How do you pronounce Guisachan?
That’s a question one couple posed to a Kelowna subreddit in hopes of ending a long standing debate.
Kelowna has Guisachan Road and Guisachan Place, and the well-known Guisachan House, a heritage home in South Pandosy. The house was built by Lord Aberdeen and named by his wife. Guisachan is Gaelic meaning ‘place of the fir’.
This question sparked dozens of comments in the subreddit, with many suggesting varied pronunciations such as “Gucci gang” and “goo-sha-gin” while others made fun of the various ways they’ve heard it said.
One user wrote, “My GPS pronounces it guy-sa-khan which is not even close to right.”
While another stated, “My friend said gwee-sah-chan one time as a joke and now I can’t stop pronouncing it like that.”
“My wife and I just call it Gustavo,” commented a clever couple.
Other commenters took the question a little more seriously.
“Gui is pronounced ‘goo’. The ‘s’ is pronounced ‘sh’. And the ch is pronounced like ‘g’. But ‘g’ like ‘gap’ not ‘g’ like ‘giraffe’.”
“Guisachan is the Gaelic word for pine forest. Yoush- a Gan,” was the most factual response by one user.
The debate rages on both on the internet, in the car and at home, it appears.
Let us know how you pronounce Kelowna’s historic area of Guisachan which dates back to the 1800s.
Write to us at newstips@kelownacapnews.com.
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