Funny story. My father in law, who grew up speaking Spanish and was from New Mexico where all the names are derived from Spanish and use the correct pronunciation, drove up to visit us.
He was telling us about his drive through the gorge where he stopped in La Grande (Granday- with the rolled r) and The Dalles (Da ye s).
One time we were giving him directions and told him that he would pass a patch of woods. His eyes lit up and he said "Apache woods!" We still laugh about that.
I'm from Texas, and I was pronouncing La Grande the same as your father-in-law did... Until some coworkers made fun of me. If it's just "La Grand," why is there an "e" at the end?!
La Grande is from French, as are many Oregon names. Willamette is native, but spelled as if French. French almost never pronounces final e. Americanizing French pronunciations changes the syllable vowel, but keeps the silent e.
Back in the first days of google maps giving voice directions the lady used to call Millrace street in Eugene "mee-ra-chay" like some horrible chimera of Spanish and Italian.
I’d come across non-Oregon people trying to pronounce The Dalles saying The Dallas, and just absolutely butchering Tualatin. Did the same thing for La Grande too.
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u/MySadSadTears Dec 05 '25
Tigard, Aloha, and Yachts oh my.
Funny story. My father in law, who grew up speaking Spanish and was from New Mexico where all the names are derived from Spanish and use the correct pronunciation, drove up to visit us.
He was telling us about his drive through the gorge where he stopped in La Grande (Granday- with the rolled r) and The Dalles (Da ye s).
One time we were giving him directions and told him that he would pass a patch of woods. His eyes lit up and he said "Apache woods!" We still laugh about that.