To pronounce this street correctly

[wherethestreetshaveasillyname]

I just moved into small business premises locally and people have been asking for the address.

Now the street shares the name with a North American location that’s semi well-known in the UK - to avoid outing myself, let’s call it Illinois Street (it’s similar).

But every time I pronounce it (ill-ih-NOY street), I get blank looks. Then, when I describe the location, I get “ah you mean ill-ih-nwahh street!” and a raised ‘are you a bit stupid’ eyebrow.

What should I do?

A)keep saying it correctly

B) say it like everyone else seems to- but then look weird when I encounter someone who says it correctly

C) do as I am currently and long-windedly doing and say “oh it’s on Illinois Street, or, ill-i-nwa street as people seem to pronounce it round here.

(this is life-and-death and not at all lighthearted btw)

can you not just spell it out? Like people do with surnames?

I know of somewhere with the name Whalley in it. The locals pronounce it "War-ley." Drives me insane!

Op I’m sorry but I’ve got Hyacinth in my mind now 😂

Reading, Derby, Mousehole, Alnwick.

None of them pronounced as they are spelt.

Theydon Bois (boys not bwah) and Havering atte Bower (atty)

Why would you assume the US pronunciation is the “right” one?
They have imported loads of location names from the UK & Ireland and pronounce them differently.

It's pronounced more like 'Maud-lin' in Cambridge and Oxford (both have Magdelen/e Colleges with different spellings).

There's Chesham Bois too, also pronounced boys. My niece goes to Chesham Bois school and my daughter was genuinely confused for a while as to why a girl was at a school with "boys in the name

Albuquerque? Because the US and European pronunciations are different. If the locals are using a different one to you, they’re not wrong.

'Correct' is quite a subjective term here.

I'd go with whatever the locals call it or whatever causes the least hassle.

I know you've just used it as an example but I'd hazard a guess that ill-ih-nwah was probably the correct original pronounciation of illy-noy anyway given it's the frenchification of an Indian tribe. Maybe the street predates the state and draws it's name from somewhere else entirely? Fairly unlikely but could be.

We have a street near us that has the same spelling as a more famous place, but is pronounced differently - because it is not named after the place but after a person who happened to share a name spelt the same as the place.

You try going to New York and telling locals that they're pronouncing Houston St wrong 😂.

Local pronunciations vary. If that's how everyone locally pronounces it then you're the one pronouncing it 'wrong'.

Missing the point of the thread, but why don’t we pronounce Paris as the French do, when we do it for many other French places (e.g. Nice, Marseilles, Calais, Lyon)?

Demesne Road is actually pronounced ‘Demane’ but I am the only one who seems to know this and everyone looks at me weirdly.

There was recently a good natured row on my local FB group, debating how to pronounce the name of the village. It's a fairly straightforward, two syllable word (actually made up of two words that are words in their own right), but the 'argument' was about whether to put the emphasis on the first or second syllable. There was a clear division of opinion even among those who have lived there for decades.

I grew up there, moved away, live there now, and I'm still not sure which is 'right'. If I think my pronunciation might piss a local off, I just say 'the village'

I also don’t see why the American pronunciation would be correct. In the uk we have Derby and we don’t say it like Americans. And Gotham and we don’t say it like Batman.

Shrewsbury. Say no more!

I would say that the local pronunciation is the correct one? Lots of places are pronounced differently in the US from their UK/international equivalent - eg Birmingham.

You would hate Scotland, so many place names never mind streets are pronounced in ways that bear no resemblance to how they are written. Every time I go somewhere new I try not to say the place name til I’ve heard a local say it and then follow their lead.

It’s impossible to know because you could be mispronouncing it. I am North American so will gladly have a go at settling the correct pronunciation. 😂

Why do you think your way is right and the locals are wrong @wherethestreetshaveasillyname?
Surely it's the local pronunciation that is correct?

But all those extra letters are fun! Why spell it Milguy when you can spell it Milngavie?

One of my favourite lines from Dinnerladies:

"Everywhere in Scotland is spelt 'Ecclefechan', but pronounced 'Kirkcudbright'.

@wherethestreetshaveasillyname here is your answer! send them to this page! https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+pronounce+illinois+in+english&rlz=1C1FKPE_en-GBGB938GB938&oq=how+to+pronounce+illin&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgCEAAYgAQyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBCjE3NTEzajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBfWVvPSr2Y288QX1lbz0q9mNvA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

In your example, which I know isn't the actual name you are talking about, one could argue that it's the American pronounciation thats wrong anyway...since Illinois is the name given by French traders and missionairies to the area, itself a derviation of the name given to it by the native Americans. So I think that whatever the locals want to call it is the right thing. As is the case for Shrewsbury, Loughborough, and any number of other places in the UK and around the world!

Yes, but in Oxford there's also a Magdalen St pronounced as spelled, with the church of St Mary Magdalene on it. Just to mix things up...

(I definitely pronounced Theydon Bois as Bwozz when I first lived in London. And probably also said a French-style Gants Hill...)