You can(t) always tell they're not local because....

[Coragus]

The occasional county like Saline. It's Suh-leen, note Say-leen like the solution.

There's a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan called Saline. Same pronounciation!

[WSU MUP Student]

There's a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan called Saline. Same pronounciation!

Suh-leen is not far from Milan, Michigan... not to be confused with, or pronounced like, Milan, Italy.

[illinoisplanner]

Those maps were great.

My only explanation for the Bowie knife thing is that there's a large suburb of Washington (and/or Baltimore?) called Bowie. And then of course, Texas has the whole Jim Bowie thing.

The thing I found most funny was the divide that apparently exists between northern Chicagoland and southern Chicagoland regarding coleslaw. Apparently, south of I-88 or south of I-80, it's acceptable to refer to coleslaw as "slaw". I don't think so! I guess that makes me solidly a north-sider (and not a hillbilly). [Ducks for cover]

And what is up with people in Milwaukee and St. Louis (and apparently the Illinois River corridor) calling it "soda"? No, it's pop...get with the rest of the Midwest!

[Cardinal]

The thing I found most funny was the divide that apparently exists between northern Chicagoland and southern Chicagoland regarding coleslaw. Apparently, south of I-88 or south of I-80, it's acceptable to refer to coleslaw as "slaw". I don't think so! I guess that makes me solidly a north-sider (and not a hillbilly). [Ducks for cover]

If you look at patterns of ethnic settlement, the north and northwest side of Chicago were heavily German. People from the lesser European nations settled west and south. This also had an effect on the location of industry in the city. You will see a pattern of machinery manufacturing, metal fabrication, and similar businesses running along a corridor northwest from the city into the suburbs.

[Mud Princess]

...I currently reside in New BER-lin. It was pronounced that way during WWII, to it would sound less German (i.e., Ber-LIN). I am not local, so I pronounce it correctly and have people comment to me all the time.

Same thing with Berlin, New York (and probably for the same reasons): it's BER-lin. And Greenwich, New York is pronounced GREEN-witch, not GREN-itch.

I can always tell when the person doing the voice-over for a TV commercial is not local. There are certain places they commonly mispronounce.

Some place names in Virginia are pronounced differently than you'd expect. For example, Staunton is pronounced as if the "U" is absent, and Buchanan is BUCK-anan, not BEW-cannon.

[wahday]

If you have ever lived in Burque, or just New Mexico, these videos say it all. Just hilarious. This woman is a member of a local theater company and after these posted she got a contract to do a bunch of ads for the State Fair (and which a friend worked on). She's become something of a local hero.

[hilldweller]

Because I don't say y'all, I say "you guys". Richmond/Central Virginia is still the south.