How to generate calls to a radio station

Jeff Custer obviously didn't grow up around here. In the news update at the top of the hour, he referred to the Wicomico River, which he pronounced Wye-koh-mee-koh. If I were handed a piece of paper, a four-syllable word, and a microphone, I'd probably have the same swing-and-a-miss as Mr. Custer, so I'm not sneering here, but I'm sure that there will be a couple of dozen calls to the station to let him know that the river in question is pronounced "Wye-kom-uh-koh."

David and I have an on-going collection of place name Shibboleths. We recently saw Proof at the Stage and there's a little landmine in that script. Folks familiar with Chicago will know that the street is deh-ver-see, not die-ver-see. Casey got it right, but other local actors may not be so lucky.

Another name that trips up the new folks is a building at my alma mater, the University of Maryland. When I was there, the English Department was housed in Taliaferro Hall, pronounced Tolliver.

Brett, Stacey, Michael, Ken, and other former residents of Hawaii have all told me that the tourist Shibboleth there is the Like Like Highway. Beat me to the punch? Yep, it's pronounced Lee-kee Lee-kee, not Like Like.

I know someone whose last name is Sher. Four letters, one syllable. Pronounced shhh-er, just like it looks. I've heard "share" and "sheer" and a couple of other choices recently.

I know that anyone calling for "Let-uh" isn't a friend of mine. My friends and family all say "Lee-dah."

So what gets mis-pronounced in your areas?

(And please - please - tell me that Karen Hughes said that she had lived "overseas, and in Canada, and in ...." rather than "overseas in Canada and in..." as I heard. Please.)