Most commonly mispronounced places in Toronto, including Toronto: Which made the list?
Posted May 11, 2022 12:35 pm.
Last Updated January 19, 2023 10:56 am.
Who would have thought pronouncing various streets in Toronto would be so complicated? Thankfully, we now know who struggles the most to enunciate places in the Big Smoke.
Courtesy of language learning platform Preply — whose researchers utilized Google search data to discover the correct pronunciation of Toronto’s neighbourhoods, streets and locations — a top-10 list was assembled.
Spoiler: Queens Quay, shockingly, just missed the cut.
“There’s nothing more embarrassing than getting to a new city and mispronouncing its name in front of a local — especially if you butcher the regional accent,” Amy Pritchett, learning success manager at Preply, said in a news release.
“To avoid that awkward encounter, we’ve researched the most commonly mispronounced places in Toronto, so you never have to worry about these tongue twisters again.”
Perhaps more embarrassingly for those struggling to pronounce places in the city correctly, it’s the 6ix itself that earned the top spot.
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Toronto — Correct: Tuh-Ronno — Incorrect: Toe-Ron-Toe
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Geoffrey — Correct: Jeh-Free — Incorrect: Gee-Off-Free
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Etobicoke — Correct: Et-Toh-Bee-Co — Incorrect: Et-A-Ba-Co-Key
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Yonge — Correct: Young — Incorrect: Yun-Ji
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Wellesley — Correct: Wellz-Ly — Incorrect: Well-Less-Ly
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Grosvenor — Correct: Gro-Vner — Incorrect: Gross-Vee-Nor
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The Esplanade — Correct: Thuh Esplan-Aad — Incorrect: Thuh Esplan-Aid
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Strachan — Correct: Strawn — Incorrect: Straw-Can
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Spadina — Correct: Spuh-Dee-Nah — Incorrect: Spuh-Die-Nah
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Roncesvalles — Correct: Rawn-Ses-Vay-Yez — Incorrect: Rawn-Sez-Vales
To no one’s surprise, Etobicoke placed relatively high. Some context here from this man.
How Trethewey (No. 26) didn’t place way higher is baffling. That’s Treh-Thoo-Wee, by the way.
Some honourable mentions include the infamous, and aforementioned Queens Quay ranked No. 11 (Kwi-Ns-Key), Glencairn ranked No. 13 (Glen-Kar-N), and Dupont (Doo-Pont) ranked No. 15.
Some people also struggle to pronounce Sherbourne, Eglinton and Bloor (It’s Blue-R, everyone).
Can you think of any others?
