Abraham wrote:Miami pronounced My-Am-Mah, doh!
In addition to the far-better-known Florida city, there is a Miami, OK, which is most definitely pronounced "My-Am-Muh." Go ahead and check with the natives.
Abraham wrote:Same with Missouri, c'mon it's not Missourah! Arrrggghhh!!
I asked a native of Missouri why some from that state pronounced it with the "rah" at the end and she just stared at me without uttering another word - I guess it's a state secret...
Many years ago, I asked the longest-living native of Missouri that I know, my now-86-year-old father (or should that be "dad," "pop," "soda," or "Coke?"), a University of Missouri graduate, who was born, and lived much of his life, in Polar Bluff, MO (Cape Girardeau was the "Big City"), about the correct pronunciation, and he informed me then, and in no uncertain terms, that it was, indeed, "Missourah, windah, and pillah." That was and is enough for me, even though I continue to this day to mispronounce them all, which I am sure irritates him to no end.
