Caroline Kennedy is courting Upstate New York in her bid to be Senator Clinton’s replacement. Newspaper reporters have been trying to get her to comment on national issues. But if they really want to check her ability to represent Upstate, they should hand her a list of Upstate place names and ask her for the correct local pronunciations. Here are some:

• Colonie
• Pulaski
• Cairo
• Schaghticoke
• Greenwich
• Watervliet
• Corinth

The answers are:

• kol-on-EE, not “colony”
• puh-LAS-keye, not puh-LAS-kee
• CARE-o, not KYE-ro or KAY-ro
• SKAT-a-coke
• GREEN-witch, not GREN-itch
• water-va-LEET, not water-va-LAY
• CORNth, not core-INTH

For extra credit, they can ask her to spell Schenectady.

If you don’t think such things matter, then you don’t know any Upstaters. Trust me on this: I grew up in Saratoga Springs, went to college in Schenectady, and had my first job in Albany (pronounced AWL-bu-nee, not AL-bu-nee).

 

Have PoliticalMavens.com delivered to your inbox in a daily digest by clicking here