Most People Will Struggle to Pronounce These Town Names

Quinebaug (“quinn-a-bog”) is a town in northeastern Connecticut. The name comes from a southern New England Native American term meaning “long pond.”

Quiogue is pronounced “kwi-og.” The first syllable rhymes with “why,” and the second rhymes with “bog.” To complicate things, it’s next to Quogue, which is simply pronounced “kwog.”

Quonochontaug, which means black fish, is pronounced “KWAHN-ah-kahn-tawg,” although even locals have difficulty with it. Rhode Island has many hard-to-pronounce names, legacies of five Indian tribes that lived there: the Narragansetts, Niantics, Nipmucks, Pequots, and Wampanoags.

Runnemede (pronounced “RUN-a-meade”) was most likely named after Runnymede in England, though there is a story, most likely apocryphal, that the name comes from the chant at a local tavern for: “Rum we need!”

Saxapahaw is named for the Sissipahaw tribe and is pronounced “sax-uh-puh-haw” (although some locals shorten it to “sax-p’haw”).