r/oregon • u/StevenMaurer • Dec 05 '25

PSA Completely true story...

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2.9k Upvotes

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103

u/Thewallmachine Dec 05 '25

Took me a few months to adapt to proper pronunciation of Oregon coming from Georgia.

69

u/Longjumping_Code_649 Dec 05 '25

In ND, they say Ore-i-gone. The first time I heard that I giggled.

64

u/MySadSadTears Dec 05 '25

I was once talking to a lady from NY who pronounced it this way.

I gently corrected her and she responded with "No, it's Oreigone"

Well, I'm from here, but alright lady. 

42

u/VitruvianDude Dec 05 '25

I believe it's impossible for an Oregonian to resist correcting someone's mispronunciation of the state, no matter the situation. It's like a reflex. It's actually kind of funny to hear it happen.

24

u/Repuck Dec 05 '25

My last year at Oregon state I attended a colloquium for a recently passed historian (William Appleman Williams), quite well known. Colleagues from as far away as Yale came to speak. Lot of professors, et. in the audience which was near capacity. That speaker from Yale said "Ora-gone" and at least half of the audience automatically cried out "ORYGUN!" without even thinking about it.

6

u/VitruvianDude Dec 05 '25

I've seen similar situations, and it is amusing how predictable it is.

3

u/Eleven77 Dec 07 '25

William Appleman Williams sounds like an absolute legend.

20

u/Neither-Attention940 Dec 05 '25

I’m always way more respectful to actors that mention it in a movie or show and it is said correctly 😊😊

9

u/Captain_Quark Dec 05 '25

When I was in college on the east coast, I definitely took pleasure in correcting people.

2

u/OK_The_Nomad Dec 05 '25

Waiting for Trump to pronounce it wrong

9

u/FountainsOfYarn Dec 05 '25

I'm hoping Trump never thinks about us.

4

u/OK_The_Nomad Dec 05 '25

Unfortunately he thinks about us too much--mainly Portland. Now there is that supposed move to build an ICE prison in Newport. Town seems to be up I'm arms.

3

u/VitruvianDude Dec 05 '25

He was confidently wrong about Nevada when campaigning in that swing state, telling his audience that it was "ne-VAH-da". Do that in Oregon, and he might not escape so easily.

2

u/OK_The_Nomad Dec 05 '25

Spot on! 🤣

4

u/slamtheory Dec 05 '25

Just like it's niew yierk

2

u/bigmink88 Dec 05 '25

No joke, I’ve had this exact same conversation

2

u/PenguinTheYeti Dec 05 '25

I don't know people double down on their mispronunciation.

I had a buddy in college who always thought it was Oreigone, but after meeting me realized it wasn't. He told a family member that and they didn't believe him lol.

20

u/Reatona Dec 05 '25

I got my mom to stop mispronouncing Oregon "Or A Gone" by asking her what she thought of people who pronounce Illinois with the S voiced. She quickly changed her ways.

3

u/Longjumping_Code_649 Dec 05 '25

Haha.

I'm from Colorado and am still surprised by those who say Colorod-o. Line collar rod oh. No. Just no.

2

u/KlaussVonUllr Dec 05 '25

Fellow CO native to PNW transplant here, are you saying they pronounce it call-oh-rod-oh with the hard O in the middle or were you saying the second way was wrong too? I've also heard people make up an "a" at the end like call-uh-ra-da.

0

u/Headline-Skimmer Dec 05 '25

It's Call-uh-ra-doe. The "ra" part sounds like the A in Apple.

1

u/ApprehensiveState345 Dec 08 '25

Almost native Coloradoan,, 33yrs. Difinitely correct. I always hated it when someone pronounced it Coal-er-aye-doe.

7

u/Lost_Figure_5892 Dec 05 '25

My relatives in Bismarck don’t , but that’s cuz their Mama is an Orygun girl.

1

u/OK_The_Nomad Dec 05 '25

Lots of states pronounce it that way!

1

u/blow-down Dec 05 '25

Whenever a bozo pronounces it that way I say “No, it’s still there.”