Remember struggling to figure out how to pronounce words in your high school Spanish or French class? That was nothing compared to all the non-Utahns trying to say some of our town names. At least in class, there were rules you could turn to for help.
Well, here's your Utah study guide. Test your knowledge of how to say some of the state's most elusive names.
Hurricane
It looks obvious enough — but, not so fast. Despite the rule we all learned — an "e" at the end of a word means the vowel uses its long sound — that's not the case here. Locals call it HER-ih-kun. Warning: After you live there for a while, you'll probably find yourself mispronouncing the catastrophic water event.
Hooper
Another obvious pronunciation, right? Remember Sesame Street's Mr. Hooper. A hula hooper. A basketball hooper — OK, maybe that one is a bit of a stretch. Still, it's a pretty basic word. But the town of Hooper — pronounced HUP-per — doesn't want to be boring. Or, maybe it just doesn't want to be associated with barrel making. At least it's better than its first name, Muskrat Springs.
Tooele
Where do you even start with this one? Too-lee? Too-ell? Too-eel? Not even close. Too-WILL-uh is how Utahns say it, though we don't really know why. Some have suggested it's derived from the Spanish word "tule," meaning waist high grass. We do know that when Captain Howard Stansbury surveyed the area in 1849, he wrote "Tuilla" on his maps.
Koosharem
Not to say the residents of Koosharem are stingy, but the town isn't pronounced Koo-SHARE-em. Piutes named the valley KOO-sher-rum for the deep red clover that grows there. If you're still unsure, opt for the central Utah town's other name — Grass Valley. That one comes from the town's one and only mercantile.
Although just 0.6 square miles, the tiny locale sits at the crossroads of three national parks — Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Zion — so there are plenty of other people mispronouncing the name, too.
Paragonah
Reportedly, Paragonah originally had two "o"s in it, which would explain why it's pronounced Pair-a-GOO-nah and not Pair-a-GO-nah. But even before that, it was simply called Red Creek. The current name is a Piute word with several meanings involving water: warm water, many watering holes or red water. It's a good name for a place that's perfect for fishing.
Mantua
Perhaps the toughest name pronunciation to crack is Mantua — MAN-a-way. We can blame this one on Ohio. Danish settlers named the town after the birthplace of Lorenzo Snow, an early apostle and the fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Snow sent settlers to the area in Box Elder County in 1863, where they incorporated their culture and architecture to create a "Little Copenhagen."
Duchesne
Those high school language classes may come in handy with this one — Duchesne was named by French-Canadian trappers. To say it correctly, ignore the "s" in the middle. Although we have to admit, Doo-chez-knee does have a certain country twang to it, which feels appropriate for a western desert community. Say it with us: DOO-shayne. Magnifique!
Escalante
Es-ca-LAN-tee. Es-ca-LANT. We've heard it both ways. But it's definitely not Es-ca-LAWN-tay, even if it was named after Spanish missionary explorer Silvestre Velez Escalante. However you say it, it is now home to the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument — and that's a whole other mouthful of words to chew on.
Zion
Although it's not a city in Utah, it is a commonly mispronounced name of a national park in the Beehive State, making it noteworthy for this list. Hey everyone, it is pronounced ZI-un, not Zi-On. But hey, it could be much trickier. In 1909, when the area was first designated as a national monument by President William Taft, it was named Mukuntuweap.
How'd you do? Could you properly pronounce all the names of Utah cities that aren't what they seem? Are there others we missed? Let us know in the comments.
