This week's blog idea came from my boss, who asked the musical question, "Why do Clevelanders pronounce Carnegie as Car-nay'-gee, while New Yorkers and other say, Car'-neh-gee?"

Andrew Car-nay'-gee
(public domain photo)

Naturally, being the curious soul that I am, I had to investigate. And so I hobbled over to the google and asked.

As it turns out, Clevelanders get it right. "Right" is defined by how Mr. Carnegie himself pronounced his name, if you assume the person whose name it is knows how to pronounce it correctly. (Which I do.) It also helps that folks who live in Scotland, where the name originated, also say Car-nay'-gee.

You never know, when you set out to learn the correct pronunciation, what you will find. 

The Carnegie discussion led to a related topic, i.e., why small towns in America sometimes adopt the name of another known city, then change its pronunciation. I give you:

Lima (Ly'-mah)

Milan (My'-lan)

Medina (Med-eye'-nah)

Louisville (Lou'-iss-ville)

The list goes on, but you get the idea.

Some have theorized the pronunciation was done intentionally so the locals would know when a visitor was amongst them. But I think this is pretty lame. After all, it's been my experience that small town folks know all their neighbors. It wouldn't take the mispronunciation of their berg to tip them off to a stranger.

As someone who grew up with the name "Schrimpf," which almost no one gets right (except Axel), I've always been a little sensitive about saying names correctly. I've come to realize that even simple names can be mispronounced. 

Just to clarify, I say it's "Gin-lee." If you say it's "Jin-lee," you're wrong.

Let's call the whole thing off...