Although the final debate is in progress during the publishing of this post, I decided to make it a clean sweep – thus I did not watch. Nonetheless, this post is about the information that you don’t hear.
As anyone tracking the U.S. presidential campaign knows, Ohio is one of the key battleground states. As the country 17th state and our 18 electoral votes, we (unfortunately) lead the country in campaign ads. Nonetheless, with all the campaign reports from Ohio, this post is about information you may not know.
Visiting Ohio is visiting the world: Amsterdam, Athens, Baltic, Berlin, Cadiz, Calcutta, Dresden, Dublin, Dunkirk, Geneva, Genoa, Holland, Lebanon, Lima, Lisbon, Milan, London, Macedonia, Moscow, Ontario, Poland, Seville, Sidney, Toledo, Venice, and Versailles
Visiting Ohio is visiting the UK: Dover, East Liverpool, Glouster, Guernsey, Kent, London, Oxford, and Sheffield
Visiting Ohio is visiting biblical sites: Bethel, Bethesda, Damascus, Delphos, Goshen, Pisgah, and Shiloh
Visiting Ohio is visiting the USA: Albany, Baltimore, Buffalo, Fresno, Louisville, Nevada, Oregon, Reno, Syracuse, Washington, and Wyoming
Visiting Ohio for its many new places: New Athens, New Boston, New Breman, New Carlisle, New Concord, New Lebanon, New Lexington, New London, New Madison, New Metamora, New Miami, New Middletown, New Paris, New Philadelphia, New Richmond, New Springfield, New Straitsville, New Vienna, New Washington, and New Waterford; then toss in Newark, Newburgh Heights, Newcomerstown, Newport, Newton Falls, and Newtown
Visiting Ohio to climb the mountain towns of Mt. Carmel, Mt. Gilead, Mt. Healthy, Mt. Orab, Mt. Repose, Mt. Sterling, and Mt. Vernon (of which many are flat)
Visiting Ohio for people names: Amanda, Amelia, Ashley, Beverly, Bevis, Bryan, Clyde, Dayton, Felicity, Franklin, Geneva, Harrison, Heath, Hiram, Jackson, Kent, Logan, Lucas, Mack, Marion, Mason, Perry, Randolph, Ross, Quincy, Shelby, Sidney, Spencer, Troy, Warren, Wayne, and Willard
Visiting Ohio with a pronouncing guide
- Berlin (BURR lin)
- Lancaster (LAN ca ster)
- Lebanon (LEB bun un)
- Lima (LIE muh)
- Milan (MY lund)
- Moscow (MOSS cow)
- Rio Grande (RYE o grand)
- Russia (RUE she)
- Toledo (toe LEE doe)
- Versailles (Vur SALES)
- Wooster (WUH ster)
- I let you try “Gnadenhutten”
Visiting Ohio to visit colorful towns starting with Blue, Red, White, Green, Black, Brown, Yellow, and Orange
I have been to Coolville, but never to Hicksville
I am from a county named after a man with the first name Return
Upper Sandusky is south and west of Sandusky
Some guys fall so in love they forget if they Dayton people from Eaton, or … I’ll let you figure out the rest
For more past posts about Ohio, click here or click Ohio under Category in the sidebar
Enjoy the song and slide show. (Although I see several visual mistakes)
A Frank Angle 
We do have some great town names in Ohio. I’m impressed you tracked so many down. I’m currently watching the debates. I don’t think these two men like each other very much. Maybe they need to go to Sandusky and ride the Top Thrill Dragster together. 😉
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Carrie,
Wow … great idea … a spinoff could be a using an amusement park battle could be part of the debate! For instance, a roller coaster showdown. …. or who can do the spin rides the longest? Thanks for sharing the bonding idea!
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Yes, this time instead of the voters feeling like they’re going to puke from all the political back-and-forth nonsense, it can be the candidates who are ready to hurl… 😉
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Carrie,
But I wonder if the candidates are so well trained on their BS, they are immune from hurling! 😉 Thanks for commenting.
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Haha. Probably. 🙂
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Great post, Frank – what a unique approach to your state! I personally love Zanesville, OH – had a friend from there, and of course, it was named after Ebenezar Zane who with his brothers helped establish Fort Henry, later to become Wheeling WV, and the ancestor of Zane Grey who wrote several novels based on the history of this area.
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Lynn,
Glad you enjoy Zanesville, which has an interesting history itself. Thanks for sharing!
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Oh, my friend, you missed two mis-pronunciations, one of which is a HUGE local sore point. The less-prickly one is Chili – pronounced CHI (“ch” as in “church”) – lie. Not like the food Cincy is famous for. The second, and the sore point, is the town of BER-lin. ber-LIN is in Germany – and the locals will SCREAM this at you! 😉
Meanwhile, my current home metropolis of Fresno is named after the town in California, not vice versa. And don’t forget Zanesville, named for (and full of stuff dedicated to) Zane Grey of the famous Western/cowboy novels.
But there is one town that is really keen – Keene. How big is Keene? Well, at a slow speed of 20mph, it takes you less than 10 seconds to go through the WHOLE town, school and all. I love sight-seeing in Keene – when I remember not to blink. 😀
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John E,
Good point about Berlin, so I will add it to the list. Meanwhile, I didn’t forget Zanesville because I have never heard of anyone with the first name Zanesville. And if there was, it would be a rarity, thus still doesn’t qualify for my list. Thanks for sharing your Keene experience!
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John E,
Seeking clarification … Berlin, Ohio …. BURR lin or BEAR lin?
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More “Burr” than “Bear” – and far more aggravating to the locals if you pronounce it “bear-LIN” like the Germans do. 😉
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Another option … BURR lynn or BURR lin (the latter sounding like chopping off the g on a verb, such as rollin’ for rolling.
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That’s a hard one – it depends on the person. More closer to the BURR-lynn – thinking about the times I’ve heard it said, there does seem to be a bit more emphasis than just a “trailing” n sound at the end. Then again, linguistics has never been my strong suit! 😀
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Thanks … so I’ve added Berlin to the post.
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What a great approach to an election season post! Brilliant. I appreciate the pronunciation guide. By the way, we have some world class cities around Lexington–Athens, Paris, London, and Versailles. And the pronunciation issues are significant.
Hugs,
Kathy
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Kathy,
And those Kentucky places aren’t very far from you! Meanwhile, I figured many wanted an election break. Thanks for stopping by.
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Much more informative than anything on TV
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Mouse,
I aim to be an accurate informational portal! 😉 Thanks for visiting.
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And John Denver’s song about Toledo ohio…where I spent a week there one day!!! hahaha
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Lisa,
A great song about Toledo … a good funny for me as I was in college about 20 miles away from Toledo when the song came out. Thanks for the reminder.
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My head is full of Ohio!!
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Zannyro,
Believe me … we won’t enjoy the political spotlight, thus the purpose of this post. 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
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Been stranded at Cleveland’s airport for too many hours … and it was one of the most boring airports I ever been on – but I forgive Continental (United now) after seen this little video – I wish they had let me out from the airport to see what Ohio is all about. Thanks for a brilliant post and for taking me to the real Ohio.
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Viveka,
As you well know, life outside the airport is generally more exciting. Like many cities, Cleveland has interesting history and gems for visitors. Glad you were able to get a different perspective from this post. 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
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Your post makes me feel better about Ohio being the firewall for the decision the U.S. will make on Nov. 6.
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Tim,
I know this election has you on pins and needles, as well as living in a battleground state. Meanwhile, hope you found a few tidbits that you didn’t know. Thanks for commenting.
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Fascinating. Love the place names!
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Val,
Cheers … glad you enjoyed this refreshing view away from politics. Thanks for commenting.
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Great stuff Frank
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Ginger,
I hope it gives you some insight from afar. Thanks for visiting.
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I better go visit there. Sure would save a lot of money not having to travel all over the world.
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Hansi,
I can the a best seller in the works … Hansi’s view of the 50 states! Thanks for visiting.
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Now I’m craving buckeyes (and I don’t mean the nuts that fall from the trees). I’ve been to Coolsville, but can’t remember if I’ve ever been to Hicksville. I have to admit that I never thought I would love Ohio as much as I do. I’m not originally from here (born and raised in New Jersey, married and moved to several different states before moving to southern Ohio almost 26 years ago, and then settled in northeastern Ohio for the past 12 years). I was happy to leave southern Ohio, as it’s a whole different state down there in the Appalachia/coal-mining region, and I was unsure about northeastern Ohio until we moved to where we are now. I’d hate to have to leave (although the fracking around here has us thinking about it).
Great video, Frank. They left out “Glee” which takes place in Lima, Ohio. 🙂
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Robin,
Oh yes … I recall you telling me about your SE Ohio roots … and as we know, that corner of the state is definitely different than the rest! Thanks for sharing your insight …. and Wow … I didn’t know Glee is set in Lima! At least I hope they pronounce it correctly. 😉
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Surprisingly enough, they do! 🙂
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I like this post. Makes you realize why most Americans never make it outside their own state – they don’t need to! Isn’t it a pity that you don’t get your passport stamped when you visit a town, a trip to Ohio would make it look very impressive.
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Fasab,
Come to Ohio with your passport and I will arrange a stamp! 🙂 Thanks for the chuckles.
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I enjoyed the video and your thoughts on Ohio very nice tribute. Pictures always help me get a good sense of a place. I did recognise the stadium. :+)
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Starla,
You mentioned the stadiums, (I’m going off of memory) but I recall a slide featuring the Cincinnati Bengals and then showing Ohio State’s football stadium. Now you got me wondering which stadiums are shown. Hmmmm ….. thanks for commenting.
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I thought they showed the horseshoe stadium shoot now you have me wondering. LOL I’m going to have to watch the video again. :+)
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A couple of notes:
The slide saying Columbus is the capital is a shot of a Cincinnati bridge.
The slide about Cleveland traffic lights is preceded by 2 Cincinnati pics and followed by Columbus
Yes – the slide of the Bengals shows Ohio State’s stadium in Columbus
Bengals stadium is the slide after Wright Brothers
FYI: The slide after Oberlin is from the Cincinnati side to Kentucky
I figure a kid did this … it’s nice .. but could use some editing.
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I’ll watch the video again with this new information in mind. Thank You!
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A very amusing post on Ohio. An Ohio native told me that Cleveland is Cincinnati without the glitter.
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Mudge,
An Ohio native told you that? I don’t get it because the two cities are as different as night and day. I’m directly linked to all four corners, thus I’m put my credentials up against the other person. Thanks for visiting and sharing the amusement. 😉
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I secretly believe that he was a native of Covington, KY and was jealous of Cincinnati.
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Ah ha … a good explanation!
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Visiting Ohio is getting stuck in a snow storm for 7 hours on the road on your way to Milwaukee. But Ohio is nice although I always got confused on where potatoes come from, Idaho or Ohio, Ohio is corn.
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Doggy,
No place is fun getting stuck in a snow storm … but it can happen in Ohio … especially across the north where lake-effect snows can bring a lot of white stuff. Although Ohio isn’t as farm oriented as Iowa, its safe to say the countries ag belt starts here and heads west. Thanks for visiting.
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*shakes head* your pronunciations of Rio Grande and Versailles are disgraceful! Then again, I come from a city that proudly features Ponce de Leon (pahnts duh LEE-ahn) Ave.
My parents and grandparents just got back from an Ohio River cruise… made me think of you! They had a blast.
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Twixt,
I grew up near Rye-O, so I’m confident it with that one. But heck, we can find pronunciation differences across the country. Meanwhile, where did your parents and grandparents cruise to and from? The Mississippi Queen? Thanks for sharing … but I want to know more. 😉
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I also didn’t watch the debate. Thanks for the tour of Ohio, and the interesting facts. I could just imagine you waltzing to that music. 🙂
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Paradise,
Being the traveler that you are, I would anticipate you enjoy all the factoids. Meanwhile, I did see a video of people dancing to this tune. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
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You’ve certainly done your research. I’m sure being in the State with the highest number of political ads isn’t a good thing xx
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Spiced,
Well … the research wasn’t too bad, but it was a lot of fun to do! And yes – leading the country in political ads is no fun!!! Thanks for commenting.
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I think Ohio is the battleground state. What I’ve noticed about Ohioans (is that a word?) is that you all are very proud of your state (and respective cities). VERY cool. 🙂
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Spinny,
Glad you appreciated this one as it was fun to do. Meanwhile, here’s some scoop never told to anyone … I am consider this appropriate post for the election season: Ohio – The Musical. 🙂 … possibly coming soon! Thanks for stopping by.
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I enjoyed the video a second time the music was relaxing as well. The last slide on the video read ‘ God Bless Ohio and all it’s people’ I agee with that. :+)
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Well thank you, Starla.
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I really enjoyed the video, and I’d love to visit Ohio. And I am so sorry about all the ads! Seriously…we have almost none! My phone keeps ringing, but about the Propositions, not the Presidential campaign. It will all be over soon…
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Debra,
It seems that with time running out, the amount of ads has increased – well, probably because ads of more local and state races are creeping into the fray. We have a high financed senate battle going on as well. But yes, soon it will be over. With California being the King of Propositions, deals with those issues is quite the hassle in itself. How and the heck do you keep track of them! Meanwhile, glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for stopping by.
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Very impressive list of names. I thoroughly enjoyed trying to pronounce them the Ohio way. I can understand – sort of – a Washington in Ohio, but I wonder why you have a Calcutta in Ohio?
I also enjoyed video. Interesting to see how many things originated in Ohio even women’s rights
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Rosie,
I did a quick search about Calcutta, but did find an answer about the origin of its name. Meanwhile, in my archives are two posts about “firsts” related to Ohio and Ohioans. Here’s the second one, and the link to the first one is within it. Enjoy. https://afrankangle.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/on-more-ohio-firsts/ … and thanks for commenting.
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