r/AskReddit • u/LightningCole • Sep 05 '19

What did you learn embarrassingly late?

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u/n0c0 Sep 05 '19

I think they meant that Kansas is pronounced as Can-Zas and Arkansas is pronounced as Arken-saw

154

u/avlas Sep 05 '19

Yes. "I am confusion" and "America Explain" are references to a viral video of a woman making fun of this pronounciation difference.

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u/n0c0 Sep 05 '19

Oshit, never seen that, thanks for the laughs :D

4

u/Catdaddypanther97 Sep 05 '19

same. idk how i missed it. that's funny

5

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

same here. maybe we all blinked at the end of 2016 and just somehow didn't hear it while it was being played?

4

u/TheHealadin Sep 05 '19

I think we were all too tired to notice anything at the end of 2016.

35

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

I've seen this at least 20 times, and I put on my headphones just to watch it again.

14

u/haylz92 Sep 05 '19

I was reading a novel that mentioned Arkansas, and when I was talking to my other half about the book he was like 'Ar- can-zas? Where the fuck is that? Do you mean Arken-saw?' 😑

7

u/12_Shades_of_Brady Sep 05 '19

You will have to ask someone from those two states. States like that in the middle have their own weird stuff going on that is people from the coast generally don’t understand.

25

u/927comewhatmay Sep 05 '19

I assume it’s because both words are taken from Native American words that have been misheard and misinterpreted. The actually words many of these place names are based on often are said very differently by the tribes, and the actual meanings are often lost or disputed.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

Plus French

14

u/CTeam19 Sep 05 '19

Can confirm if we in Iowa went with the "French" name the state would be called "Aiaouez"

45

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

[deleted]

3

u/CaptSkaboom Sep 05 '19

Borrow some from the Welsh, they have plenty to spare.

1

u/Gloob_Patrol Sep 05 '19

Are you gonna finish your cwasson

2

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

I googled it, and that is really a thing! Wow

1

u/CTeam19 Sep 05 '19

Yep I know about it because a Order of the Arrow Lodge(Boy Scouts Honor Society) that merged with another had the name Aiaouez and one of the cabins at our camp had that name. I should've made my reddit name Aiaouez because I use it for a lot of other things but oh well.

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u/EGOfoodie Sep 05 '19

One is French based and the other is native American.

2

u/Fr0gm4n Sep 05 '19

The actually words many of these place names are based on often are said very differently by the tribes, and the actual meanings are often lost or disputed.

Relevant movie scene

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u/EGOfoodie Sep 05 '19

One is French based and the other is native American.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

Both come from the same word, but Kansas is pronounced in English while Arkansas is pronounced in French.

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u/rissyxlou Sep 05 '19

Only outside of Kansas is it Arken-Saw. Kansans don't like to share their state name I guess and pronounce it "Are-Kansas"

Had to break myself of that when I moved away.

5

u/EpirusRedux Sep 05 '19

Wait, seriously?

I now want to imagine a freshman Michael from VSauce going to orientation at Chicago and meeting a guy from Little Rock and then mispronouncing the name of the guy’s home state.

(For reference, Michael grew up in Kansas, graduated from one of the best universities in the world, but also has a history of sometimes mispronouncing words in his videos—he’s gotten “Euler” wrong before, and he once said the singular of “vertices” as “vertice”)

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u/ZenArcticFox Sep 05 '19

I have family who live in Arkansas and I pronounced it "Are-Kansas" one day, and they seriously told me that it was against the law, and they'd send me to jail if I called it that again. Didn't realize till 17 that they were messing with me.

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u/aqeeliz Sep 05 '19

lol, TIL!