How to Pronounce Massachusetts Town Names, Worcester County

Out of the 364 towns listed on the site, I only have pronunciations for about 80 or so of them. I would really appreciate if you help out if you can submit a town pronunciation that I don't have listed already.

Berlin

BURL-en

This is the correct way to say it. If you're from there, you emphasize the first syllable

BER-LIN

This is the incorrect way to say it. If you pronounce it this way you live in Germany

Blackstone

No pronunciations available yet.

Bolton

No pronunciations available yet.

Boylston

No pronunciations available yet.

Brookfield

No pronunciations available yet.

Charlton

No pronunciations available yet.

Clinton

CLIN-TUNN

This is the incorrect way to say it.

CLIN-TN

This is the correct way to say it.

CLI-UN

This is the correct way to say it. This is how the townies say it.

Grafton

GRAFT-ON

This is the incorrect way to say it.

GRAF-TIN

This is the correct way to say it.

Graftan

Alternate spelling by people from out of state.

Graften

Alternate spelling by people from out of state.

Harvard

HAH-VUD

This is the correct way to say it.

HAH-VID

This is the correct way to say it.

HAR-VRD

This is the incorrect way to say it.

HAR-VIRD

This is the incorrect way to say it.

Leominster

LEO-MIN-STER

This is the incorrect way to say it. A good example is on the automated telephone directory for Office Max locations.

LEM-IN-STAH

This is the correct way to say it.

LEM-IN-STER

This is the correct way to say it.

LEO-MINI-STER

This is the incorrect way to say it. This is how the name is pronounced by unknowing U.K. people.

LEM-STER

Oxford

Ox-fid

This is the correct way to say it.

Ox-Ford

This is the incorrect way to say it.

Paxton

No pronunciations available yet.

Petersham

PETER-SAM

This is the correct way to say it. Said as one word. The H is silent. It is not Peter-Sham or Peter's Ham.

Phillipston

No pronunciations available yet.

Princeton

No pronunciations available yet.

Royalston

No pronunciations available yet.

Rutland

No pronunciations available yet.

Shrewsbury

SHROOS-BUREE

This is the incorrect way to say it.

SHOOS-BER-RY

This is the correct way to say it.

SHOOS-BREE

This is the correct way to say it. This is how the name is pronounced by town residents

Webster

WEB-STER

This is the incorrect way to say it.

WEB-STAH

This is the correct way to say it.

Lake Chargoggmaunchaugagoggchaubungungamaugg

The longest place name in Massachusetts: "Lake Chargoggmaunchaugagoggchaubungungamaugg" Translation "You fish on your side, I fish on my side, nobody fish in the middle" which we won't discuss the pronounciation of.

Worcester

WAR-CHES-TAH

This is the incorrect way to say it. Someone from the south who doesn't know the proper pronunciation, trying to fake the accent.

WOO-STAH

This is the correct way to say it. This is the pronunciation used by most of the residents of the city and surrounding areas.

WIS-TAH

This is the correct way to say it. This is the pronunciation used mostly by people north of the city.

WOO-STER

This is the correct way to say it. This is the pronunciation used by people who have lived elsewhere and either now live in Worcester, or somewhere else.

WUSS-TAH

This is the incorrect way to say it. is the pronunciation used by most of the residents of the city and surrounding areas when they're putting down the city.

WAR-CHEST-ER

This is the incorrect way to say it. This is the pronunciation used by people from south of the Mason-Dixon line who have seen it in print. These are generally the people you hang up on when they call you, since they're telemarketers.

This is the incorrect way to say it. This is the other popular mis-pronunciation I hear often, this one I understand a little better, it sort-of looks like it should be said this way.

This is the incorrect way to say it. This is how the name is spelled when someone outside of the region is trying to write down your address over the phone.

This is how you pronounce the name, if you're a brain dead Boston D.J. or visiting college student. Of course the origin is a little more interesting and flattering than it's now corrupted meaning.

This is how you spell the name if you're the New York Times (as stated when discussing why Bruce Springsteen started one of his tours in the Centrum). Needless to say, we like to spell their name CRIME RIDDEN CESSPOOL.