What's the Most Mispronounced Place in North Carolina?

While the state is full of tricky names like "Conetoe," "Nantahala," and "Fuquay-Varina," one name is a notorious "shibboleth" that creates a rivalry all on its own.

The Great Carolina Divide: Beaufort

The most famous pronunciation trap in North Carolina isn't just one town—it's two. The state has a "Beaufort," and so does its southern neighbor, South Carolina. How they are pronounced is the number one way to tell which Carolina you're in.

It's the exact spelling, but a world of difference in sound.

In North Carolina:

• The Correct Pronunciation: "BOW-fert" (like a bowtie, or "bow and arrow").
• The Mispronunciation: "BEW-fert"

In South Carolina:

• The Correct Pronunciation: "BEW-fert" (like the word "beautiful").
• The Mispronunciation: "BOW-fert"

Getting this wrong is the fastest way to get a polite (or not-so-polite) correction from a local. In North Carolina, "BEW-fert" is the other guy.

The "You're Not From Around Here" Hall of Fame

While Beaufort is the classic test, these other North Carolina places are just as famous for tripping up tourists and new residents.

1. Fuquay-Varina

This hyphenated Wake County town looks like a mouthful, and it is.

• The Mispronunciation: "Fuh-KWAY Vuh-RINE-uh" or "FOO-kway"
• The Correct Pronunciation: "FEW-kway Vuh-REE-na" (Varina rhymes with "arena").

2. Nantahala

This gorgeous national forest and river in Western North Carolina gets its name from a Cherokee word.

• The Mispronunciation: "Nan-ta-HA-la"
• The Correct Pronunciation: "Nan-tuh-HAY-luh"

3. Conetoe

This small town in Edgecombe County is a classic example of local dialect.

• The Mispronunciation: "Co-NEH-toe"
• The Correct Pronunciation: "Kuh-NEE-tuh"

4. Schley

While tiny, this community in Orange County was once cited by Mental Floss as the state's hardest-to-pronounce town for a simple reason: its spelling is a complete decoy.

• The Mispronunciation: "Shh-lay" or "Shh-lee"
• The Correct Pronunciation: "SLY" (like the word "sly").

North Carolina is full of difficult-to-pronounce place names with Native American, Spanish, and English origins. The most notorious pronunciation "test" is the town of Beaufort, which is pronounced "BOW-fert" in North Carolina, a sharp contrast to the "BEW-fert" pronunciation used for the same-named city in South Carolina. Other standard stumbling blocks for newcomers include Fuquay-Varina (FEW-kway Vuh-REE-na), Nantahala (Nan-tuh-HAY-luh), and the deceptively spelled Schley (SLY).