You’re Saying It Wrong: Commonly Mispronounced Texas Cities
How Do You Say It?
Everything's bigger in Texas–and that might also include the size of the list of city names that we're all saying wrong. We're pretty sure we're all okay with our pronunciation of "Dallas" and "San Antonio"—but how are you with these...
Amarillo
While the original Spanish pronunciation is “Ah-mah-ree-yoh”—so many employees of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway pronounced it wrong, that the "Am-uh-rill-oh" version became the norm.
Nacogdoches
The oldest town in Texas has one of the hardest names to pronounce. You might hear the locals referring to it as "Nack-ah-DOW-chess"—and since they're from there, we assume that's an acceptable pronunciation. However, officially, the proper way to say the town's name is: "Na-kuh-DOW-chuhs".
Bowie
It's important to point out that the city of Bowie, Texas was named after Texan hero Jim Bowie and not Rock icon David Bowie. This is important because, while David Bowie's name is pronounced "Bow-ee", Jim Bowie—and the town—is properly spoken as "BOO-ee".
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Balmorhea
Established in 1906, Balmorhea took its name from the three landowners who established the town: Balcom, Morrow, and Rhea. The proper way to say it is “Bal-more-ay"—not, "Bal-more-hee-uh,” (which honestly sounds a little too much like the town ate some bad sushi anyway—if you know what we mean).
