City Names

[A. Maberry]

It's probably been mentioned before but Des Moines Washington is
pronounced by natives [de Moynz]. [d@ moyn] is, or at least used to be for
foreigners.

Allen
maberry at u.washington.edu

On Thu, 2 Dec 1999, Simon,Beth wrote:

> Madison WI is "Mad-Town".
>
> In Des Moines, one hears residents consciously and derisively say [dEz moynz]
> or, occasionally, [dEz moynEz] (where capped E = mid front lax), presumably
> to dig a big sarcastic ditch between us, who know it is [d@ moyn] (where
> @=schwa) and them who say [dez moynz] in ignorance, or on analogy with [dEs
> plenz] .
>
>
> beth simon
>
> Joseph McCollum wrote:
>
> > In the sports pages, it's usually "Cincy," "Indy" (not "Indie,")
> > "Philly," and "Frisco."
> > I lived in Ann Arbor for six years, and I never heard it called "Narber,"
> > and definitely not written that way -- "A^2," said "A-squared,"  yes, but
> > not "Narber."
> > Also I've seen and heard "Nawlins" for "New Orleans," and "The 'burgh"
> > for "Pittsburgh" although the latter is not abbreviating the city name.
> >
> > In re "The Third Degree" -- what are the "First" and "Second" degrees?
> > Are they more or less severe than The Third Degree?
> >
> > First degree murder is a more severe crime than third degree murder, but
> > then a third degree burn (charring of the skin) is more severe than a
> > first degree burn (just redness).
>