Comments on: How South Are You?

By: Xrlq

Xrlq — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:09:47 +0000

There must be some dissension in the ranks even among North Carolinians. My main sources hail from New Bern, NC, and Jacksonville, NC, respectively. Both agree that Beaufort, NC is pronounced “bow-fart” while Beaufort, SC is “Buford.” Go figure.

By: Janet

Janet — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:24:44 +0000

Let’s see. . . my husband is from Wilmington (NC), he says “Buford”, my mother (whose family includes anyone named “Meads” in Elizabeth City) says “Buford” and my father (who hails from Greenville (NC)) also says “Buford”, so I don’t know what your sources say, but I have generations who tell me “Buford”!

See, it’s like the name of the town that gave us Brett Favre, Kiln, MS. If you are a potter (you know, making ceramics for a living) you would say “kiln” (because that is what you call the oven where your pots are fired) but if you are from there you would say “the kill”.

By: Xrlq

Xrlq — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:30:55 +0000

I’m aware that there is a “Beaufort” in each Carolina, but are you sure they’re pronounced the same? My sources tell me that Beaufort, NC is pronounced “bow-fart” but Beauford, SC is pronounced “Buford.” Kinda like the Arkansas River, whose name is pronounced “Arkansaw” everywhere except the part running through Kansas, which mysteriously becomes the “Our Kansas River.”

By: Janet

Janet — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:08:43 +0000

Correct, New Bern is pronounced as one word “newburn”. However, Beaufort is pronounced “buford” whether you are in North or South Carolina (there is such a city in each of the Carolinas). It was not uncommon during Reconstruction for Southern Towns to be named in such a way that the pronunciation of name was different from the spelling. This was done to identify carpetbaggers. Basically, if you were from the area then you knew how to properly pronounce the name of the town, making non-locals identifiable.

By: McGehee

McGehee — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:52:05 +0000

Depends on which Beaufort. There’s at least one (South Carolina, I think) that sounds kind of like Buford but ending with a T.

By: Xrlq

Xrlq — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:17:21 +0000

“NEWburn” and “BOW-fart,” right?

By: Janet

Janet — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:16:15 +0000

Ahh, the true test is the correct pronunciation of 1) New Bern and 2) Beaufort.

By: zombyboy

zombyboy — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:57:46 +0000

By: Marty

Marty — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:41:46 +0000

It’s still Charlotte Motor Speedway to some of us.

By: McGehee

McGehee — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:11:50 +0000

If I don’t know how the locals pronounce it, I’d probably say #3, which is how the one in Contra Costa County, California is pronounced by its locals — one of which includes my wife.