Say-co? Sko-hee-gun? YouTube video features creative butchering of Maine place names

Movoto — real estate website and eager player in the viral clickbait content tilt-a-whirl — released on Tuesday another original video featuring their team of tolerably funny young people butchering regionally specific words, place names and slang. This time, they tackle Maine place names.

Now, I’ll agree that Wytopitlock is a bit of a tongue twister, and Passagassawakeag is a really fun word to say, but is Saco really that hard? How many different ways could you possibly pronounce it? Really, unshaven hipster dude in acid wash jean jacket? You couldn’t figure it out?

More to the point, however, are the two main quibbles I have with this video.

1. Isle au Haut is, fairly obviously to anyone who has at least a rudimentary grasp of languages other than English, a French word. While Mainers certainly have a predisposition to Anglicizing French place names — Calais, anyone? — Isle au Haut is one of the few places in the state where the French pronunciation is correct. Well, mostly correct. The Isle, in this case, is pronounced like “aisle,” not “eel.” Ah, Mainers. Sometimes I think we’re just trying to screw with people.

2. Movoto claims that Skowhegan is pronounced “Skuh-we-g’n”. Now, whether you’re attempting the original pronunciation used by the Norridgewock tribe of Abenaki Native Americans who named it in the first place (translated: “watching place for fish”) or the contemporary pronunciation, the Movoto pronunciation guide is WRONG. Flat-out wrong. SKOW-HEE-GIN. There’s an “owww” sound in the “skow” and a soft “g” in the “gin.”

It is worth noting that Movoto has done the same sort of video for other states, including for Massachusetts, Louisiana and Hawaii. We’re onto you, Movoto.

For more videos like this, visit www.movoto.com.

Emily Burnham

About Emily Burnham

Emily Burnham is a Maine native, UMaine graduate, proud Bangorian and a writer for the Bangor Daily News, where she's worked since 2004. She reports on everything from local bands to local food to all the cool things going on in the Greater Bangor area. In her quest for stories, she's seen countless concerts and plays, been lobster fishing, interviewed celebrities, hung out with water buffalo and played in a ukulele orchestra. She's interested in everything that happens in Maine.