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

Here are 11 North Carolina places that most people can’t say correctly on the first try, along with their correct local pronunciations:

1. Beaufort – Pronounced BOE-furt (Not “Bo-fort” or “Bee-you-fort”).
2. Fuquay-Varina – Pronounced FEW-kway vuh-REE-nah (Not “Foo-quay”).
3. Mebane – Pronounced MEB-un.
4. Topsail – Pronounced TOP-sul (Not “Top-sail”).
5. Uwharrie – Pronounced you-WAHR-ee.
6. Zebulon – Pronounced ZEB-yoo-luhn, or “ZEB-yoo-lin” locally (Not “Zeb-yoo-lawn”).
7. Buncombe – Pronounced BUNK-um (Not “Bun-COMB”).
8. Kerr Lake – Pronounced CAR (like the word “car”).
9. Angier – Pronounced ANN-jur.
10. New Bern – Pronounced NEW Burn (Not “New Born”).
11. Norlina – Pronounced NOR-lih-nuh (Not “Nor-lee-na”).

These pronunciations reflect the unique local dialect and historical influences in North Carolina, and natives instantly spot outsiders who don’t say them right on the first try.

SOURCES

(https://www.dailytarheel.com/blog/pit-talk/2011/03/how-to-pronounce-the-names-of-n-c-counties)(https://raltoday.6amcity.com/north-carolina-town-pronunciation-guide)
(https://languagehat.com/north-carolina-place-names/)(https://www.instagram.com/p/CwjKTusLIfx/)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB3ZeUwolG8)