Colorado Town Names Out-of-Towners Can Never Pronounce

Colorado is a great place, but it's also home to some of the most mispronounced town names of any state that I've ever been to. Whenever we get an out-of-state visitor, there's always one moment in the conversation, at least, wherein you have to correct your guest's verbiage. For instance, how many times have you heard people refer to Fruita as some variation on, "froo-ee-taa?"

It's constant, and it's quite annoying. Short of screaming at the offender, banning them from the state to never speak of the incident again, there's very little to do but to smile and correct them as politely as you possibly can. Personally, I still like my first idea better, but I'm a misanthrope and not to be trusted with those kinds of decisions.

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As a public service, you can consider this list your next polite correction of an ill-informed visitor. We've collected some of our favorite mispronunciations in the gallery below, and yes, you read that correctly: we've had out-of-towners mispronounce Rifle in our presence. Not as egregious as referring to Silt as, "Salt," but still a bad look when you're a guest in someone else's house.

If we've missed any of your favorites, let us know on our socials and the app. We'd also love to hear from anybody listening outside of Colorado. Do you know some towns in your state that visitors can't pronounce? Let us know some of your favorites. You may just educate a potential tourist from Centennial State, and save yourself the aggravation of having to correct them in the future.