Nuh-Rag-An-Sett? Watch West Coasters Struggle with RI Town Names

You know you’re a true Rhode Islander if the word Quonochontaug rolls off your tongue like a lemony chunk of Del’s on a hot day at Scarborough State Beach in Narragansett.

But let’s face it, even Rhode Islanders can struggle to pronounce some of names of towns and places here in the Ocean State. It’s not uncommon to watch the 6 p.m. local news and hear a rookie reporter (or even a veteran anchorwoman) say North Kingston instead of North KingsTOWN, or Kingstown instead of KingsTON.

And let’s not get started on Pawtucket. (It’s puh-TUCK-it).

So you can imagine the difficulty a group of West Coast residents faced when they were asked to pronounce some of Rhode Island’s unique town names.

The Real Estate website, Movoto, produced this brief video featuring a group of Californians giving it a shot.

“Rhode Islanders might be used to places with names like ‘Chepiwanoxet’ and ’Scituate’ but these eight West Coasters are DEFINITELY not,” the company said of its video. “Their first attempt to pronounce these words is one hilarious train wreck that you just can’t take your eyes off of.”