[raccoonradio]

I’ve got a baseball related CD box set and there’s one bit from radio (40s? 50s?) where they talk to Brooklyn Dodger fans and the accents are interesting, etc.

Didn’t the NY accent kind of spread to Rhode Island? Dorg,
corfee...

I am in Boston and do have more that a bit of a Boston accent. When I travel I point out that, no, Bostonians do not, er, uh, necessarily uh sound like the, uh, Kennedys.

Boston: BAW-stin
Vermont: Ver-MAWnt (a Vermonter would say “Ver-MAHHnt”)
Gloucester: GLOSS-tah
Worcester: WISS-tah
Medford: MED-fidd (no, not “Meffa”, at least not for me)
Woburn: WOO-burn (I don’t know why)
Peabody: PEA-bih-dee

Obviously my pronunciation of car or bar gives me away.

[raccoonradio]

Brooklyn’s Bernie Goldberg (at least I think he’s from there) has joked on air about pronunciations like 33rd street as
“Tirty Tird street”

[xsmommy]

i love accents! i have a very good friend from Boston, and her accent is extremely thick. i live in NorthernVa now but am from Pittsburgh originally and i do quite well at identifying a pittsburgher by accent. once in a great while i get thrown by a Baltimore accent. my kids roll their eyes at me, because if i hear what i think is a Pittsburgh accent i ALWAYS ask [as if i keep my own stats, LOL!]

[Dr. Sivana]

Woburn: WOO-burn (I don’t know why)

You might want to ask P.G. Wodehouse (pronounced "Woodhouse"). A lot of these names are older than modern English, and the pronunciations didn't change (or changed differently) as common words became more standardized in pronunciation.

[firebrand]

I have noticed that people from Colorado and Nevada pronounce the name of their state with a flat a, as in “had.” People from outside the state can pronounce it as if it were Spanish: Colorahdo and Nevahda. Bob Dylan pronounced Colorado right in “Man of Constant Sorrow,” but he was from Michigan, close enough to get it right.

[One_Upmanship]

Thank goodness there's a pronunciation guide for MA towns:

Arlington

AR-LING-TON

This is the incorrect way to say it.

AH-LIN-TIN

This is the correct way to say it.

Ashland

ASH-LIND

This is the incorrect way to say it.

ASH-LAND

This is the correct way to say it.

ASH-LUND

This is how the name is pronounced by people trying to be sophisticated.

Ayer

EYE-YERE

This is the incorrect way to say it. Robert Urich was heard to use this pronounciation in an episode of 'Spenser for Hire'

AIR

This is the correct way to say it.

Bedford

BED-FORD

This is the incorrect way to say it.

BED-FUD

This is the correct way to say it.

Billerica

BRICK-AH

This is the correct way to say it. This the a short form of the name often used by locals.

BILL-ERICA

This is the incorrect way to say it.

BILL-RICK-AH

This is the correct way to say it.

Chelmsford

CHEMS-FID

This is the correct way to say it.

KEMS-FORD

This is the incorrect way to say it.

CHELMS-FORD

This is the incorrect way to say it.

Concord

CONK-ERD

This is the incorrect way to say it.

CONK-ID

This is the correct way to say it.

Framingham

Framington

A frequent misspelling

Farmingham

A frequent misspelling

Farmington

A frequent misspelling

Groton

GROW-TON

This is the incorrect way to say it.

GRAWT-N

This is the correct way to say it.

Lowell

Low-ell

This is the incorrect way to say it.

LOEWL

This is the correct way to say it. One syllable only.

Malden

MAL-DIN

This is the incorrect way to say it.

MAUL-DON

This is the correct way to say it.

Marlborough

MALL-BOROW

This is the incorrect way to say it.

MALL-BROW

This is the correct way to say it.

Medford

MED-FORD

This is the incorrect way to say it.

MED-FERD

This is the incorrect way to say it.

MEH-FUH

This is the correct way to say it. This is how the name is pronounced by town residents

MED-FUD

This is the correct way to say it. This is how the name is pronounced by students who live in town

MEF-FID

This is how someone in Somerville would say it

Natick

NAT-ICK

This is the incorrect way to say it.

NEIGH-TIK

This is the incorrect way to say it.

NAYDK

This is the correct way to say it.

Newton

NEW-TON

This is the incorrect way to say it.

NEW-UN

This is the correct way to say it.

NEWT-UN

This is the correct way to say it.

Pepperell

PEPPER-ELL

This is the incorrect way to say it.

PEP-ER-AL

This is the incorrect way to say it.

PEP-RIL

This is the correct way to say it.

Reading

READ-ING

This is the incorrect way to say it.

RED-IN

This is the correct way to say it.

RED-ING

This is the correct way to say it.

Sherborn

SHER-BORN

This is the incorrect way to say it.

SHER-BIN

This is the correct way to say it.

Somerville

SUM-MER-VILLE

This is the incorrect way to say it.

SUM-MA-VILLE

This is the correct way to say it.

SLUM-A-VILLE

This is how the name people use to put it down

Stoneham

Stoneum

This is the correct way to say it.

STONE-HAM

This is the incorrect way to say it.

STONE'M

This is the correct way to say it.

Tewksbury

TWOKS-BURY

This is the incorrect way to say it.

TWEEKS-BURY

This is the incorrect way to say it.

TOOKS-BURY

This is the correct way to say it.

Waltham

WALL-THUMB

This is the incorrect way to say it. This is said by people trying to sound like they have been saying it for years

WALL-THAM

This is the correct way to say it.

The Watch City

Winchester

WIN-CHESS-TER

This is the incorrect way to say it.

WIN-CHESS-TUHR

This is the correct way to say it.

Woburn

WOE-BURN

This is the incorrect way to say it.

WOO-BIN

This is the correct way to say it.