Short and Tall Tales | Tall

Mike in Missouri, my Illinois-native wife must be an “old time riverman,” because she allus tol’ me it was KAY-ro, but at least I won’t spend a night in jail. Wasn’t Cairo, IL, the original “final home” before the locals helped the JW’s decide that Salt Lake City would be more hospitable?*

Over here in Oklahoma, you have Miami, which of course is My-AM-uh. ‘Nuff said.

Decades ago, a relative described driving his new furriner wife around south-eastern Oklahoma. They saw a sign directing them to “Heavener.” My religiously starry-eyed but geographically challenged relative exclaimed to his bride, Why! We’re “heaven-ers!” So they drove into town, asked a local how you pronounce the name of the town, and skee-daddled out of there when they heard him welcome them, of course, to “HEAVE-nurr”.