“Vir-Gin-Knee-Uh” or “Vir-Gin-Yuh”? Which is the preferred/higher-class pronunciation?

[Anonymous]

I heart this thread. I love everything about it.

[Anonymous]

In varies even in state. Us western VA folks go with “VIR-GIN-E-IA”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you drag a forth syllable into Virginia I'm going to think you are an idiot.

I see that as an absolute win.

Derision from aggressively ignorant, arrogant fools is a compliment to refined people.

It's hilarious that you think you are refined. Mutilating the pronunciation of a state in ways that almost no one who lives there, or anywhere else chooses to do is not a sign of being refined.

[Anonymous]

None of these are "high class" pronunciations.

[Anonymous]

Interesting - I have a name that ends like this, and I have always noticed that some people pronounce it both ways, as you mention. I have not seen any trends in predicting how someone will pronounce it.

The only thing I can think of is that the other English words that end with that sound aren’t really words you learn as a young kid (eg, mania - mane-e-a, or ammonia - ammonia-ya as I pronounce them). So perhaps those who have been exposed to that sound early on for whatever reason can do it in one syllable while others need to use two and can’t go directly to the “ya” sound? That has been my hypothesis anyway, because many times the people who use the ee-ya end are people who are otherwise really aware of mispronouncing someone’s name.

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t everyone pronounce it Vergh-eye-na??

[Anonymous]

Va-gyn-nah

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in Ohio, where you think you know how to pronounce the name of a city because you’ve seen it before in another country, but nope, it’s pronounced totally differently by locals.

Lima is LYE muh
Berlin is BUR lin
Russia is ROO she
Versailles is Ver SALES
Rio Grande is RYE oh grand
Cairo is CARE oh

I also attended a wedding in Bahama, NC, where it’s pronounced Buh HAY muh.

The correct pronunciation is however the locals say it.

This is my favorite post ever. I was once driving through Ohio on a road trip and heard someone say Vur Sales on the radio and I thought it was hysterical

[Anonymous]

Op, you should definitely go to Boston and ask for directions to Faneuil Hall. Be sure to pronounce it in the non rube/proper French way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m new to the area, and I’ve noticed a couple distinct pronunciations of “Virginia”.

I’ve noticed well-educated foreign-born people, with whom I tend to identify with more, tend to use the four-syllable pronunciation, whereas native born Americans tend to use the lazier (IMO) three-syllable pronunciation. I’ve noticed the prevalence of use of the three-syllable pronunciation isn’t really bound by SES lines, with people who I’d otherwise associate with being upper-class still using the three-syllable pronunciation.

Which is correct? As native-born Americans, which do you use? If you use the three-syllable pronunciation, why? Does it concern you or make you feel self-conscious that better-educated people might perceive you as a rube? Why does America tolerate such colloquialisms in language?

Do you have any awareness of how offensive this post is?

Someone being well-educated and foreign-born does not mean that they are better-educated than a native-born, educated individual.

My aunt is an M.D., Ph.D., and her B.S. is from an Ivy League university. Shockingly, she is a native-born American, yet she still is very-highly educated! It's amazing!

Since you obviously believe you are intellectually superior to others, I am surprised that you don't understand the difference between an accent and a colloquialism.

[Anonymous]

Virgin - Eye - Yeah

[Anonymous]

My mother from Boston always pronounces it with 4 syllables.. I use 3