I, myself, didn’t know how to pronounce the word the first time I saw it, which was way back in, oh, 1944. But then along came the Looney Tunes character Yosemite Sam, created by Fritz Freleng and voiced by Mel Blanc. We know that Donald Trump doesn’t read, but has he NEVER even gone to a movie? And has he NEVER ventured West of the Potomac? I suspect not—except for that time he briefly visited the fire ravaged community of “Pleasure” California. Or the time he spoke at a rally in a state he called “Nev-AAH-dah.”
Earth to Queens: Out here in the Western United States we make it a point always to butcher Spanish place names. Hence, shortened a’s, as in Durango, Colorado. (Think Danny-AINGE-oh, Collar-ADD-oh.)
A notable exception is Moscow, Idaho, which isn’t pronounced the same as Moscow, Russia. There is no cow in the Idaho version. Moreover, the e is silent in Shoshone, Idaho—whereas the i is sounded as a long e in “Shoshoni, Wyoming.
I had to learn all this stuff back when I was a roving regional television reporter, lest I make a public fool of myself—like those reporters from the East who habitually stress the second syllable of words such as zi-ON. In Utah, we NEVER stress the second syllable! To do so is to identify oneself as a stranger—and a possible danger—to the territory. It’s how Bill Clinton managed to alienate the formerly Democratic-leaning citizens of Carbon County, by screwing up the last names of each and every one of our local civic, political and union leaders. Result: Carbon County currently votes Republican, and I fear this unfortunate trend may continue—that is, unless Donald Trump should choose to mispronounce the last name of his Democratic opponent as bi-DEN. How IG-nernt, as we say out here.