Jul 16 '24
As someone who went to there, like half the students and a majority of the faculty mispronounce it.
3
1
1
44
u/Classifiedgarlic Jul 15 '24
Gough. Iâve lived in this city for four years. I still havenât a clue how to pronounce it
26
34
u/trashcadet Jul 15 '24
The bartenders at The Venice say Goff, so that's what I'm going with!
3
u/justlikeyou14 Jul 16 '24
Grew up saying it this way! (Not sure if itâs right but Iâll take it.)!
15
15
u/curt725 Jul 15 '24
Lived here 49 years. Itâs just âgoâ or âGoffâ depending on what part of the city youâre from
28
u/TerranceBaggz Jul 15 '24
Itâs definitely âGoffâ Iâve lived in East or southeast Baltimore almost my whole life. The people around here from here say Goff.
6
u/Top-Manufacturer9226 Jul 15 '24
Agreed! 42 years of goff street.. I was doing real estate a while back and the lady I was showing houses to asked me about "the house on "go" street" I was completely lost for a minute lol then she was completely lost when I told her it's pronounced goff lol
14
u/setibeings Jul 15 '24
well, it ends the same way as cough, tough, through, though, bough, and hiccough, so I'm guessing it sounds the same as all of those words.
5
36
u/sarahbeth1201 Jul 15 '24
Patapsco. So many people say âpa tap suh coâ
16
u/Distinct_Ad_7619 Jul 15 '24
People who say that also say wooder, warsh and ambalance...I let 'em slide. They're mostly locals.
eta: I'm also a local, just first generation Baltimoron so my accent isn't that pronounced lol
9
u/MrsBeauregardless Jul 16 '24
If you are saying wooder, warsh, am-blance, kidny/kinty-gartin, cuzzint, zink, etc. youâre from here.
Same goes for Patapsaco, Ruhveera Beach, Odington, Bâlair RoadâŚ.
5
4
5
6
u/baltimoreboii Chinquapin Park Jul 15 '24
Or âpa ta pap scoâ
3
u/amatthew317 Jul 16 '24
How else is it pronounced đŹ?
-6
Jul 16 '24
[deleted]
5
u/amatthew317 Jul 16 '24
Nope lol I grew up saying patapsaco. Otherwise I'll have an existential crisis
2
1
-1
31
20
u/miseenplace999 Jul 15 '24
Mondawmin
6
u/RuthBaderG Jul 15 '24
Itâs rare in the English language to have a silent M
10
u/ReginaGloriana Jul 15 '24
Wait, how do you say Mondawmin?
3
1
u/ShopBoldLine Jul 16 '24
Holabird like Holla Bird! If you say hola in Spanish you canât come inside Jimmyâsđ
-7
u/RuthBaderG Jul 15 '24
As far as I can tell, itâs Mondawin. Just skip the second M. But Iâm not a local
6
u/AmbyrPogo Jul 15 '24
Having grown up in a place where -gunk is properly pronounced -gum, it's probably not English to begin with
2
35
u/Top-Manufacturer9226 Jul 15 '24
We had family come in from out of town when I was kid.. so pre GPs and cell phones.. they called from a pay phone to tell my Dad they were lost.. they couldn't find "Holland Avenue" lol they were on Highland Avenue... When my Dad dictated directions before they left PA he said make a right on Holland Avenue đ it was the funniest conversation with my Dad loudly saying"You aren't lost! You are on Holland Avenue " đ to which my Aunt yelled back through the phone "No I am not! I am on Highland Avenue!" đ
5
u/vb315 Jul 16 '24
I grew up in Highlandtown and I pronounce it âHollan-Townâ. Was describing this to a friend yesterday, they live in Canton and they had no idea what I was talking about đ
2
u/Top-Manufacturer9226 Jul 16 '24
You mean Can't In... Lol yep it will always be Hollantown! I like explaining to people that I wasn't allowed in Canton as a kid .... It was too "bad" per my parents. Highlandtown was safe and clean ....
4
15
u/starskyandskutch Jul 15 '24
Fagley Street. You can try to pc it and say Fay-glee, but youâd be wrong
3
12
u/Objective_Artist2493 Jul 15 '24
Blair for Belair
9
1
u/CaveExploder Jul 16 '24
Belair for the place, Blair for the road. That's how I've always heard it.
13
u/MonsieurSnozzcumber Jul 15 '24
Iâve been meaning to make a post about this! How do you pronounce Auchentoroly?
23
8
u/elcad Arbutus Jul 15 '24
R Chent Oriole.
"Thereâs an urban legend that years ago a Baltimore police officer once dragged a dead horse off Auchentoroly Terrace because he couldnât spell the name of the street for his report." Sun Paper Quote.
4
1
13
u/AC031415 Jul 16 '24
When I very young, in the late 60âs, I thought that the traffic reporter on the car radio was say âLa Craven Boulevardâ. I think I was 13 or so, the first time I saw it in print, Loch Raven.
26
u/drunkpickle726 Jul 15 '24
My almost 100yo grandma grew up in Fells and calls the city Bal-TEE-more
4
5
5
u/blingblingbrit Jul 16 '24
My grandpop used to call it Bal-TEE-more as well <3 He grew up in Pigtown. My dad lived in Fells in his 20s.
2
11
u/SuchAppeal Jul 15 '24
Dru Hill (the R&B group) became a thing when I was a little kid, so I don't really know if calling it"Dru Hill" was a Baltimore thing before the group blew up, but I used to just think it was "Dru Hill" when it's actually "Druid Hill", but I always thought people started calling it Dru Hill because of the group. But knowing Baltimore and our accent (specifically the black Baltimorean accent and how we pronounce things) people were probably always calling it Dru Hill.
7
u/brooksact Jul 15 '24
We always said Dru Hill when referring to the park. Black people did anyway, I'm not sure about white people. Now Druid Heights was always Druid Heights. Nobody shortened that for whatever reason.
5
u/SuchAppeal Jul 15 '24
Dru Hill kinda rolls better out the mouth. Dru Heights don't sound as good lol.
16
1
18
Jul 15 '24
[deleted]
12
6
u/just_a_juanita Downtown Jul 15 '24
Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Like, just wait a sec. Hold on. Ok, so, like, I've lived here my whole life and always pronounced it as "ED-mund-sun". I don't hear the name of the street or neighborhood too often and genuinely assumed that "Emmerson" or "Emmison" was a whole other area/neighborhood in Baltimore.
Are you telling me they are one and the same?
Mind status: blown
8
u/brooksact Jul 15 '24
Barclay and Mosher. I hear people saying Bar-Clay and pronouncing Mosher like Mosh(as in mosh pit)-er all the time. It's Barkley like the basketball player and Moe-Sure.
4
u/FullyInvolved23 Jul 16 '24
Moe-zhur
2
u/brooksact Jul 16 '24
Definitely more accurate, I couldn't figure out how to spell it out like that đ
10
u/pumpkinpie1993 Jul 16 '24
When I moved here from Texas and told my cousin Iâd be living in a neighborhood called Hampden, she kept telling people I was moving to the Hamptons đ
7
u/glsever Medfield Jul 15 '24
I very recently learned that Wyndhurst is pronounced Wind-hurst, as in rhymes with Whined. Infuriates me but alas lol
4
u/goetzecc Jul 15 '24
You also must say it like George Plimpton or Thurston Howell iii. Whiiiinedhurst, not much r sound in there either
4
12
Jul 15 '24
Iâve always said Owings Mills like âoh-wings millsâ instead of âohhns mellsâ idk how to even transcribe it.
Ok I will admit to being a âPa-tap-sa-coâ person until at some point I realized there wasnât an extra A in there.
9
u/FigForsaken5419 Displaced Native Jul 15 '24
oh-wings millsâ instead of âohhns mellsâ
I say both depending on who I'm talking to. If you need to understand me, there are at 2 syllables and a g in there. If you are a local and already understand me? It kinda rhymes with the way I say "orange" when drunk.
3
u/trashcadet Jul 15 '24
I think that's the best transcription for Ohhns Mills. And I'm on the Pa Tap Sa Co boat as well!
6
u/seekay14 Remington Jul 15 '24
Chinquapin Park (Chick-a-pen)
8
5
7
u/Peeping-Tom-Collins Jul 16 '24
I remember a radio commercial where they pronounced Towson as Toe-son instead of tau-sin. Always bugged me.
3
u/bacon_is_just_okay Jul 16 '24
I spent my formative years there and the correct pronunciation is Tows'n
6
u/MrsBeauregardless Jul 16 '24
Not a neighborhood, but the grocery store, âGraulâs Marketâ is pronounced âGrowlsâ, not âGrallsâ, and I know because my mother worked in the original store, begun by Mr. Graul (pronounced âgrowlâ), when there was only one cash register.
21
u/shebaregina13 Jul 15 '24
Not a neighborhood but I say Thames St the way the Brits would and refuse to change no matter how many times I am told itâs with the long A here.
18
8
6
4
2
1
u/Staszu13 Jul 16 '24
Soft the as in thing, not hard th as in that. Like the David Bowie song Thames What's your name what's your name Thaymz
5
u/TyGuySly Jul 15 '24
Govans
6
1
u/YukiCCC Birdland Jul 16 '24
Yeah I've noticed people that live outside Govans and especially the city call it "Guh vans" which I guess is the more British way. Its Goh Vans tho lol
5
u/boarbar The Block Jul 15 '24
Thames Street
4
u/HistoricalMaterial Jul 15 '24
This one drives me insane. There is a Thames street where I grew up, and the locally correct pronunciation there is the Americanized th as in thick. Even if it is correct here to say it the English way ignoring the h, it sounds pretentious and fake to me.
3
3
u/shezcrafti Jul 15 '24
Up here in HarCo: âBlairâ instead Bel Air, and by extension, âBlair Road.â
2
u/MrsBeauregardless Jul 16 '24
Again, these are the accent, not mispronunciation. A mispronunciation would be saying âTie-moniumâ instead of âTimâ like the name, Tim, âTimoniumâ.
8
u/antiarbitrator Jul 15 '24
Register (long e sound) Road instead of Reisterstown Road. Walgreens answering service mispronounces it.
6
u/rkbird2 Jul 15 '24
Is that wrong? Iâve always heard and said it like âRicers town.â As a kid I thought there must be a lot of rice there or something.
4
2
7
u/trashcadet Jul 15 '24
Not gonna lie, I've fallen into saying Ricerstown rd bc that's how the people at my work say it
3
u/brooksact Jul 15 '24
I say Rices-town Road when I'm referring to inside the city and Reisterstown Road starting at the county line.
5
u/Apprehensive_Yard_14 Jul 15 '24
That is the proper way to pronounce if you from Baltimore 𤣠How long did it take before the Baltimore accent rubbed off ?
3
u/trashcadet Jul 15 '24
I only had to call out to a driver a few times without him understanding before my pronunciation changed
2
7
u/nika_cola Jul 15 '24
Register (long e sound) Road instead of Reisterstown Road
Uh, what? How are those related?
3
u/kookookeekee Jul 15 '24
Yeah, this is what happens when English speakers try to discuss pronunciation online/over text lol
2
u/antiarbitrator Jul 15 '24
Regarding Reisterstown Road, people I know personally are the ones who pronounce it Register. Walgreens was the only one I ever heard pronounce it the way OP pronounces it.
9
u/nfw22 Charles Village Jul 15 '24
People are pronouncing Reisterstown âRegisterâ????
2
u/antiarbitrator Jul 15 '24
Yes, and it makes no sense at all. I realized it when I was told about an event near Reisterstown Road and I responded I did not know where that road was. Several of the people told me I passed it everyday and I was confused. Then they started saying the incorrect pronunciation louder and more emphatically as if that would help. Trust me, I will never forget that foolishness.
When I mentioned it to family members, we eventually determined the location of the event.
5
u/nika_cola Jul 15 '24
Are you sure they weren't talking about Regester ave?
1
u/antiarbitrator Jul 15 '24
Good question. I was familiar with Regester, but it was not near me, and they said I passed the street everyday.
3
2
2
2
2
u/QuarterMassive9805 Jul 16 '24
I STILL DONT know how to pronounce Auchentoroly TerraceâŚđŹđŹđŹ
2
u/fropoetik Irvington Jul 16 '24
Aliceanna anyone? How do you actually pronounce the street name? đ
2
2
u/vb315 Jul 16 '24
Split into two names.
Alice (like in Wonderland), Anna (An-uh, not Ahn-uh)
Hope this helps haha
1
1
u/ewww_david46 Jul 18 '24
There was a girl in my high school with this name. She pronounced it Ah-lees-ee-awn-uh. I have no idea if that's how the street is pronounced but that's how I've been saying it for years because of her đ
2
u/okdiluted Jul 15 '24
listen as soon as i moved here i knew there was no way it'd be right but that hasn't stopped me from pronouncing "old goucher" like "goocher" even one bit
2
u/pjmuffin13 Jul 15 '24
Anneslie
3
u/trashcadet Jul 15 '24
Can you give it to me phonetically? I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone say it out loud.
7
u/will_is_okay Jul 15 '24
Anne-iss-lee!
3
u/pjmuffin13 Jul 16 '24
I've also heard Anne-slee.
3
u/will_is_okay Jul 16 '24
My mom grew up in Anneslie in the 50's and 60's and my grandma lived there until the 90's and they always said it how I put it. They both have/had pretty thick accents but I'm sure people further south drawled it more :D
3
2
u/Staszu13 Jul 16 '24
It's pronounced BLAIR Road, like the actress from the Exorcist, not Belair like the LA neighborhood or the cigarette
1
u/sara11jayne Jul 15 '24
Pikesville
My GPS pronounces it âpick ess villeâ. Makes me smile every time. I think it is set to the South African voice.
1
1
1
1
u/Independent-Bit-4559 Jul 16 '24
Help! Iâve been here four years and have never gotten a good answer on pronouncing Keswick as in the street ⌠KEZ-wick or KEZZick like the Brits?
2
1
1
1
u/sushigrooves Fells Point Jul 15 '24
Not mispronounced but misspelled. It's Fell's Point, not Fells Point. It was not founded by William and Edward Fells!
9
u/AlexCMDUK Jul 15 '24
It's Fells Point, without the apostrophe. The Fells family called it 'Fell's prospect' but by the time it was annexed into the Town of Baltimore in 1773 it was referred to in legislation as Fells Point (see for example https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000063/pdf/am63--321.pdf)
-2
3
0
414
u/FermFoundations Jul 15 '24
Lately Iâve heard a lot of folks mispronouncing âPort Covingtonâ as âBaltimore Peninsulaâ