Pronounce This

There is a lake in the town of Webster, Massachusetts. It is located near the Connecticut border, is 3-miles long, 1-mile wide, and has a surface area of 1,442 acres.

Although commonly called Webster Lake, the name recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior is Lake Chaubunagungamaug. The Algonquian-speaking peoples who are the first known residents of the area had several different names for the lake - such as "Chabanaguncamogue" and "Chaubanagogum" - as recorded on old maps and historical records. However, all of these were similar in part and had almost the same translation: "fishing place at the boundary".

But there is another name, meaning approximately "Englishmen at Manchaug at the fishing place at the boundary". This delightful moniker was applied in the 19th century when White people built factories in the area.

The most common spelling of this is Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. Spelled with 45 letters, it is the longest place name in the United States and 6th longest in the world.

An even longer, 49-letter version of the name, "Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" has been used, but is basicaly just showing off. Also, the tongue-in-cheek translation "You Fish on Your Side, I Fish on My Side, Nobody Fish in the Middle" is totally spurious - coming as it does from a humorous article Larry Daly, editor of The Webster Times, wrote around 1916. Equally farcical is the tale of the half-drowned Indian.

So, give a try pronouncing Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg and then enjoy a clip of these locals trying it.

Richard D. Cazeault, president of the nonprofit Webster Lake Association, is first, and I would swear he gets it wrong, but that may just be the wind in the mic.

And if you think it is hard to pronounce, you should try to spell it.

But DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK unless you want the Lake Song stuck in your head.