Here are 11 Missouri town names that’ll likely make your GPS have an existential crisis, along with their tricky pronunciations:
- Auxvasse – Pronounced “Of-aw-zzz”
- Bolivar – Pronounced “Ball-i-ver”
- Canalou – Pronounced “Ca-now-lou”
- Hayti – Pronounced “Hey-tie”
- Kearney – Pronounced “Car-knee”
- Laquey – Pronounced “Lake-way”
- Lebanon – Pronounced “Lebuh-nun”
- Milan – Pronounced “My-luhn”
- Nevada – Pronounced “Ne-vay-duh” (not like the state Nevada)
- Qulin – Pronounced “Q-lin”
- Versailles – Pronounced “Ver-sail-s” (not the French way)
These names reflect Missouri’s varied cultural roots and often confuse visitors and GPS systems alike.
SOURCES
(https://www.iheart.com/content/2021-05-21-missouris-most-mispronounced-cities-and-towns/)(https://www.kbia.org/arts-and-culture/2013-09-12/why-cant-missouri-pronounce-its-towns-right)(https://reader.ku.edu/sites/reader/files/2024-12/Missouri%20Place%20Names.pdf)(https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Pronunciation_Guide_to_Missouri_Place.html?id=V53xfpIiJ7MC)(https://www.reddit.com/r/missouri/comments/160ozgt/familiar_place_names_alternate_pronunciations/)
