How Do You Pronounce That

Here are ten words that are pronounced differently, based on where you are from in the US.

Bagel
This morning staple has several ways of being pronounced. Most people, including New Yorkers pronounce the word as bay-gull, but many Midwesterners pronounce it like bah-gull.

Caramel
The West Coast and Midwest pronounce the word "caramel" with two syllables like car-ml, the majority of the East Coast pronounce the word as three syllables, pronouncing it car-a-mel.

Syrup
Could you pass the seer-up? No, but I can pass the sirr-up. Both pronunciations are considered acceptable.

Pajamas
America's Western and Midwestern states and you will find that the "a" in pajamas is pronounced like "jam," but in any Southern or Eastern state and you hear an "a" as in "father."

Nevada
Inhabitants of the East Coast refer to it as Nev-AH-da (with an "a" like "odd") The correct pronunciation, according to the state's residents is Nev-AD-a (with an "a" like "add").

Oregon
Contrary to popular belief, it is not pronounced Or-a-gone, but Or-a-gun.

New Orleans
Even locals cannot agree on how to pronounce the name of this city. Some people say New Oar-lins, others say New Or-leans, and a small subset even add an extra syllable to make it New Or-lee-uhns.

Caribbean
The region is named after the Caribs (pronounced kar-ib), the technically accurate pronunciation of the word "Caribbean" is kar-i-bee-in. However, many people (some Caribbean natives included) prefer the pronunciation ka-RIB-ee-in, and both are common.

Florida
Most Americans, Floridians included pronounce the first syllable in Florida to rhyme with "sore." However, there are three other ways to pronounce this word: Flow-ri-da, Flah-ri-da, and Flaw-ri-da. For the most part, these alternate pronunciations can be heard in Southern and Northeastern states.

Texas
The majority of people pronounce Texas with an [s] sound. According to the Harvard Dialect Survey, just over 5 percent of respondents, primarily people in Northern and Midwestern states say the state's name with a [z] sound.