Pronunciation and Woo-town Lingo

Here at Wooster, we like to pronounce things differently than they look like they should be. This is the post that will give you insight into pronunciation, as well as terms referencing certain places on campus.

Format is as follows:

What it is (how we say it)

WOOSTER (Wuster)

This is important! It is WUSTER NOT WOOSTER!!! It does NOT rhyme with rooster! It's like "wood", but with a "ster" instead of a "d".

Now that we have that cleared up...

Beall Ave. (it's bell, but spelled funny)

Beall Ave. is the main vain that runs through campus. The reason why it sounds funny, is because it's actually the name of a revolutionary war general, as is Wooster! A lot of the street names in Wooster are either after war veterans from the revolution era, or people who founded and developed the town. Beall Ave. underwent a major face lift (completed a little over a year ago) and now looks quite nice with it's crossing lights and vintage lamp posts.

Bever (like Beaver, but spelled funny)

Many joke that someone took the "a" out of Beaver and put it in Bell. But really, it's just the name of a dude who was involved in the founding of Wooster, as well as plotting the land.

Just pretend it looks like a bever beaver.

Bornhuetter Hall (sounds like Born heater)

As a German major, this one is frustrating to me. The name (like many others on campus) is German. The "ue" really is an "ü". This sound is pretty hard for someone who doesn't speak the language to get, so the Americanized spelling is the one you see above. Heater isn't exactly how it's supposed to sound, but it's how we say it anyway.

MacLeod's (sounds like McClouds)

If McDonald's made clouds, this is what they would call it. However, were not talking about clouds, but a coffee shop! Yes, the convenience store in Lowry has a funny name. Why this name, you ask? Well the tartan that makes up our school colors (and the tartan that the band wears) is actually the MacLeod of Lewis tartan.

That is a true MacLeod  tartan.

This lovely little place was "The C-Store" (original, right?) for the first two semesters or so of it's existence, so if you hear upperclassmen call it the C-Store, you'll know why. So when you need your crack espresso in the morning, head over to the C- Store MacLeod's with full knowledge of where the name comes from (AND how to say it).

Armington Physical Education Center (P-E-C)

Not pec, but p-e-c. This is where most things that involve exercise happen, including many Intramural Sports!

Lowry Student Center (Lowry for short)

This isn't that hard, but when referring to Lowry while telling someone to meet you there, be sure to tell people WHERE in Lowry. Many times if you just say "Lowry", they mean the dining hall part. If you want to meet someone anywhere else, let them know, i.e. Wired Scot, Mom's, the pit, etc. This saves a lot of confusion.

North End

North end refers to the area North of campus that is the shopping hub of Wooster. Here is where you'll find most commercial stores and restaurants in Wooster. 

Some stores include: Walmart, Bath Kohl's, MC Sports, Staples, The Party Store (I can't remember exactly what it's called, but it's there, promise), Red Lobster, Buehler's (grocery store), Rue 21, Lowe's, CiCi's pizza, Applebee's, Sears Optical, AT&T store, Subway, McDonald's, Panera, a movie theater, Payless, Starbucks, Sears Optical, El Campeseno (a popular Mexican restaurant), and a gaggle of other department stores and things. Chances are if you can't find it at drug mart, which is doubtful, you can find it somewhere in the North End.  

If you don't have a car, you have a few options. 1) Find a friend with a car. Chances are they need to buy something at Walmart too. 2) Call 5 star transport. They're a local taxi service here in Wooster that's used to dealing with students, and I think their rates are pretty decent. 3) Walk or ride a bike. It's about 3 miles, so if you take a friend with you and make an adventure out of it the 50 minute (3ish mile) walk may not be so bad. 4) Hertz zip cars are parked by the wellness center and security. You have to sign up and it's $35 or so, and $8 an hour when you use the car. I think it's a rip off, but that's my own opinion. Option 1 is the easiest in my experience. Also, they occasionally have shuttles that run from Lowry so be on the lookout for those. 5) The Hospitality Shuttle. It's currently the easiest way to get around Wooster. For a couple bucks you can get just about anywhere you would need to go. It's a relatively new service, but I'm sure they will have the shuttle running at the start of the year. There should be information available at the start of the year.

The Quad

The quad is the large field that lies in front of Douglass and Ebert, with Knarden Lodge (K-Nard or K-lodge) on the West end. It's a huge green field, kinda hard to miss. Sometimes people will talk about the mini quad, which is the grassy area between Andrews, Armington, and Stevenson. 

*map not to scale

Scheide Music Center (sounds like shy-duh)
Thanks to Katherine for reminding me of this one! It's practically my second home and I almost forgot about it! Two things to remember 1) The first vowel does the walking, the second does the talking and 2) You DO pronounce the "e" at the end.

If I think of more, I'll be sure to put them on here :)