Here are 11 Virginia town names that regularly confound visitors and voice assistants, often sending the GPS into meltdown mode:
Virginia’s Most Vexing Place Names
Staunton — pronounced “STAN-ton” (not “Stawn-ton”)
Buena Vista — pronounced “BYOO-na VISS-ta” (not the Spanish way)
McGaheysville — pronounced “Muh-GAK-eez-ville”
Botetourt — pronounced “BOT-a-tot”
Norfolk — pronounced “NAW-fuk” (short second syllable)
Wytheville — pronounced “WITH-ville”
Buchanan — pronounced “Buh-CAN-on” (not like President Buchanan)
Poquoson — pronounced “Puh-CO-zin”
Gloucester — pronounced “GLOSS-ter”
Pulaski — pronounced “Pew-LAS-key”
Fauquier — pronounced “Faw-KEER”
Locals take pride in these unique pronunciations, so getting them right is a little badge of honor throughout the state.
SOURCES
(https://www.reddit.com/r/Virginia/comments/1e36sp3/what_virginia_towns_are_the_most_mispronounced_in/)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUDQQ32bgJk)
(https://secretdc.com/mcgaheysville-virginia/)
(http://cohp.org/va/notes/placenames_pronunciation.html)(http://truevirginia.blogspot.com/2017/07/mispronounced-placed-in-virginia.html)
