Jackieinpdx's Blog

If you are a visitor to our fine state of Oregon, one of the most grievous errors you can make would be to pronounce the name Ory-GONE. It’s ORYgun, and residents won’t let you forget it!  We Oregonians can totally tell when you aren’t from here just by the way you pronounce our state. It is a major pet peeve of most of us.
Name: Oregon

Oregon
northwestern state in the United States of America

Notes: The pronunciation is three syllables– a sloppy pronunciation is OR-gun. Also, the last syllable is sometimes mispronounced -gahn which is incorrect.

Another often miss pronounced word is Willamette as in the Willamette River. Something any Oregonian will tell you. “Willamette” isn’t pronounced “will-uh-mett”. It rhymes with “dammit”. We in Oregon have a special saying to help you learn the pronunciation… “It’s Willamette, dammit.”

Wil·lam·ette

Pronunciation:

\wə-ˈla-mət\

Function:

geographical name

Filed under: Oregon | Tagged: Oregon, willamette |