Nevada pronounce it right - NBC News

[krislynnification]

Just want to take this opportunity to point out ...lots of politicians and newscasters pronounce "nuclear" wrong. It's NOT nuculear, as Bush spent his entire term saying it.

[Goldeneyes11]

Get over it. People mispronounce stuff all the time. It's not like someone knows how to say it and wants to tick all the people in Nevada off.

[DakotaY24]

I lived in Las Vegas from the ages of, 9 to 24 years old. NO ONE I knew ever pronounced it, Neh-va-duh! I realize its a spanish word, and unless you have the spanish accent to go along with the proper pronounciation, you sound like a jackass saying! So my advice then, stop bitching about the spanish speaker!!

[Oberwoot]

but maybe because it is a spanish word (snowfall), it really should be pronounced according to spanish pronunciation

[Nevada702]

@Oberwoot We've already discussed this. Easterners and Southerners who mispronounce Nevada do so in both English and Spanish. They have invented their own unique incorrect pronunciation. The other American states with names originally of Spanish derivation include California, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Texas, Colorado, and Florida. None of these states use the Spanish pronunciation when speaking English. The same applies to major American cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.

[Oberwoot]

@Oberwoot lol, well thanks for getting me up to speed. to be 100% correct with pronunciation, you would pronounce words from other languages according to those languages. of course most americans would think you were crazy if you said 'Cahleeforneea' and 'Vehrmohn' (vermont, french)

[ubermisogynist]

@Nevada702 Considering how high the unemployment is in Nevada and I read that the population is shrinking is this really that important? Maybe people don't want to move there because of the attitude and maybe people who did move there left for the same reason.

[dagjaxig]

I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and I pronounce it Ne-vad-a. I have lived here my entire life, and a few times in my life people pronounced it the way out-of-staters say it. Teachers, TV, and etc. have said it the other way, and I just yell in my mind, "It's not Ne-vah-dah, it's pronounced Ne-vad-a, and it's been like that after Nevada became a state".

[ubermisogynist]

@Nevada702 Last example I know people from New Orleans and they get upset when everyone else calls it "New OR-LEENS"..over there they say "Naw-lens", the first way may be techinally correct but you will never hear people from the south say it that way and if you do, you would be the ones to draw the strange looks..so if I started saying Nevada the way you people want, people will look at me like im stuck up and/or crazy

[ubermisogynist]

@Nevada702 i just think it's crazy to think they can force people in other regions to change the way they say Nevada or any word..i remember some people here on Youtube that was annoyed at how New Zealand and Australians have the way of speaking where a statement sounds like a question(I think it's called High Rising terminal) ..i know that's tangential but the overall point is you can't change the way people speak once it's embedded in a region/culture

[ubermisogynist]

@Nevada702 @Nevada702 i've never heard of this "controversy" until yesterday b/c of the plane crash in Reno.. I noticed Anderson Cooper at first said it your way and it caught my attention because it sounded "forced" and unnatural & sometimes he would revert back to the way I've only heard it .i figure he was doing it on purpose & sure enough on the nets people were more upset about it weird since people died. do u get angry at NE who say "Caa" instead of "Car"?

[ubermisogynist]

@PierceWorthyTV explain to why it bothers you? If you are from Reno and moved to South Carolina who are you to tell the majority how to say a word? Do you get pissed when people in New England say "Caa" instead of "Car", what about Anthony Weiner? It's actually "WY-NEER" and not "WEE-NEER" according to Die Deutsche(The Germans..maybe they should be offended Americans call them Germans and their country "Germany" instead of Deutschland)

[Nevada702]

@ubermisogynist Having lived ten years in Germany, I can guarantee you that Germans would correct you if you say 'Germany' while speaking German (Deutsch). However, if you say 'Germany' while speaking English, they would think nothing of it. While many easterners have now learned the proper pronunciation of western states like Nevada an Oregon, there will always be those who stubbornly prefer not to unlearn their ignorance. These folks may use non-words like 'irregardless' for the same reason.

[ubermisogynist]

@Nevada702 my point is it doesn't matter what you think. No one is going to say it any other way then the way the learned it and the fact that people from Nevada are so adversarial about it, I know I will never say it the way they want. I have a problem with people dictating to me what i should or shouldn't do

[sonicdoodle]

@ubermisogynist Don't pretend to speak for people on the East Coast. To me, your obnoxious spam is an embarrassment. Just stop it. If you want to be an ignorant ass, you only speak for yourself. I admit that I used to pronounce Nevada and Oregon the other way too. But that was before I learned the correct way during the 2008 election cycle. I saw this story on NBC and also noticed a shift in network news to start pronouncing those states the way the residents do. Grow up and show some respect.

[vienelamigra]

Nevada is a spanish word so the pronunciation is Ne-va-da, if someone pronounce Nevahda then the word in Spanish will be written Ne-vaa-da and there is no word like that in any Spanish dictionary.

[ImDavard]

@NevadaWrangler All i know about it has the mohave desert in it.

[kinghaggard]

I know this is a lost cause, but the "call-er-AH-do" pronunciation that so many here are citing as "correct" is just as wrong as "ne-VAH-duh." The local pronunciation is "call-er-A-doh," with the same syllable sound as "ne-VA-duh"

[emilymichellenelson]

People saying "Nevahda" always feels so pretentious to me, like they're trying to say it with a foreign accent. If you want to talk about snow in Spanish with a British accent, you do whatever you want. If you're trying to talk about the state, do it the way people out here do it.

[ubermisogynist]

@emilymichellenelson thats EXACTLY how people who sound, I never heard of this

"controversy" until the Nevada Air Show crash..on twitter people were bitching about how the News Anchors were saying it.. I've NEVER heard it pronounced the way you want us to say it and i honestly don't care how you and others think *I* should say it. I will say it the way i learned it and the way everyone else says it in my region. I'd look "pretentious" if I tried it your way in my region.

[ImDavard]

Snowy? Its mostly fucking desert.

[TheIndyColts]

i hate when i'm watching a UNR game and they say Nevahda

[jehfes]

To the people who defend their mispronunciation of Nevada by saying it is closer to the spanish version - Do you pronounce these Spanish-derived place names the Spanish way: California, Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Montana, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tucson, Albuquerque, Amarillo, etc.? Do you pronounce Detroit the French way? When foreign words become part of English their pronunciation often changes. Pronouncing Nevada wrong is just being ignorant.

[Namirsolo]

@jehfes Nevada actually is, letter for letter, a Spanish word, unlike all of the other places that you mentioned. That would be the difference, but I don't think it's really something that is worth getting upset over, either way.

[jehfes]

@Namirsolo Actually most of those places are Spanish words. Florida=flowery, Colorado=colored, Montaña=mountain, Los Angeles=the angels, San Francisco=St. Francis, Amarillo=yellow. All the other places I listed were named by Spanish speakers and originally pronounced the Spanish way. Anyway I'm not upset about it, I'm just trying to inform people how to pronounce my state correctly.

[Adjuni]

What the bloody hell! Don't people have better things to do?

[SeraphicDylan]

Hey, VicInNocal, we pronounce Colorado correctly out here. If we sound like hicks, people from the East Coast obviously sound like thugs. At least I PARK MY CAR, not PAHK MAH CAH. East Coast accents like to take words that end in R and totally just drop it. So, at least we are actually phonetically correct out here...

Also, way to talk about pronunciations with your epic 'ppl' and 'u's XD

[Atharaenea]

NEVADA - serious business

[Geocon53184]

@brigismylife Nah, it sounds ignorant to us locals, it's the way it looks, "Nevada." I agree with you Nevada702, when they say it wrong it is like hearing nails on a chalkboard. It also sounds disgusting when people don't pronounce it like the Nevadans do. Thanks for posting this video. :)

[brigismylife]

i think Ne-vah-duh sounds so much better, but i guess that's wrong

[Nevada702]

@brigismylife To those who live here, easterners mispronouncing our state as Ne-vah-duh makes us cringe, a bit like fingernails on a chalk board.

[Caledonia62]

@Nevada702 Too bad. I'm from New York and I don't plan on changing the way I say it. Which is Ne-vah-duh.

Sorry, I'm not some slithering politician running for office :)

[MaurDL]

@Nevada702 I just moved to Utah from NYC and my roommate corrected me on this so I had to look it up. I think it's because of its Spanish origins that "Ne-vah-duh" just seemed like the natural pronunciation.

[Nevada702]

@MaurDL Actually, the easterner mispronunciation of Nevada is not only the incorrect English way to pronounce our state, it is also not the correct Spanish way to pronounce Nevada.

[MaurDL]

@Nevada702 Hm, what makes you say that? What would be the correct Spanish way? Are you implying that the N should be a Ñ? Because that still wouldn't change the pronunciation of the "va" which is where the confusion comes from.

[Nevada702]

@MaurDL The correct way to pronounce Nevada in English is Nuh-va-duh (a as in add). The easterners mispronounce Nevada as Nuh-vah-duh (a as in odd). The Spanish pronunciation of Nevada is NAY-vah-duh where (1) the first syllable is a long 'a' (2) the v is somewhere the b and v sound in English and (3) the a is like the easterner's mispronunciation but a bit shorter.

Go to forvo (dot) com/word/nevada#es to hear Nevada spoken in the Spanish manner.

[MaurDL]

@Nevada702 Well you are correct, but I was just saying this: (3) the a is like the easterner's mispronunciation but a bit shorter.

So I'm just saying it makes sense to me why someone wouldn't pronounce it (a as in add). But either way, good luck with your quest, language is tricky.

[Nevada702]

@MaurDL Actually, the easterner mispronunciation of Nevada is not only the incorrect English way to pronounce our state, it is also not the correct Spanish way to pronounce Nevada either.

[Geocon53184]

@brigismylife Nah, it sounds ignorant to us locals, it's the way it looks, "Nevada."

[Geocon53184]

@brigismylife Nah, it sounds ignorant to us locals, it's the way it looks, "Nevada."

[uturniaphobic]

I live in NeVAda ...let's just call it what it is, a Test Site with a lot of radioactive ground water down south.

don't go there...it's the "deadlands" as the local Indians say.

[rpm2004]

@uturniaphobic It's beautiful up north, I love Tahoe.

[kaikovich]

ne - veih - da?

neh- vah - da?

lol stupid english speakers: ne-va-da

[kaikovich]

im spanish and i think they both pronounce it right

[erinpilla]

Honestly I don't think anyone can get the pronunciation of Nevada wrong-- I did not even realize that there was such a thing as a wrong way of saying Nevada--

[ariosvids]

can't people have anything better to bitch about?

[Gulfporter]

How many of you "correct" pronouncers of Nevada say New York with a Brooklyn accent, or Warshington DC, or Wilmingden Dellwuhr, or Vahginya or Ferginya , Noth Keh-leye-nuh, Jawjuh, etc...?

Didn't think so.

[ibeatuptheelderly]

Because majority of Nevadan's have a neutral accent, shitstain.

[Gulfporter]

The "correct" pronunciation of Nevada is not "neutral" it's a midwestern accent, born of a combination of ethnic origins and generations of ignorance. Take Sarah Palin, please.

[ibeatuptheelderly]

Links or it didn't happen, gramps.

[rpm2004]

@Gulfporter I do.

[loveisneverpainless]

man, why the heck can't ppl just get it right...everytime I here ne VAW da i just want to turn around and stab em (ha jk, make love not war) but for real it pisses me off hella lot

[AHPSC]

Also, Reno is pronounced REH-noh which is also Spanish for Reindeer.

[Bosworth21]

I live in Reno and NOBODY pronounces it REH-noh. Everyone says REE-noh

[rpm2004]

@Bosworth21 I'm from sun-valley and I pronounce it RAY-NEW...just because it's fun.

[zoetropez]

Reno is named for a Union officer killed in the Civil War, Jessie Reno.

[AHPSC]

Right, every school kid knows about Jesse Lee Reno. However, that doesn't change the origin of the word. Good comment though.

[Sammyth]

I heard someone say 'Call-er-AY-do' instead of 'Coll-er-Ah-do' (Colorado) and I was like "Were are you from?" and they said "California."

I almost shot them.

[AHPSC]

It's properly pronounced coh-law-RAH-do which means RED in Spanish.

[Sammyth]

I know?

[VicInNocal]

@Sammyth =="I heard someone say 'Call-er-AY-do' instead of 'Coll-er-Ah-do' (Colorado)...I almost shot them"==

If ppl in this vid want 2say "Nev-Ad-a" then we might as well say "Call-er-AY-do" while we're at it. The (according to them) incorrect "Nev-Aw-da" that they criticize is actually way closer to the original Spanish word, just like "Coll-er-Ah-do" is.

Saying it how these ppl want (Nev-Ad-a) just makes u sound like a redneck. What's next, is "nuclear" 2be pronounced "nukular" now?

[greercoltrane]

It's pronounced Nuh-VAD-uh (like "dad") Not: Nuh-VOD-uh. Just like how Texas isn't pronounced "Tay-haas"!! We don't call our beloved Silver State Nuh-vod-uh! To say it that way is completely 100% wrong - always.

[MyEye6]

I live here in Nevada and I can't stand it when people pronounce it wrong, especially politicians and people on TV because it tells people the wrong way to pronounce it!

[MokaFuzz]

@MyEye6 Same in Oregon, its so damn annoying.

[frogriver1]

People how would you like New York to be called "Neye Yalku" well its the same as Ne Vah duh

[strategery52]

It's another example of how a name derived from Spanish has been Americanized - like many places, esp. in CA - Los Angeles, San Pedro, San Bernardino, or any "San/Santa" city. And the Americanized pronunciation is now the correct one. It just shows how language continually changes.

[dewhistle]

Wouldn't it be something if people could put all this energy into making something good happen? Such a lot of fuss about one letter. I've had someone in the past basically call me an idiot in public for not knowing how to pronounce it when I had never so much as been to the state. It all comes to suggest that people are looking for a reason to be outraged. Well, there's plenty of more important reasons. Look around.

[Nevada702]

Then I suppose that you would also pronounce Illinois as Illi-noise and feel that is okay too. If not, then what is the difference?

Ignorance about correctly pronouncing western states like Nevada, Colorado and Oregon is no more acceptable than mispronouncing states east of the Mississippi River.

[acivilcampaign]

I love this story. I'm not from NV, but it would sure piss me off if people kept pronouncing my state's name wrong.

[therealpiekid]

I'm so glad they did this story and thank you so much for putting it up here!

Who knows how to pronounce the name of a state better than its residents? NOBODY! I've been a Nevada resident for over 25 years--for longer than I can even remember--and non-residents try and correct ME! It's so frustrating. I hope this story will help with that.

[crazy8pauly]

@therealpiekid That makes me feel so good. I've always pronounced it the right way, but every time I heard someone say it the other way, I would question myself. But I would listen to myself say it as Ne-Vah-dah, and I sounded like a retard. I always thought that thats how people from NE-VAD-A say it, and tried not saying it in front of them, so I wouldn't offend them. Now I find out, they were the the butchers, not me! lol I'm glad I wasn't butchering your states name like many others! :)

[btm85bubs]

Thanks for posting this. My grandmother is from Nevada, and I always say that if neh-VA-duh is good for a native of the state, it's good enough for me. Ne-VAH-duh sounds weird - like pronouncing Florida Flor-EYE-duh.

[aNdReSkKkK]

lol I live in flor-eye-duh xD