The thread about the Amtrak locomotive brought this up. Why is the town, and the railroad pronounced "red ing" instead of "reading", like the verb?
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@Dominic Mazoch posted:The thread about the Amtrak locomotive brought this up. Why is the town, and the railroad pronounced "red ing" instead of "reading", like the verb?
Because THAT is the way those folks chose to pronounce it. Just like Palestine, Texas is pronounced "pal-i-steen", as compared to the same city, spelled the same way in Israel (pronounced 'Pal-i-STINE').
@Hot Water posted:Because THAT is the way those folks chose to pronounce it. Just like Palestine, Texas is pronounced "pal-i-steen", as compared to the same city, spelled the same way in Israel (pronounced 'Pal-i-STINE').
Umm....not quite. As someone who lived part of my life in the town it was designed by William Penn's sons and named after the same named city in England as it was either the town William Penn lived in or it was the county seat of where he lived. Like most English towns and cities it was originally a Roman settlement and the old English pronunciation was still used even though the modern spelling differs a bit.
-Greg
My wife grew up in Pennsylvania. All I have learned about dialect is that you call it "P-A" instead of Pennsylvania or Penn or anything else. 
Also, Pittsburgh may as well be in another planet with their "yinz guys" and "Stillers," to name a few.
@Dominic Mazoch posted:The thread about the Amtrak locomotive brought this up. Why is the town, and the railroad pronounced "red ing" instead of "reading", like the verb?
Why have people of have read a book pronounce it red instead of read? Same type of question, it's the magic of our wonderful and confusing English Language. There are tons of examples of similar inconsistencies to be had. 
@Coca Cola guy posted:My wife grew up in Pennsylvania. All I have learned about dialect is that you call it "P-A" instead of Pennsylvania or Penn or anything else.
Also, Pittsburgh may as well be in another planet with their "yinz guys" and "Stillers," to name a few.
According to my 19 year old son, the youth of today say this about PA: Pittsburgh in the West, Philly in the East and Pennsyltucky in the middle. 
-Greg
Jeez I hope no one from Worcester reads this thread...
Don’t forget. Our FEET smell and our NOSES run.
Because English is a weird language, and then you have the British and American versions of things. In England "Leicestershire" is pronounced "Lester" phonetically. With Reading, that likely comes from the British pronunciation, like many towns in the US they were named after British towns. And yep, we have "Worcester" that is pronounced "Wooster", same thing, that is UK way. Even in American English it gets weird,the word "read" as in "to read is to learn" it is pronounced like "reed", but in the past tense, like "I read a book", it is "red".
In the Ordinariate Form of the Latin Rite of the Roman Communion, there is a minister spelled "clerk". Yet the correct pronunciation is "clark". Odd......?
Then again, there was an English presence in whatvwould become the United States 200 years before 1776.
Besides the language, the English did invent this odd form of transport called the railroad......!
@Greg Houser posted:Umm....not quite. As someone who lived part of my life in the town it was designed by William Penn's sons and named after the same named city in England as it was either the town William Penn lived in or it was the county seat of where he lived. Like most English towns and cities it was originally a Roman settlement and the old English pronunciation was still used even though the modern spelling differs a bit.
-Greg
As another guy who grew up there I was going to say exactly this. I have also lived in Monaca PA, pronounced Mon-A-Ca, with short "a" sounds, but named after a native American named Monacatuatha.
Well.....the past tense of read is read......so, maybe they have it correct?
Peter
Well... Pennsylvania also is home to Versailles (Vur-Sails) and Dubois (doo-boice).
Jon 
@KOOLjock1 posted:Well... Pennsylvania also is home to Versailles (Vur-Sails) and Dubois (doo-boice).
Jon
One of our French customers got quite a chuckle out of this on one of their visits. They had even more fun trying to pronounce Youghiogheny, as in the Pittsburgh, McKeesport & Youghiogheny Railroad (YOCK-a-gay-nee).
Andy
@Boilermaker1 posted:Jeez I hope no one from Worcester reads this thread...
As a Pennsylvanian visiting "wooooster" for work, I was so confused.
I grew up in PA and have always gotten a kick out of people attempting to pronounce Kishacoquillas.
Keeping this topical for OGR and Real Trains, Kishacoquillas Valley Railroad was a short line that ran from Belleville, PA to a connection with PRR at Milroy, PA. In its later years, the KV had operating rights over PRR to Lewistown Junction, PA
KVRR gave up the ghost and was abandoned about 1940.
Curt
@KOOLjock1 posted:Well... Pennsylvania also is home to Versailles (Vur-Sails) and Dubois (doo-boice).
Jon
That's right Jon. Never trust a French waiter from North Vur-Sails! 
George
Another example is Houston. In Texas, it's "Hyoostun". In PA, it's "Howston". 
My father shortened his name from 'Marmelstein'* in the 50s. We pronounced it 'Marmelstyne', but Barbra Streisand pronounced it 'Marmelsteen".
Mitch
*who woulda been 'Moishe Maurice Marmelstein, Jr.' instead of 'Michael Mitchell Marmel' if he hadn't. As it is, my middle namesake is Mitch Miller. I come by my odd sense of humor honestly.
I live in Worcester Tw'pt in PA. We say wor-ces-ter, but in Mass the same word is pronounced wooster. What I want to know is, where did the folks in Mass learn how to say things? 
I love showing people the names of the 3 rivers in Pittsburgh: Allegheny, Susquehanna, and Monongahela.
In England we have other words that are spelled different than pronounced.
Derby in US pronounce Darby in UK
Hartfordshire is spelled Hertfordshire in UK
For those not from PA (specifically Philadelphia area), I'd be interested in seeing you try to pronounce these Towns/Rivers in the area
Conshohocken
Bala Cynwyd
Manayunk
Schuylkill
...and lets not forget Leaman Place junction at the end of Strasburg's line. Famously mispronounced by outsiders
