I presume this must be an exception to "pronounce it like the locals", since what I hear is something like 'Norlin'. Or is this just the movies?
Is it a mistake to attempt to pronounce it like a local?
Learn English – How to pronounce New Orleans
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Best Answer
The “local” pronunciation does indeed often have some sounds which are elided, but you don’t have to imitate that part of the local way of saying it. The key is to stress the Or in Orleans and not the leans. The preferred local pronunciation is something like “new OR-linz” or “new OR-lee-uhnz” and the dispreferred pronunciation is something like “new or-LEENZ”.
All the dictionaries I looked in, though, list all the pronunciations I have given here without any usage notes.