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

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Are you concerned that your grammatical and vocabulary mistakes in the OP might cause better educated people to perceive you as a rube?

I apologize. American English is my seventh language.

No apology necessary. You seem very concerned about people being perceived as rubes, so I was wondering if you share that concern for yourself. Does someone who makes fun of others worry that others might make fun of them?

No, generally not. I seriously doubt anyone would ever mistake any member of my family for a rube, even if they knew nothing about us.

From your posts in this thread, you would be very wrong about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Are you concerned that your grammatical and vocabulary mistakes in the OP might cause better educated people to perceive you as a rube?

I apologize. American English is my seventh language.

No apology necessary. You seem very concerned about people being perceived as rubes, so I was wondering if you share that concern for yourself. Does someone who makes fun of others worry that others might make fun of them?

No, generally not. I seriously doubt anyone would ever mistake any member of my family for a rube, even if they knew nothing about us.

But if people hear you speaking using the grammatical and vocabulary errors you made above, they might very well believe you to be a rube. Interesting that you don’t even realize that, even while you are so quick to think others might be rubes.

It seems OP seriously struggles with a lack of self reflection. OP seems to think people will be impressed and wowed simply because they come from a foreign country? Which is a very strange concept. I live in Europe and there are plenty of embarrassingly low class people all over, of course. It seems like OP might lack the education or social class awareness to be aware of how theyre accurately perceived

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we talk about Norfolk? 😂

Naw. Fu(k.

[Anonymous]

Vir-gin-yuh
That’s how I pronounce my name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Are you concerned that your grammatical and vocabulary mistakes in the OP might cause better educated people to perceive you as a rube?

I apologize. American English is my seventh language.

No apology necessary. You seem very concerned about people being perceived as rubes, so I was wondering if you share that concern for yourself. Does someone who makes fun of others worry that others might make fun of them?

No, generally not. I seriously doubt anyone would ever mistake any member of my family for a rube, even if they knew nothing about us.

But if people hear you speaking using the grammatical and vocabulary errors you made above, they might very well believe you to be a rube. Interesting that you don’t even realize that, even while you are so quick to think others might be rubes.

It seems OP seriously struggles with a lack of self reflection. OP seems to think people will be impressed and wowed simply because they come from a foreign country? Which is a very strange concept. I live in Europe and there are plenty of embarrassingly low class people all over, of course. It seems like OP might lack the education or social class awareness to be aware of how theyre accurately perceived

+1 This is the most pathetic flex we've had in a while here.

[Anonymous]

VUH - JEN-YA

[Anonymous]

I believe the “high class” pronunciation is Grey Poupon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1. I have posted this before but there is also Fauquier County, VA (Faw-keer) and Lord Fauquier and the dorm at W&M both of which are pronounced the French way - Fo-kee-ay.

The dorm at William & Mary was originally pronounced "Faw-keer" but it was back in the day of shared corded payphone in the hallways. People would answer the phone with the name of the Botetourt Complex dorm. But the guys in "Faw-keer" would mispronounce that first syllable *just* a little bit. So they would be inviting people to "F**k-here." And thus the Fo-kee-ay pronunciation was adopted by the school. Given CW's strict adherence to pronunciations, most people think that the colonial governor's name was pronounced "Faw-keer" since that was the original pronunciation used by the school. The governor's father was Huguenot but may well have anglicized his name when he moved to England. I say that as someone descended from other French Huguenots who moved to the US and changed the spellings/pronunciations of their surnames.

And though I agree that the correct pronunciation is how locals say something, that means that Long Island is properly Lawn-Guy-Land.

This is the best post in this pathetic thread. Thanks for the background on the W&M dorm!

[Anonymous]

W&M double alum here and I had never heard the background on the Fauquier dorm. I did have a close college friend at W&M from Fauquier county though, so it was interesting to see the contrast.

[Anonymous]

In some circles, it is pronounced Vuh-gin-ya.
It is my in-law's multigenerational family of Virginias.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Are you concerned that your grammatical and vocabulary mistakes in the OP might cause better educated people to perceive you as a rube?

I apologize. American English is my seventh language.

No apology necessary. You seem very concerned about people being perceived as rubes, so I was wondering if you share that concern for yourself. Does someone who makes fun of others worry that others might make fun of them?

No, generally not. I seriously doubt anyone would ever mistake any member of my family for a rube, even if they knew nothing about us.

But if people hear you speaking using the grammatical and vocabulary errors you made above, they might very well believe you to be a rube. Interesting that you don’t even realize that, even while you are so quick to think others might be rubes.

It seems OP seriously struggles with a lack of self reflection. OP seems to think people will be impressed and wowed simply because they come from a foreign country? Which is a very strange concept. I live in Europe and there are plenty of embarrassingly low class people all over, of course. It seems like OP might lack the education or social class awareness to be aware of how theyre accurately perceived

+1 This is the most pathetic flex we've had in a while here.

+2
Wonder if she would make the same stink over the way locals say Chatham or Worcester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W&M double alum here and I had never heard the background on the Fauquier dorm. I did have a close college friend at W&M from Fauquier county though, so it was interesting to see the contrast.

Now the kids pronounce it Faux-queer.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Non-phonetic pronunciation isn't a "colloquialism." Try not to use big words you don't understand.

It's a Colonialism!