Listened to Hugh Hewitt on the way home just now, struggling to pronounce New Orleans place names. As a public service, here are some of the names you may come across in the coming days or weeks and an approximation of the right way to pronounce them (keeping in mind that I was not native to New Orleans and had a vaguely Fargo-like accent when I moved there and learned these names):
- New Orleans: many locals say “NAWlins”, the other acceptable form is “n’wORlunz”.
- 9th Ward: “NEIT wauhd”
- Plaquemines: “plak-a-min” or “plak-a-minz”
- Tulane: “TOO-lane”
- Metarie: “METry” to hardcore locals, “MEDderie” to others
- Tchoupitoulas: “chop-a-TOO-luss”
- Mandeville: “MANDAville”
- Pontchartrain: “PONch’trane”
- Rigolets: “WRIGGLEeese”
Feel free to correct my pronunciations and suggest others in the comments.