I say New OR-lins.
And many in Mississippi say Mi-SIH-pee.
My mom, from California pronounces the state next door Nuh-VAD-uh. I say Nuh-VAH-duh.
I say Gloss-ter, Wuss-ter, Patch-ogg, and Kwog.
Here's one that gets me - I've never eaten them, but there's these little sausages that come in a can called Vienna sausages. I remember once hearing a guy call them Vye-EEN-uh sausages.
I pronounce the word tarpaulin TAR-puh-lun, but I've heard people say tar-POE-lee-un.
I had a friend named Siobhan in 8th grade, and she pronounced it Shuh-VON.
I remember my stepfather saying once that he didn't see why Americans called the city in Italy Mi-LAHN, because in Italian, it's Milano. Why not pronounce it Mi-LAN.
I thought Ypres is pronounced EE-pruh
And where I grew up, the names Sara and Sarah were pronounced the same, like SAIR-uh. But when I was living in Mi-SIP-pee, I remember someone explaining to me that one is SAIR-uh, but one is SAY-ruh. I don't remember which is which.
I had never heard the name Seosaimhin, but it reminds me of Shannyn Sossamon, who starred with Heath in A Knight's Tale (and who, BTW, when I just looked her up on IMDb to spell her name right, I see named her child Audio Science Clayton, not a tricky name to pronounce).
Great poll, I hadn't seen it til now!