32 Places You've Mispronounced Your Entire Life

1. Melbourne, Australia
Only locals know this city name is actually pronounced as if the O and R don't exist.

2. Bangkok, Thailand
3. Beijing, China
The entire mainstream media is guilty of this one. When saying the last syllable, an American pronunciation of "jing" (think "Jingle Bells") is much closer to the correct Mandarin.

4. Colorado
This Western state is pretty rad, and the locals want to keep it that way.

5. Colombia, South America

Aboriginal people inhabited this place long before Columbus arrived, so don't sully it with his name.

6. Carnegie Hall, New York
If you're going to see a show here, you're gonna want to pronounce it right.

7. Budapest
Although it looks simple, there's hidden trickery here. The last syllable shouldn't sound like something you eradicate with Raid.

8. Lafayette, Louisiana
This city was founded in 1821 and named Vermilionville in 1821 by Jean Mouton, a French-speaking man of Acadian descent. In 1884, it was renamed for General Lafayette of the Revolutionary war.

9. Mackinac Bridge, Michigan

This bridge connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan and sports a silent 'c' just for fun.

10. Iraq

Every single news broadcaster in the country has been saying this like a backcountry redneck for years.

11. Dubai
To be fair, the 'correct' pronunciation is how the locals say it, but if you have enough money to go there, no one's gonna chastise you for saying "Doo-bye."

12. Louisville, Kentucky
Nor is it "LOUEY-vill."

13. Brisbane, Australia
This Aussie city gets the same truncated treatment as Melbourne.

14. La Jolla, California
Spanish rule of thumb: if you see to 'Ls' hanging out together, it probably sounds like a 'Y'.

15. Helena, Montana
Fun fact: The main street of this Montana city is named "Last Chance Gulch" by four Georgians who discovered gold there.

16. Pakistan
Both of the A's should be pronounced as in "paw," not as in "pat." This is true of most A's in Middle Eastern place names.

17. Reykjavik, Iceland
Despite what you see, there’s no "j" sound in this word.

18. Niger
Although 'NYE-jer' is better than the other ignorant alternative...

19. Kissimmee, Florida
You may think there’s a whole lot of kissing going on here until you realize the 'i' is more like an 'a' sound.

20. Thames River, UK
Another one of those lovely English words that ignore all phonetic rules. Imagine the H and the A just don't exist.

21. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
This is one 'e' that just refuses to stay silent.

22. Phuket, Thailand
It's an English convention to pronounce 'ph' like 'f'. But Thailand doesn't give a crap about your English conventions.

23. Norfolk, Virginia
Although you'll meet a lot of nice people there, there’s no "folk" in this place name.

24. Tijuana
Anything goes in this rambunctious border city. Anything but pronouncing it like a gringo. Think "PIRANHA."

25. Worcestershire, UK
Despite all those letters, this county (and condiment) name only has three syllables.

26. Qatar
27. Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a Salish tribe word meaning "children of the sun."

28. Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem
The road that Jesus took carrying his cross on the way to his crucifixion is often pronounced "Via Delarosa" (way of the rose). It is in fact Via Dolorosa ("way of grief").

29. Versailles, France
Like you're sighing with boredom...

30. Yosemite
The 't' is mighty in this word. Don't leave it out.

31. Worcester, Massachusetts
Those sneaky English brought their weird place names with them to the U.S. So I guess the pronunciation comes too.

32. Montreal, Canada
Say it with an 'O' sound and it tips everyone off that you're (probably) American.