I happened to walk into a classroom when the teacher was reading a book about a famous baseball player from Louisville, Kentucky. Except, she pronounced Louisville as "Looeyville."
Uh, oh. Definite out-of-towner. I had to interject.
I announced to the class that a true Kentuckian says "Looavul" or even "Luhvul," but not "Looeyville." The teacher tried again, and I gave her credit. She tried. She bravely attempted a southern accent, but it still didn't work. It just sounded like "LooEville."
Perhaps only those from the heart of the Bluegrass can really say it just right.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
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2 comments:
Someone at my bar asked me where I was from and I told him Louisville. Because I "mispronounced" it (to him, anyway, a native New Yorker) he had no idea what I said. He said he'd never heard of it...and I proceeded to say all of the things he should have heard about; Louisville Slugger, Kentucky Derby, Muhammad Ali, etc. When he realized I meant Looeyville, he started cracking up. Needless to say, people from around here do NOT get the accent.
Ahem! Even some of us "northerners" know not to butcher this city's pronunciation...it took me all of being at UK for a couple weeks before somebody set me straight. And to think, now some of my dearest friends in the world are from "Looavul." XOXO.
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