30 Major City Names You May Be Pronouncing All Wrong

Flying to Spokane, Washington, soon? Do yourself a favor when you arrive. Don’t say, “Ahh. It’s so good to be in Spo-cane.” Trust us, your words will only be met with emoji-style eye-rolls by the locals. (But, hey, it’s a common mistake!) In fact, you’d be amazed how many knowledgable travelers mispronounce the names of so many famous locales—from Boise to Helena to, of course, Reykjavik.

In the interest of making sure you pronounce them all perfectly, we’ve listed here the 30 most mangled city names in the world, ordered from are-you-kidding-me? to okay-we-see-how-you-messed-that-one-up. And to prepare for when you giddy-up and jet off to these places, be sure you know the 10 Best Tricks For Sleeping on a Plane.

The right way to pronounce it: Wuss-ter

The right way to pronounce it: Bahng-gawk

The right way to pronounce it: Mun-tree-all

For more great travel advice, here are 20 Secrets Your Flight Attendant Won’t Tell You.

The right way to pronounce it: Boy-see

The right way to pronounce it: Spo-can

The right way to pronounce it: Ver-sy

The right way to pronounce it: Niece

The right way to pronounce it: Loo-uh-vul

The right way to pronounce it: Hell-en-uh

The right way to pronounce it: Woost-a-sheer

The right way to pronounce it: Duh-moyn

The right way to pronounce it: Boo-duh-pesht

The right way to pronounce it: Do-bay

The right way to pronounce it: He-row-she-ma

The right way to pronounce it: Aws-low

The right way to pronounce it: Myoon-ick

The right way to pronounce it: Ore-uh

The right way to pronounce it: Ree-oh d’ ja-near-oh

The right way to pronounce it: Muh-york-uh

The right way to pronounce it: Lee-on

The right way to pronounce it: Kuh-beck city

The right way to pronounce it: Key-iv

The right way to pronounce it: Me-lahn

Oh, and speaking of Italy? This gorgeous town will actually pay you to move there. 

The right way to pronounce it: Joe-han-niss-burg

The right way to pronounce it: Glass-go

The right way to pronounce it: The Hayg

The right way to pronounce it: Poo-get

The right way to pronounce it: Mel-bin

The right way to pronounce it: Ray-keeya-vick

The right way to pronounce it (like the locals, ya heah?): Baw-stin

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