Minnesota City Now Has Most Mispronounced Name in the U.S.

When you think of all the cities and towns that make up the U. S. of A, can a small town here in Minnesota really have one of the most mispronounced names around? Yep!

There are a lot of cities and towns here in Minnesota that can be a little tricky to pronounce. But it's true-- this small Minnesota city was just named the town with one of the most mispronounced names in the entire country.

Having city and town names that are tough to pronounce isn't just a Minnesota thing, though we have our share, of course. Even though I've been a fully naturalized Minnesotan for over a decade now, I grew up behind the Cheddar Curtain over in America's Dairyland, where several names can be hard to say, especially if you're not a local.

For instance, take the city of Shawano. It's located in eastern Wisconsin, about a half-hour east of my hometown of Wausau. It's pronounced "SHAWN-oh," even though it looks like it should be pronounced, "sha-WAHN-oh."

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Back here in the Gopher State, though, city names like Faribault, Chokio, or even Eyota can trip up outsiders and can instantly point out that 'you're not from here' when you say their names incorrectly. (Which I've worked very hard NOT to do.)

But this city here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes takes the cake when it comes to tough-to-say names. In fact, the crew over at BestLife named it the Most Mispronounced Town in the U.S. It's located in Hennepin County, in the Twin Cities west metro. So just which city has the name that's so difficult to pronounce?

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That honor would go to... WAYZATA! That's right, the city 15 miles west of the Twin Cities is the Most Mispronounced Town in the entire country, according to this list compiled by BestLife. Here's how they describe the way most outsiders pronounce it:

There is a right and wrong way to say Wayzata. Don't butcher it by announcing you're in "Way-ZAT-ah." You'll politely be corrected to instead call the lakefront community "Why-ZET-uh."

And, a similar poll by Readers Digest also listed Wazata as Minnesota's Most Difficult to Pronounce Town, noting: "If you’re looking for a 'way' to pronounce this, you’re going to have to ask 'why'—as in, why you gotta be so confusing, Why-ZET-uh?" the story said.

The view of Wayzata from above Lake Minnetonka (YouTube)

I confess to making that classic mistake concerning the correct pronunciation of Wayzata a few times, although that was before I moved here to the Bold North and didn't know any better. (I still say it incorrectly in my mind whenever I read it in print or online, though.) Besides knowing how to correctly pronounce its name, how much else do you know about the fine city of Wayzata? Check out the video below to learn more.

And, of course, there are other names in the North Star State that are not only tough to pronounce, but sound downright naughty... keep scrolling to check them out, as well!