Can You Pronounce These Washington Town Names Correctly?

Happily, I grew up in Washington State, spending many Septembers at the Puyallup Fair (now known as the Washington State Fair).

Because of the TV and radio commercials, I instinctively know how to pronounce Puyallup.

Here are Puyallup and other hard-to-pronounce Washington town names 

Anacortes - This town was the final home of Burl Ives before his passing in 1995. 

• INCORRECT - Anna-CORTS
• CORRECT - ANNA-kortis

Asotin - A town tucked away in the southeastern corner of Washington.

• INCORRECT - as-oh-TIN
• CORRECT - ass-SOH-tin

Chehalis - Located just south of Centralia.

• INCORRECT - CHEE-hal-IS
• CORRECT - Shh-HAY-lis

Chelan - The town’s name gets butchered by out-of-towners. Maybe not from the tens of thousands of Seattle area visitors who make this a regular (weekly) stop in the peak summer months.

• INCORRECT: CHILL-lan (or as our Emergency Alert, AI voice calls it CHILL - IN).
• CORRECT: Shill-ANN

Entiat - Located between Wenatchee and Chelan on the Columbia River. 

• INCORRECT: IN-tee-OUGHT
• CORRECT: inny-AT

Ephrata - The county seat of Grant County and proud home of the Canal Caper 10k running race.

• INCORRECT: EFF-ruh-tuh (or as my buddy’s mom calls it: YOU-fray-tuh)
• CORRECT: EE-fray-duh

Hoquiam: These folks know 50 types of mist and drizzle.

• INCORRECT: Ho-KWEE-um
• CORRECT: ho QUIM.

Malaga: Home to the shut-down Alcoa Aluminum Plant and one of my favorite bike routes: Joe Miller Road. 

• INCORRECT: mill-LAW-GAH (I heard a radio commercial, voiced by some guy, from out of town.
• CORRECT: MAL-uh-GUH

Mazama - A beautiful small town in Methow Valley (we’ll get to Methow next).

• INCORRECT: MAZZ-uh-muh
• CORRECT: Mizz-ZAM-muh

Methow - If it weren't for the occasional wildfires that zip through occasionally, I would consider moving there to retire.

• INCORRECT: meth-OW
• CORRECT: met-HOW

Naches - Love stopping here for a to-go cup of coffee on the way to White Pass (Don’t forget to hang a left-hand turn to stay on HWY 12…otherwise, you’ll end up in the Mount Rainier National Park…something I’ve done)

• INCORRECT: NACH-es
• CORRECT: Nah-CHEESE

Okanogan - A friend of mine was pulled over for a DUI on a late Saturday night. His wife called me (from the other side of the mountains) and asked if I’d drive up, pay his $1,000 bail, and drive him back to my place. Getting there from Wenatchee is quite a haul.

• INCORRECT: OAK-kuh-NO-gin
• CORRECT: OAK-kuh-NOGGIN

Palouse - A town, an area, a culture that lots of Coug’ fans love and embrace.

• INCORRECT: Puh-LOUSE (rhymes with blouse)
• CORRECT: Puh-LOOSE

Pateros - Home of the Pateros Strong sign that defiantly went up after the 2014 wildfire destroyed a portion town.

• INCORRECT: Patter-ros ("ros" rhyming with gross)
• CORRECT: PIT-tare-US (The “tare” rhymes with dare)

Pend Oreille County - A county, in the far northeast corner of Washington, that borders Canada to the north and Idaho to the east.

• INCORRECT: Pend-or-REALLY County
• CORRECT: Ponder-RAY County

Puyallup - Home of the Washington State Fair, or from back in the day: The Puyallup Fair (TV commercial from 1976).

• INCORRECT: Poo-YALLUP
• CORRECT: pew-AL-up

Sequim - My first visit to Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula was to visit the Olympic Game Farm.

• INCORRECT: see-KWIM
• CORRECT: SKWIM

Steilacoom - Located south of Tacoma, known initially as Port Steilacoom. Steilacoom is the oldest incorporated town in Washington State.

• INCORRECT: STEAL-a-comb
• CORRECT: STILL-a-come

Wenatchee - Oh man, we’ve all heard the horrible mispronunciations of our great town. If you’re a parent of a recent graduate from the Wenatchee Valley, who swears they’ll never come back to live…give 'em ten or fifteen years. They come back & raise their family.

• INCORRECT: When-NOTCH-ee
• CORRECT: When-NATCH-ee ("NATCH" rhymes with SNATCH)