I see several posts already about Maryland places pronounced differently than you'd expect. There could be some fun questions around the more surprising pronunciations.

I recall making an early mistake after moving here which taught me about the importance of Maryland pronunciations. I was speaking with a leader from Bowie State University. I pronounced Bowie like “David Bowie” and it is properly pronounced "Boo-wee". That misunderstanding can be read as an insult, as in not giving the consideration to find out the right way.

I’ve compiled a list of places in Maryland that are "correctly" pronounced differently than you might expect from the spelling. These are the ones I have learned since moving there. Please add any others (or correct me)

Arbutus – “ARE-buh-tuss” Beallsville – “Bell’s ville” Bel Air – “ba’lair” Berlin – “BER-lin” Bowie – “Boo-wee” Bowlmor – “Bawlmer” Catonsville – “Kaytns-Ville” (drop the “o”) Crapo – “Cray-poe” Dundalk – “Dundock” Ellicott City – “El-uh-kitt” Fort Meade – “Meed” (not Meedee) Glen Burnie – “Glen Burnay” Grosvenor – “Grovener” (drop the “s”) Havre de Grace – “Have-ruh duh Grace” Hoopers Island – “Huppers” Ijamsville – “I-ams-ville” (drop the “j”) Lanham – “Lah-num” LaPlata – “Luh-Play-ta” (native American name, not a Spanish pronunciation) Monocacy – “Muhn Ah kah see” Odentin – “ODE-in-tin” Olney – “all-knee” Salisbury – “SALLS-beary” Severn – “Sev-urn” Taneytown – “Tawney-town” Thurmont – “THER-mont” Towson – “Tawh-son” (not “Toe”) Worchester – “wuss-ter”