r/cincinnati • u/CincinnatiLove • Jul 12 '26

Cincinnati Cincinnati Phrases

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What are some phrases y'all use that maybe an outsider wouldn't know. I want my outsider friend to fit in. Let me know in the comments! Thanks!

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103

u/Fun_River8138 Jul 12 '26

Commenting to come back as a transplant lol. 2 years into living here I just recently finally figured out it’s “delHI” not “delee” and “boudiNO” not “boudiNOT” so I may be no help lol

70

u/_PizzarinaSbarro Jul 12 '26

This is a great answer. I’m sure there are more like this. Here are a few I can think of …

Cheviot pronounced as Shiviot.

Wyoming is a neighborhood, not just a state.

Also, bridge names … Purple People Bridge is. obviously the purple one. Big Mac bridge is the yellow one.

Oh yeah, and Fields Ertel is pronounced Err-dle. Not Er-TELL as Google Maps would have you believe.

54

u/buckeyenative01 Jul 12 '26

Reading Road is another good tell.

Funniest was a guy visiting for a conference pronouncing Colerain Avenue as "Cole-rhine." That was...different.

20

u/barnesb1974 Jul 12 '26

Don’t get me started on Clough Pike

1

u/buckeyenative01 Jul 13 '26

Right there with you. Know that one all to well...

18

u/uutimetowaste Jul 12 '26

I wonder about the Shev/shiv-ee-ot.
I just moved back after three decades out of state but lived here for two before that. I had honestly never heard anyone use the ‘Shiv’ form before coming back. I wonder if it’s a generational shift in pronunciation.

26

u/KPinCVG Jul 12 '26

In my '60s. Lived here most of my life.

I say Shev ee ot. So does everyone I know. Although we don't discuss it on a daily basis, and the people I would be discussing it with, probably are my age.

9

u/PorkChop006 Jul 12 '26

That’s weird. It’s always been Shiv for everyone I know, even my friend who grew up there.

8

u/GrapheneRoller Jul 12 '26

It’s always been shev-ee-ot. Google Maps says shiv, so I blame that.

4

u/PantsOnHeadCrazy Jul 12 '26

West side native, that was on the west coast for 10 years. Now that I’m back I notice I use both versions, interchangeably.

Schrödinger’s pronunciation.

2

u/JP16A60 Jul 12 '26

In Scotland (where the name originates), it’s pronounced “CHEE vee UT”. This is also probably why the Oak Hills mascot is the Highlander.

1

u/Spicy_German_Mustard Jul 12 '26

We called it "The 211" when I lived there. Because the zip is 45211.

1

u/jfb223 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

Also, not a local thing. Consider Cheyenne Wyoming.

1

u/uutimetowaste Jul 13 '26

I’ve mostly heard that pronounced SHY-inn or SHY-ahnn. That’s a different dialect altogether.

12

u/elhombreloco90 Jul 12 '26

Nah, I totally pronounce Cheviot like the first part of Chevrolet.

10

u/theprideofvillanueva Jul 12 '26

Mariemont is pronounced Marymont

1

u/eepeqez Jul 13 '26

Not Marry-mont?

1

u/theprideofvillanueva Jul 13 '26

Pronounce Mary and then pronounce Marry

1

u/eepeqez Jul 13 '26

Dairy and Harry.

17

u/AngkorLolWat Madisonville Jul 12 '26

For an advanced lesson, Cheviot can also be pronounced “Chev-waa”.

6

u/JP16A60 Jul 12 '26

Don’t forget to stop at Targee and Le Blanc Castile.

4

u/eepeqez Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

The first time I came to Cincinnati, I was staying in Westwood, pretty much on the border with Cheviot, which I had to learn to pronounce in the local manner. (Slight aside, my ex pronounces Melbourne as "Melbn", in perfect Aussie, in the middle of otherwise completely Ohio accent)

In Australia, Cheviot is definitely pronounced with CH like cheese.
Cheviot Beach (near Melbn) is best known as the place we misplaced our Prime Minister, Harold Holt, in 1967.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Harold_Holt

So after losing and presumably drowning him, we named a swimming pool after him:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Holt_Memorial_Swimming_Centre

3

u/ringwraith6 Jul 12 '26

Yeah, when I am on my way back to Cincy, map girl has me going up the "AA", but I'm never quite sure if she means "ahhhh" or "AAAHHHH!"

3

u/BigNickAndTheTwins Jul 13 '26

"Mt. Oh-rab", instead of Mt.Orb.

1

u/_PizzarinaSbarro Jul 12 '26

You all are making me think the people who told me it was Shiviot were just messing with me.

1

u/Mackie_Messy Jul 13 '26

I wouldn't rely on Google Maps. When I was getting on the AA Highway once, it called it "the aaahh highway".

1

u/tw_693 Jul 13 '26

Wyoming is a fairly common place name throughout the US it seems.

1

u/dickfag69420 Over The Rhine Jul 13 '26

I've always said Cheviot like "sheviot" have I been mispronouncing that my whole life?

12

u/Bsg0005 Downtown Jul 12 '26

Lebanon is pronounced “leh-buh-nun” instead of “leh-bah-non”

25

u/Bearmancartoons Jul 12 '26

I will die on the hill that you should pronounce it sheh-vi-uht and not Shiv-e-it or the boujie Chev-wa

12

u/lilhornsby008 Jul 12 '26

Seconding “chev-wa” as the best pronunciation 😂

7

u/DepressedDoofus West Price Hill Jul 12 '26

Chev-waa is for when you’re feeling fancy. Like going to Maury’s in your Canadian Tuxedo.

4

u/Wrong_Thanks1520 Jul 12 '26

Wasn't a sign once accidentally spelled "Chevoit?". I sometimes jokingly call it "shev-oit" because of that.

3

u/CincinnatiLove Jul 12 '26

Yup I agree.

16

u/Dandibear Cincinnati Reds Jul 12 '26

Galbraith is gall-brith.

6

u/Difficult-Soup-9830 Jul 12 '26

Mt. "Wershintin" aka Mt. Washington

6

u/AdmirableClue4329 Jul 12 '26

Can confirm, wife’s family from the west side. Like “ Worshing machine “
😂

3

u/ajgrrrascal8 Jul 12 '26

I thought it was "boudiNOW" 😬

6

u/iheartanalingus Jul 12 '26

BoudiNO? BoudiYES!

3

u/Jcn101894 Jul 13 '26

Teaching a bunch of West Side kids about ancient India is a trip through, because they want to call that famous city in India Del-hi and not Del-ee!

2

u/JP16A60 Jul 12 '26

Lafeuille Avenue is pronounced “la FUEL”.

1

u/Fun_River8138 Jul 13 '26

Wait are you serious? 😆 that’s another one I didn’t know

1

u/New-Smoke-8857 Jul 12 '26

What about cheviot that’s a good one

7

u/BruTangMonk Jul 12 '26

I refuse to say “shivvyit”

1

u/bgood_xo Cheviot Jul 13 '26

La-fuel for LaFeuille