I've wrung most of the news nuggets and personal accounts I could get out of the Nevada Caucuses, but there's one last thing I 'd like to add. . .
Attention news media!!! The state that held the caucuses this weekend is pronounced Nuhv-ADD-uh, not Nehv-ODD-uh. And no, as my brother asked, I'm not kidding. Putting "ODD" in the middle seems to be a peculiarly east-of-the-Mississippi assumption. And it annoys the crap out of Nevadans like myself.
News media personalities and talking heads have been getting it wrong all week. Even people I like, such as Air America Radio's Randi Rhodes, and Michelle Obama.
Often, people will argue that since "Nevada" means "snowy" in Spanish, it should have a Spanish pronunciation. Oddly though, they do not say "Tejas" for Texas, nor do they say "Mejico Nuevo" for New Mexico. My advice, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. If the people of Bellfontaine, Ohio insist on calling it "Bell Fountain," then just go with it. Shoot, in England they pronounce town names like Worcestershire "Wooster."
And so, say Nuhv-ADD-uh, unless you enjoy ticking us off. If you would like to hear it pronounced, take a cue from Keith Olbermann. . .
UPDATE: Arrgh. . . I just heard FOX "News" host Geraldo Rivera say, "Nehv-ODD-an," and his guest do the same.
No American state uses the Spanish pronunciation:
ReplyDeleteCalifornia, Montana, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Colorado - Spanish origin - English pronunciation.
Very few who have lived for a significant time west of Kansas ever had a problem pronouncing Nevada correctly: neh-VAD-uh ("A" as in cat)
This is mostly east coast arrogance and southern ignorance. The east coast media is proud that they can pronounce Kazakhstan but won't take 20 seconds to learn how to properly pronounce Nevada, Colorado, and Oregon.
IMO, the country bumpkin who pronounces Illinois as "Illi-noise" is no worse than the equivalent east coast or Texas "educated" media bumpkin who mispronounces Nevada.
In fact, I give the country bumpkin a bit more credit because once informed of his error, unlike some east coast folks I have encountered, he is unlikely to have the chutzpah to tell a native Nevadan or Coloradan how they "should" pronounce their own states.