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When I hear someone incorrectly pronounce the name of The Beaver State as “Or-uh-GONE,” I think to myself:

鈥� Feliks Banel (@FeliksBanel)

You would think by now that those distant East Coast media types in plush studios atop their ivory towers would know how to pronounce the name of the state south of the Columbia River.

But if you thought that, you鈥檇 be wrong.

Anyone listening to public radio last weekend 鈥� to fill the time between broadcasts of the Mariners and the Seahawks on and 成人X站 Newsradio 鈥� would have heard at least two jarring examples of what can only be called 鈥渢he ORE-uh-GONE effect.鈥� Or maybe that should be 鈥渁ffect.鈥�

In an episode of author Amy Bloom told the story of her husband鈥檚 assisted suicide and pronounced Oregon like this…

Another example happened during the weekly episode of the news quiz show when host Peter Sagal plugged some upcoming shows on a comedy tour.

Come on. Everyone knows it鈥檚 鈥淥R-uh-gun.鈥�

Unfortunately, these Beaver State pronunciation offenses are nothing new. Many adults can remember hearing people on television say 鈥淥RE-uh-GONE鈥� back in the 1970s 鈥� even in the finale of the original Bob Newhart sitcom, where Dr. Hartley leaves Chicago to take a teaching job in Oregon. And many can recall even recent visits to the East Coast when 鈥淥RE-uh-GONE鈥� came up in otherwise polite conversation.

But it was a little surprising to hear it twice in the same day on a couple of big, slick National Public Radio programs. It probably had some Oregonian listeners clutching their pledge drive totebags.

And the reason this matters here north of the Columbia River in Warshington 鈥� excuse me, I mean 鈥榃ashington鈥� 鈥� goes back to one of the earliest eras of post-settlement, pre-contact local history. Though home to Indigenous people since time immemorial, Seattle and Puget Sound are considered part of the 鈥淥ld Oregon Country,鈥� and for decades this area was, for many, the end of the Oregon Trail. For five years 鈥� from 1848 to 1853 – what鈥檚 now the Evergreen State was officially within the boundaries of Oregon Territory.

As for the origins of the name 鈥淥regon,鈥� no one is exactly sure where it comes from. Is it related to the herb oregano (which is another name for marjoram), or to early explorers who had some connection to the region of Spain called Aragon? One telling says it is perhaps from a misprinting of 鈥淥uisconsink鈥� 鈥� an early francization of an Indigenous word for what became Wisconsin. Or, it could be from the French word 鈥渙uragon,鈥� meaning 鈥榮torm鈥� or 鈥榟urricane.鈥� The experts can鈥檛 really say 鈥� though Oregon鈥檚 first family of place-names discusses the mystery thoroughly and grippingly in their famous book 鈥淥regon Geographic Names.鈥�

Those authors recount that the name 鈥淥regon鈥� was never put in writing by Captain George Vancouver; Captain Robert Gray; American explorers Lewis & Clark; or John Jacob Astor, who founded the settlement at what鈥檚 now Astoria in 1811. A poem by American author William Cullen Bryant 鈥� 鈥溾�� (pronounced 鈥渢ha路nuh路TAAP路suhs, by the way) 鈥� published in 1817 is the first known appearance in print of the current spelling (though a 1798 chart came close 鈥� 鈥淥regan鈥�) as an alternate name for what鈥檚 now the Columbia River.

鈥淥r lose thyself in the continuous woods

Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound,

Save his own dashings . . . 鈥�

As far as the pronunciation goes, there鈥檚 a book (and podcast) called 鈥溾�� by the American brother-and-sister writing team of both which address mispronunciations of all kinds of words and place-names. The Petras siblings are seasoned world travelers whose first writing project together was a play, crafted in Cairo, Egypt when they were 5 and 8 years old, respectively.

And though Kathy now lives in Spain and Ross lives in Eastern Canada, the two have connections to the Pacific Northwest; Kathy and her husband lived in Seattle in the past, and Ross鈥� wife is from here.

Neither Kathy nor Ross can definitively say why the 鈥淥RE-uh-GONE鈥� pronunciation problem persists in the digital age. Bottomline, Ross says, correct pronunciation is absolutely key to effectively connecting with other human beings.

鈥淚 think 鈥榳hen in Rome speak as the Romans do,鈥� to some degree in terms of place names,鈥� Ross told 成人X站 Newsradio. 鈥淎nd when in Oregon, speak as Oregonians do. And I do think it’s a matter of politeness and a matter of good taste and a matter of clearly communicating.鈥�

鈥淚f I go to Oregon and say, 鈥極RE-uh-GONE,鈥� the purpose of me talking is to communicate,鈥� he continued. 鈥淎s soon as I say 鈥極RE-uh-GONE,鈥� people are not going to be thinking [about] what I’m saying, they’re going to be thinking, 鈥榟e just mispronounced the name of our state.鈥欌��

鈥淎nd I don’t think that’s a good idea,鈥� he said.

It seems like these kinds of geographic mispronunciations were more understandable in a less connected age. My late mother was a young woman in London in the 1940s. When she read about Seattle in Betty MacDonald鈥檚 鈥淭he Egg and I,鈥� she found her future home (which she didn鈥檛 know was her future home) to be charming place. She also assumed it was pronounced 鈥淪EE-dull.鈥�

For some, well into the 21st century, Spokane is still 鈥淪po-KAYNE,鈥� and even lifelong residents around here still get Colville (鈥淐ALL-vill鈥�) all wrong.

Maybe this is an opportunity for the state of Oregon to have one of those annoying tourism campaigns that raises a ruckus among the locals and confuses or maybe even comforts the target audience 鈥� something along the lines of 鈥淥RE-uh-GONE: No matter how you mispronounce it, it’s a great place to visit!鈥�

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O鈥橞rien, read more from him鈥�here, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast聽here. If you have a story idea or questions, please email Feliks鈥�here.