(I’m sure the Aussies may win this one.) Do you have some place names that only locals know how to pronounce correctly? ~

 

  The first rhymes with peer. 

What do I win?
~

You win the love and adoration of people who live there by not calling it peeeYARE!  BTW, the second one is MAN-DAN.  A is pronounced the same way in both syllables.  It's not MANdin or MANdun.

 

  You win. 

~

Aren't you even going to try?

 

  Is Bde a word in its own right, or is it an abbreviation, an acronym, or other symbolic use of letters?
~

It is a word. Bde Maka Ska is White Earth Lake in the Dakota language.

I can help you out with this one, Randy.  Oconomowoc is o-CONNa-mo-walk.  Both of my husband's parents are from the part of Wisconsin that's between Madison and Milwaukee, so I know I'm right on that one.  

I've always said Wayzata as whyZETTa, but I'm from South Dakota, so I could be getting that one wrong.

He's not going to try, so I'll just bail him out.

You forgot Edina, Minnetresta, among othes

I didn't forget - I just limited it to a short list of ones I hear all the time. Edina gets pronounced right about half the time. I have not yet heard Minnetresta mispronounced, but I guess it's possible - just as Shakopee gets mangled by non-locals

 

 Muh-zur-rah

  Or-gun 
  
  Whose-a-tone-nick
  
  Rah-chest-ter

  Youse-ton 


I‘ll take my prize in gold bullion, please. 

~

Wrong on Whose-a-tahnic and Howston Street. Go back to square one.

 

  Even the Aussies are floored by those!
~

The correct answers:

Slathwait (or "Slawit" if you're local to the town, not just the district)
Linfit
Barkis-land
Pomfret
Barf
Bark

Barf? LOL.