I have a German surname, but my family changed the pronunciation to sound lest German during WWII so now Germans pronounce it “wrong” and no one else can pronounce it at all.
I read most of my news, so it took about a month to realize the VP candidates last name was pronounced “Walls,” so you’re among company.
I’m from Connecticut, which has a town called Berlin, pronounced BURR-lun (/‘bərlən/). That , like the pronunciation of many German-origin names, was changed during WWII, but it’s basically a shibboleth for locals now, like Houston Street.
I have a German surname, but my family changed the pronunciation to sound lest German during WWII so now Germans pronounce it “wrong” and no one else can pronounce it at all.
I read most of my news, so it took about a month to realize the VP candidates last name was pronounced “Walls,” so you’re among company.
I’m from Connecticut, which has a town called Berlin, pronounced BURR-lun (/‘bərlən/). That , like the pronunciation of many German-origin names, was changed during WWII, but it’s basically a shibboleth for locals now, like Houston Street.
I’m in Indiana and half of our place names are pronounced incorrectly.
Ver-sayles (Versailles)
Rooshaville (Russiaville)
Pee-ru (Peru) Kay-roh (Cairo)
And, of course, we’re the home of the University of Note’r Daym.