Why Prescott is pronounced "Pres-kitt"

I've always had a fascination with the names of things, and especially with how they're pronounced. For me it started in California, where I had to learn how to mispronounce names of towns and streets in order to sound like a local. I had studied enough Spanish in high school to pronounce "Gutierrez" (a street in Santa Barbara) as Goo-Tee-AIR (with a bit of a roll to for the double rr) - ayes, and when the locals laughed at me I learned that the correct way to pronounce it was "Goo-TERR-ace." And from that point on I made it a point to learn how locals pronounce names, and it's mostly because if something gets repeated over and over it gets slurred. By favorite example in Arizona is Prescott, pronounced "Press-kitt".

And there really is no deeper meaning that just slurring, the way that the word "Waistcoat" is pronounced "Weskitt" in England. The list goes on and on, and I'm sure that you can think of more. I had a good friend in the 1970s who always called me "Brdall", it would have sounded strange if he hadn't said it that way.

Nothing is more hilarious to a local than some out-of-town Jasper who can't pronounce something the way that locals do. And in my experience the less someone has traveled, the more they laugh at people who are trying to pronounce something that the locals all know.

In my travels I've always tried to listen carefully to pronunciation, sometimes asking if someone would kindly repeat a word until I've got it right. It becomes something like a secret handshake, that people recognize and respect. My favorite one here in Arizona is pronouncing mogollon. Mug-EE-on.

Howdy stranger! You're not from these parts I reckon. This is Pres-Kitt!

Thank you for the encouragement! If you want to see daily pics of my adventures on my recumbent trike in suburban Phoenix (just for fun, of course!) you can follow me on buymeacoffee.com/bradhall, and you can buy me a coffee if you'd like to!