What's the Most Mispronounced Town in Vermont?

While there's no official winner for the "most mispronounced" title, a few key towns repeatedly trip up tourists, GPS navigators, and even seasoned newscasters. Getting them right is a rite of passage.

Here is a guide to the towns that will immediately separate the locals from the "flatlanders."

The Top Offender: Calais

At first glance, this town in Washington County looks like it should share a name with the famous port city in France. An outsider will almost certainly pronounce it with a refined, French-inspired "Ca-LAY."

A Vermonter will just as certainly correct them.

• Local Pronunciation: "CAL-iss"

• How to Remember: It rhymes with "palace" or "callous."

  
  
  

This is perhaps the most notorious example of a Vermont town that has thoroughly anglicized its French name, and locals are famously quick to identify an outsider by this single word.

The Runner-Up: Barre

This one seems simple enough. It’s a bar, right? Or maybe, given the state's French heritage, it’s "Bar-RAY?"

Wrong on both counts. This "Granite Capital of the World" has a pronunciation that’s much more familiar and friendly.

• Local Pronunciation: "Barry"

• How to Remember: You pronounce it just like the common first name.

The Capital City Stumble: Montpelier

As the nation's smallest state capital, Montpelier gets a lot of visitors. Many, seeing the –lier ending, try to give it a French flair, pronouncing it "Mon-pel-YAY" and dropping the final "r."

Locals, however, are not so fancy. They pronounce every single letter.

• Local Pronunciation: "Mont-PEEL-yer"

• How to Remember: Put the emphasis on "PEEL" and make sure you clearly pronounce the "yer" at the end.

The "Honorable Mention" Minefield

The list doesn't end there. If you've mastered the top three, here are a few more local shibboleths to practice.

• Charlotte:

  • The Mistake: "SHAR-lit" (like the city in North Carolina).

  • The Local Way: "shar-LOT" (with the stress on the second syllable).

• Berlin:

  • The Mistake: "Ber-LIN" (like the capital of Germany).

  • The Local Way: "BER-lin" (with the stress on the first syllable, just like the city next door, Barre).

• Vergennes:

  • The Mistake: "Ver-ZHEN" (a soft, French "j").

  • The Local Way: "Ver-JENZ" (a hard "j," like in "jeans"). 

So, why are so many Vermont towns pronounced this way? It's a classic story of linguistic evolution. Many towns were named by settlers in honor of French allies or European cities, but generations of English-speaking Vermonters have smoothed out the original pronunciations, leaving behind the anglicized, no-nonsense versions you hear today.

Mastering "CAL-iss" and "Barry" may not make you a true Vermonter, but it's a very good start.