Nevada - listen here to pronounce it correctly [View All]

[LVZ]

Correct pronunciation: Ne-va-duh ("a" as in cat) Click image to listen.

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The far too common incorrect pronunciation of our state has been perpetuated by the provincial nature of the East Coast news media. East Coast "talking heads" learn how to pronounce Kazakhstan but won't take 20 seconds to do a little regional research to learn how to pronounce western states Nevada and Colorado.

Any news anchor who would mispronounce Illinois as "Illi-noise" or New Hampshire as "New Hamp-shy're" or Des Moines, Iowa as "Dez Moynz" would be laughed at. That person would not likely be working very long on television if it became a habitual mistake. Yet almost half of the national news media have not made any effort at basic regional education about proper pronunciation of Nevada and Colorado.

IMO, national journalists disrespect the western United States when they don't care enough to be educated about this region of the country. They also serve as bad examples to the average citizen, who unfortunately rely on them for a presumably "better informed" knowledge of world events and culture.

When George W. Bush came to Nevada in 2003 and repeatedly mispronounced Nevada, he was rightly criticized by local media, including the conservative Las Vegas Review-Journal. Why should we hold a bumbling Bush to a higher standard than the national news media?

Many, if not most, names of cities, states, and nations of Spanish origin have a different pronunciation in English. Supposedly educated national journalists have no trouble with the American vs Spanish pronunciation of Mexico, Cuba, Los Angeles, Tucson, Toledo, Loma Linda, Santa Monica, California, Montana, or Florida.

The East Coast media also have no trouble with the American pronunciation of words like 'rodeo' of Spanish origin. Why then, do so many journalists have so much difficulty with proper pronunciation of Nevada and Colorado?

After so many decades, isn't it time that "journalists" educate themselves?

Those who say it right:

Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd, Keith Olbermann, Contessa Brewer, Bill Wolfe, Norah O'Donnell, Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley, Anderson Cooper, Richard Lui, Lou Dobbs, Shepard Smith, and more

Those who need education:

Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, Joe Scarborough, Dan Abrams, John Harwood, Monica Navotny, Dana Milbank, Willie Geist and many more

Listen to pronunciation: http://ideaboomer.com/wave-player.html?nevada.wav