Maine Town Among ‘Most Difficult to Pronounce’ in America

There are several towns in our Pine Tree State that folks ‘from away’ would struggle to pronounce, but this one is apparently the most difficult!

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Listen, this is one of the few things that we, as Mainers, have. We love pointing at random town names or bodies of water on the map and forcing folks who aren’t from Maine to try and pronounce them. Emphasis on ‘try’ because 9 times out of 10, they’re going to get it wrong.

On that note, why does Maine have such uniquely named places?

For example, why does Maine have so many towns named after foreign countries? According to an article from Maine Public, Maine has many towns named after foreign countries due to the influence of the 18th and 19th-century revolutions. Settlers in Maine felt a strong connection to the global movements for independence and named towns in solidarity with these causes.

Additionally, many of the names in Maine draw influence from the Native American people who have inhabited the land we now call Maine for 12,000 years, according to the National Park Service.

So, how does one determine that one town is more ‘difficult to pronounce’ than any other?

Reader's Digest created their list of 'The Most Difficult-to-Pronounce Town in Every Single State' by focusing on town and city names across the U.S. that often trip people up. The methodology involves identifying names that aren't derived from English and are commonly mispronounced by non-locals, or folks ‘from away’ here in Maine.

Aiming to help folks avoid pronunciation mistakes, Reader’s Digest offers a handy guide to saying these tricky town names correctly.

So, what town in Maine is among the ‘most difficult to pronounce’ in America?

The pick from Reader’s Digest for Maine’s most difficult town to pronounce is Seboeis Plantation, Maine. They had the following to say about their pick:

There are only 35 people living in Seboies, Maine, so it’s no wonder that not a lot of people know that it’s pronounced Seh-BOW-iss.

Did Reader’s Digest even get the pronunciation correct? What are your thoughts on Seboeis being one of the most difficult town names to pronounce in the country?