We Dare You to Say These 11 Kentucky Places Correctly on Your First Try (Spoiler: You Can’t)

Here are 11 Kentucky places that people almost always mispronounce on their first try:

1. Daviess County — Not “day-VEEZ,” but sounds more like “Davis.”
2. Muhlenberg County — Correctly pronounced with a “y” sound after the “M,” like “Myo-len-berg.”
3. Robards — Pronounced like “ROH-bards,” different from the actor Jason Robards’ name.
4. Cadiz — Both syllables are emphasized, pronounced “CAH-diz.”
5. Versailles — Unlike the French “vehr-SIGH,” locals say “ver-SALES.”
6. Louisville — Commonly mispronounced as spelled; locals pronounce it “LOO-uh-vuhl” or “LOO-vee-uhl.”
7. Berea — Pronounced “burr-REE-ah,” not “BEER-ee-ah.”
8. Scottsville — The double “t” is softened; locals say “scats-ville.”
9. Georgetown — Pronounced as spelled, but often misheard or mispronounced as “Jor-getown.”
10. Monticello — Pronounced “mon-ti-SELL-oh,” emphasis on the third syllable.
11. Columbia — Pronounced “kuh-LUM-bee-uh.”

Kentucky place names have unique local pronunciations that can be tricky, often differing from how they look or from pronunciations in other places with the same names. Locals often have pride in these pronunciations, making it hard for outsiders to get it right on the first try.

SOURCES

(https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1160&context=rennick_ms_collection)(https://wbkr.com/kentucky-and-tri-state-city-and-county-names-visitors-mispronounce/)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxK5J140JWI)(https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/rennick_ms_collection/158/)
(https://www.southernthing.com/we-tried-to-pronounce-these-kentucky-town-names-2639130275.html)