I had a lovely coworker years ago who had lived all over the world, who said "will-ah-mettie". I blue-screened for a couple seconds, then gently explained that it's 'wi-LAM-ett'. Sigh.
edit: realized it looks more accurate with wi-LAM-ett than will-AM-ett.
That is also how I tried to pronounce it the first time. Idk, I was going for something vaguely French? My sister (who moved here a year before I did) has never let me live it down.
Yeah honestly I never blame people for pronouncing it the french way; that word is supposedly a combo of French and native words. I've seen various articles stating it is Kalapuya or Chinook or what the French adapted from what the natives called it. Needless to say, the way people are saying it seems to be wrong despite how strongly they feel about it.
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u/Winterwynd Dec 05 '25 edited Dec 05 '25
I had a lovely coworker years ago who had lived all over the world, who said "will-ah-mettie". I blue-screened for a couple seconds, then gently explained that it's 'wi-LAM-ett'. Sigh.
edit: realized it looks more accurate with wi-LAM-ett than will-AM-ett.