If there's one thing that makes folks here in Montana cringe, it's when someone mispronounces one of our town's names, especially if we're from that particular town.  Now I understand that Montana is geographically the 4th largest state in the union and as such, there will be a huge number of small towns and incorporations that have got some strange, and even funny, names.  But as a native of the Mining City, we're going to start with one of Montana's most mispronounced towns, whether that mispronounciation is intentional or not.

BUTTE (BYOOT)

Photo: Tommy O/Townsquare Media
Photo: Tommy O/Townsquare Media
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Okay first of all, stop with the butt jokes.  Butte has been called "butt", "butt-tay", "boot-tay" and a smorgasbord of other, sometimes borderline risqué names, most of the time intentionally.  But seriously, as long as you don't call us Bozeman, we're all good.

HELENA (HEL-uh-nuh)

Montana State Capital Building in Helena Montana
Photo: Townsquare Labs/Getty Images-pabradyphoto
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Even our capital city is not immune from mispronunciations with many calling it something like huh-LEAN-ua.  I've even heard this on the national news.  But we've all heard a lot of things on the national news...

MEAGHER (MARR) COUNTY

Photo: Townsqare Labs/Getty Image-Joesboy
Photo: Townsqare Labs/Getty Image-Joesboy
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Now this one will even stump some fellow Montanans even though the county is named after territorial governor Thomas Francis Meagher.  Many people still call it "mee-garr" while the correct way rhymes with "bar".

HAVRE (HAVE-er)

American Family Insurance Championship - Round Two
Photo: Getty Images-Patrick McDermott
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We have to admit that the most common mispronunciation of this town was "Hav-ree" until that certain NFL quarterback became famous.  But you have to admit, Harv does have a certain, funny ring to it.

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