Never having heard Lima pronounced in connection with the great builder of Super Power steam, and early diesel locomotives, I always assumed it was pronounced Lee-ma. But then I saw a video, someone called it LY-ma. like lima beans. Anyone know for sure? Dan
In the UK it is pronounced Leema.
David
The locals in Lima Ohio pronounce it LIE-MUH.
Rich
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I pronounced it like Lee-Muh, because that is what my father from the Midwest laught me. Then I met several people actually from that part of Ohio that informed me it is correctly pronounced Lie-Muh.
I went to Lima, Ohio’s official website. They have a lot of FAQs, but pronunciation is not included.
https://www.cityhall.lima.oh.us/Faq.aspx
-Kevin
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There are YouTube videos where the locals pronounce it as LIE-MUH.
Rich
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Then there is Hornby who own Lima and the Italians who started the Company. They say Leema.
A case of depending where you are.[(-D]
David
Wrong Lima David.
He’s not talking about the European model maker.
He’s talking about the North American builder of real-life steam engines in the first half of the 20th century.
“Lie-muh” is in Ohio.
“Lee-muh” is in Peru.
Kinda like how the Montevideo in South America is “mon-tah-vah-day-oh” but the Montevideo in Minnesota is “mon-tah-vid-e-oh”.
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Let’s make this simple. The Lima bean is from that part of Ohio. It is not from Peru. Do the British pronounce this Leema beans?
Some of these names can be bad faux-amis. Take Simon Bolivar, for example. In the best Callus, Maine tradition, Tennesseeans pronounce the name of their town “BAH-lu-ver” which is amusing until you realize how close it is to the way he actually pronounced his name. Similar to Sam Houston, who came from the East where the New Yorkers still know how to pronounce his name…
(If it is any consolation, I pronounced the name of the locomotive works Lee-ma until I was well into my twenties – and if it helps, it was a native Spanish speaker, Livio Dante Porta, who set me straight…)
Now we can take up the issue of how many of us know how to pronounce Boxpok… [:-^]
[#oops]
David
We can assume that Lima Machine Works takes its name from Lima Ohio, where the original main shop was located. According to Wikipedia:
The name “Lima” was reputedly chosen in a nod to the Peruvian capital which, during the 1800s, was a major source of quinine, an anti-malaria drug for which there had been a demand in the region, an area known as the Great Black Swamp.
According to the Simple English Wikipedia:
Lima is a
As a resident of OH for 40+ years now, the town of Lima is pronounced “LYE-muh”. And other lesser known but interesting OH towns and pronouciations:
- Wooster…“WUH-ster”
- Milan…“MY-lan”
- Bellefontaine…“BELL-fown-tuhn” (Div. headquarters of NYC’s “Big Four”)
- Maumee…“MAH-mee”
- Gallipolis…“Gal-ih-POLICE”
- Russia…“ROO-shee”
- Versailles…“Ver-SALES”
Tom
Roo-shee? Sounds like the French pronounciation of Russia (Russie in French). I believe there were French-speaking settlers back then. It’s pretty amazing that they kept that pronounciation for all these years, if my interpretation is correct.
Simon
Refugio is pronounced Refurrio in Texas. The Boll-la-ver peninsula is where hurricanes come ashore in Texas. And the city in Texas is named for the fellow Sam Hew-ston, and they will fight you over the pronunciation.
You are correct, Simon. According to Wiki, the first settlers in that area were French-speaking Swiss.
Of course in Russian, Russian is pronounced “Roo-ski”.
Texans fight over other stupid wrong things too. You have to ask them something like ‘if everything is bigger in Texas, is it true that Texas has the largest midgets’ to shut them up sometimes. [;)]
Look where that fellow Sam “Hewston” came from and you’ll see where the right of it is. It’s little different from those folks who established Versailles, Kentucky … although they are correct in so pronouncing the name of the '70s Lincoln competition to the original Seville Nova… [(-D]
I have heard Boxpok pronounced both ways by people who narrated films back in the 50’s and 60’s. I think there must be a ‘correct’ way, but you’ll have arguments.
And don’t axe me which one I use…I’m not tellin’.
Albany, New York: All Buh Knee
Albany, Georgia: Al Bin Ee
Or… Just be like Florida, and name your cities things like Apalachicola, Kissimmee, Okahumpka, Steinhatchee, Immokallee, Weewahitchka, etc., and laugh at the tourists trying to pronounce them.
-Kevin
Here in Michigan we have the small town of Pompeii, which is pronounced POM-pee-EYE. For that matter, just across town from me is Delhi Township, of course pronounced DELL-HIGH.