How You Say Thanksgiving Depends on Where You Live

By Melissa Moore on November 13, 2023

SONOMA, CA – NOVEMBER 24: With less than one week before Thanksgiving, turkeys walk around a barn at the Willie Bird Turkey Farm November 24, 2008 in Sonoma, California. An estimated forty-five million turkeys are cooked and eaten during annual Thanksgiving meals in the United States. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

How do you say Thanksgiving?

Do you put the emphasis on the word ‘Thanks’ or on the word ‘Give’?

According to a new study by Harvard, how you say Thanksgiving all depends on what part of the country you live in.

For Southerners:

The emphasis is on the world ‘Thanks’ – meaning you say it like ‘THANKSgiving’

For people from the Northern states:

The emphasis is on the word ‘give’ – meaning you say it like “ThanksGIVing’

So what about us here in Colorado?

According to the study, Colorado puts the emphasis on the ‘GIV’ in Thanksgiving. 

In fact, most states fall into this category and around 65% of people put the emphasis like ‘ThanksGIVing’, while only 26% of people say it like ‘THANKSgiving.

Feel like you go back and forth- well you’re with 8% of people who do this.

Happy ThanksGIVing!

Melissa