What’s In A Name?

by Brendan Smith
Weirs Times Editor

Living here in Central New Hampshire for thirty-five years after moving here from Long Island, New York, there are still some things I haven’t gotten completely used to yet.
No, I’m not talking about bean hole beans.
It is the pronunciation of some of the towns, cities, lakes and roadways.
As one travels around the Granite State, there are really some great names that jump out at you. Many are derived from historic settlers as well as old Native American expressions.
One of the most famous is “Winnipesaukee” which, I’m sure, is a recognizable name to just about anyone who has set foot in New Hampshire, even those folks who just come up for the day to vote every couple of years.
If you have lived here awhile, you learn how to spell it correctly, but that takes some practice for the beginner. Even more confusing is what “Winnipesaukee” actually means. Everywhere you go there seems to be a different spin on what the Native Americans were saying.
Some claim it means “The Smile Of The Great Spirit”. Others say “The Water in High Places”. A few even claim it means “Water To Where Many Tourists Will Come.”
The great things about “Winnipesaukee” is when you see the word, even if you don’t know how to spell it yet, you know exactly what it is and how to pronounce it.
In some cases, here in New Hampshire, the spelling of a place really doesn’t give you the true story. Towns like Boscawen, Berlin and Contoocook (to name a very few), look pretty simple on paper, but beware as what lies underneath is a complexity of lip and tongue movements that defy linguistic interpretation.
What’s worse, to the uninitiated, newly transplanted Flatlander, is that even if you pronounce the name correctly the very first time, a local native may congratulate you using the expression “So Don’t I” which only exacerbates your confusion.
Of course, some towns have easy names, but if you don’t know they are a town to begin with, then you are in for some embarrassment. This happened to me the first few months I lived here when someone invited me to the Sandwich Fair. I didn’t eat for two days in anticipation of a feast of turkey clubs, BLTs, Tuna hoagies, hot pastramis on rye and open-face roast beef melts, only to be slightly disappointed by the selection of fried dough and corn dogs. (Not that there’s anything wrong with those.)
On the flip side of all of this is the spellings and pronunciations that really seem to electrify a few nerves. And I’m not talking about the age old Borough/Boro controversy that continues to rage.
One of these reared its ugly head the other day when I was with some friends. (In case anyone is keeping notes, we socially distanced which I can’t really prove in a court of law, if it comes to that).
It was over the spelling and pronunciation of “The Kancamagus Highway” (which is spelled correctly here…I think).
It started with one friend pronouncing it “Kancamangus” which caused a small uproar from others. (They were wearing masks, so their angry spittle was contained.) One of those offended claimed it should be pronounced “Kancmaugus” as in “Paugus”.
After all was said and done, I decided the next day to conduct my own extensive poll to see how most people pronounced it.
I thought it would be wise to make my poll as scientific as possible, with the least margin of error, much like the Presidential polls we are used to. So, I did what they do. I asked the first ten people that I came across outside a local supermarket.
Interestingly enough, the first five people pronounced it “Kancamangus”. (Well, it was really four as one person ran away from me before I could even ask the question.)
A sixth person told me that he used to say “Kancamaugus” but now said “Kancamangus” because everyone else did and he didn’t need any more arguments in his life since this election has ended, so he decided just to go along.
I did continue to ask others and got many “Kancamangus” answers. One older New Hampshire native insisted that it is supposed to be “Kancamungus” and everyone else was a fool.
I stopped after asking my tenth participant who simply said: “I just call in The Kanc. It makes life easier.”
That one seemed the best to me.
When all was said and done, my poll had proved one thing: Most people pronounced it “Kancamangus”.
I realized the results of this poll will be disconcerting to some and there might be a bit of a backlash. But…hey…polls don’t lie…we all know that.
It seems, no matter how long one resides in New Hampshire, the “Kancamaygus, mungus, mangus” battle will go on.
As someone who grew up just outside of New York City and watching what is going on there nowadays, I’m very grateful it’s not called “The Cross Bronx Expressway.”