No, kim, it's Orygun. This from an almost lifetime resident...... And, it's not "William-ette" either. More like will-AM-it, with the AM-it rhyming with dam_it.

Beach bum is correct. My mom spent the first 35 years of her life and concurs.

And then, in Portland, there's Couch Street, rhyming with koosh Street.

I was joking, Beachbum! LOL Now, it is Port-land or Port-lund? Portlund, Oargun and the William-ette Valley are gorgeous this time of year!

Is it As-toria or A (long a) storia? Ahnold pronounces it Uh-storia! I've heard it prounonced both ways. ***kim***

OK, what was that old camp song?

"Where has Ory gone?
She bought a New Jersey."

Or something like that.

I thought that was "What did Della wear?"
Mind you, it's been a while since I was at camp. They used to let us keep our pet dinosaurs in the cabins.

The Yankee would say "OR A GONE" which is to my mind, a NY thing.
I say Or e gun. fast.oregun.
We are working on it, he gets it right most of the time now.

So being a mixed family (North/South) will our children know how to pronounce Oregon?
Will we be allowed to visit ?
Will there be a test?

Scaarrlett in Flaaarda

You say to-may-to
I say to-mah-to

You say po-tay-to
I say po-tah-to ...

Very few can pronounce my last name correctly, so I don't even bother half the time.

At risk of having the thread deleted, its ass-toria, kim. Quite surprised you had to ask....

Wonder if this is was what my dad means when he talks about Orygun becoming Californicated.

That's the first verse, Meesthare -- the "what did Della wear". But I've mixed things up. Yes "she wore her New Jersey". So now I'm going crazy. I know there was a verse about where has Ory gone, and for the life of me I can't remember where Ory went!

Patrick, What did Della wear?
I dunno, a'l ask 'a!

Oh!!! That must be it?

What did Della Wear?
She wore her brand New Jersey.

Where has Ory gun?
I dunno I'll ask ah!

Not to be post too many times, but to post too many times, my father used to sing this State song we are trying to remember. If found it on this website:

http://www.geocities.com/actias_luna/s9_40.htm

Ahnold pronounced it Uh-Storia in Kindergarten Cop. Now can we say Calle-four-nia! Or is it Cal-if-ornia? I think you can prounonce it any old way you want and be correct! ***kim***

Where has Ore gone? If you want, Alaska (I'll ask her)

Geez, how late was I on posting!

Thanks for the website with complete lyrics. That Alaska part wasn't familiar, but the website shows what I now remember -- "she went to pay her Texas".
Thank God, I'll be able to sleep tonight.

When this Yankee visited in the 70's, my friend and I got a very quick lesson the first time we said "Or-ree-gon" - we were told it's "ORygun"

The correct pronunciation is "pimple" -- you may be on the head of California, but you're on the ass of Washington.

And it's Mizzourah, not Mizzouree. Linguists who have examined it found that rural, Southerners called it ee while urban, Northerner called it ah. the research also show -ah was used by those with higher education levels than those who used -ee.

Pendantic, I know.