What’s in a name?

Posted on July 31, 2006 by Brian

I flew into Philadelphia on a business trip today and had to drive on to Reading. Nice countryside but the town names are a little squirrely - Conshohocken, Bryn Mawr, Wyomissing, etc. What’s up with that? Oh sure, we have our own peculiar names in Tennessee but at least they don’t require your mouth to undergo it’s own pilates regimen. Towns like Bucksnort, Defeated, and Bell Buckle are pronounceable by any good ol’ boy with at least a 6th grade education. And if in doubt you just drop a syllable. It’s almost a cultural requirement.

Of course, this is all just good clean fun. I love visiting new places even if it is on a short business trip. I like to hear how people talk, see the names of places, look at how the houses and towns are built. I like to wonder what shaped the culture of the different places. And it’s good to just break out of the day-to-day cycle every now and then. It helps give perspective.

Of course, it would be better if Jenn were with me :). C-ya soon hon!

4 Comments »

Comment by jenn

August 1, 2006 @ 1:14 pm

I wonder how folks up there in PA actually pronounce those names. I’m guessing they might sound a little different than they look. Kinda like these TN favorites:

Shelbyville (pronounced “SHELB-vul”)
Lafayette (”La-FAY-it”)
Beersheba Spring (”BERSH-bah Springs”)
Quebec (”QWEE-bek”)
and of course there’s Lebanon (”LEB-nun”)

And those are just a few that come to mind quickly!

BTW, for those who remember my “parenting dilemma” last time Brian went out of town, the kids did amazingly well with bedtime last night! It might have helped that yesterday was the first day of school so they were all tuckered out. So was Mom! :D  Good thing Daddy will be home later tonight!

Comment by Reon

August 1, 2006 @ 4:47 pm

Don’t forget these!:

Maryville (”MARA-vul”)
Strawberry Plains (”Straw Plains”)…if you don’t call it “Straw Plains,” you’re obviously not a local!

Of course, anything ending in “-ville” is pronounced “vul.”

I wonder how us Tennesseans would pronounce “Conshohocken.” It would certainly have no more than 2 syllables!

Comment by Rong

August 2, 2006 @ 12:17 pm

You want a “what were they thinking” I used to work in a town named Scaggsville.

Comment by ilona

August 2, 2006 @ 8:31 pm

At the risk of being more serious than anyone wanted…. ;)

Lots of the stranger names are often the Indian ones, the vestige of tribal names for things. In fact, Ohio means the “beautiful river”- they say it’s something else alot of places online, but the Iroquois weren’t really down here- they were farther up around the lakes. Although I think all the tribes spoke Algonquin related languages. Most of our large bodies of water are Indian names: Erie, Scioto, Oleontangy, Miami. And how did the Miami end up down there in the South anyway? is what I want to know.

And how about this? “Tennessee -Tanasi was the name of Cherokee villages on the Little Tennessee River.”- (I looked that one up) There is a little known fact;)

Bryn Mawr is Welsh, and some Welsh immigrants probably had settlement in that area. “Lafayette”s are usually in honor of the French Marquis. You can really get off in researching the names and local history. My favorites are always the Indian names.

Sorry for going on like this… I just thought it was interesting.

yes, I’m in great demand at parties ;)

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