Palisades Sierra Nevada Storm
The Sierra Nevada, or "snowy range", is living up to its name as seen from the White Mountains in September 2014.
If you visit the area, there's a regional thought about the translation of Sierra Nevada, as "snowy range" means that to call them the "Sierras" is calling the range the "ranges", but it's only one range, so it's "the Sierra". Similarly, saying the "Sierra Nevada mountains" is equivalent to referring to "the snowy range mountains". While technically it's probably fine to say it in the context of the range's proper name Sierra Nevada (like "Snowy Range mountains"), it still seems a bit awkward to have the meaning effectively make the reference be a redundant plural "range mountains".
Of course English is a difficult language and it's even harder when you use proper names derived in another language it gets even more difficult. But if you walk around saying "The Sierras", a fair number of people will notice,even if they're too polite to observe out loud that it sounds like you just called one range multiple ranges. This is not to correct anyone, I'm not the grammar police, nor is the reasoning on these points necessarily 100% correct (as I observed with the potential conflict between proper name vs. its meaning), rather I present it to inform, so you can do whatever you like, but at least be informed enough to make the choice.
There are other regional practices that can instantly enable someone to identify themselves as "not from around here". Mono is locally pronounced "Mo-no", never Moh-no". Did you ever see the TV show Bewitched? One of the characters was Sabrina, pronounced "Sabreena". But don't say "Sabreena Lake", it's named Lake Sabrina, and locally pronounced Lake "Sa-breye-na". The foothills above Bishop are not "the Buttermilks", they're literally named "Buttermilk Country". In all likelihood, no one will confront you with any of these, but you may well overhear a discussion among locals nearby on the proper name. These are simply a few of the examples that I've witnessed. Are there more that I've missed?
Whatever you choose to call the places around here, they're pretty spectacular to experience!
Palisades Sierra Nevada Storm
The Sierra Nevada, or "snowy range", is living up to its name as seen from the White Mountains in September 2014.
If you visit the area, there's a regional thought about the translation of Sierra Nevada, as "snowy range" means that to call them the "Sierras" is calling the range the "ranges", but it's only one range, so it's "the Sierra". Similarly, saying the "Sierra Nevada mountains" is equivalent to referring to "the snowy range mountains". While technically it's probably fine to say it in the context of the range's proper name Sierra Nevada (like "Snowy Range mountains"), it still seems a bit awkward to have the meaning effectively make the reference be a redundant plural "range mountains".
Of course English is a difficult language and it's even harder when you use proper names derived in another language it gets even more difficult. But if you walk around saying "The Sierras", a fair number of people will notice,even if they're too polite to observe out loud that it sounds like you just called one range multiple ranges. This is not to correct anyone, I'm not the grammar police, nor is the reasoning on these points necessarily 100% correct (as I observed with the potential conflict between proper name vs. its meaning), rather I present it to inform, so you can do whatever you like, but at least be informed enough to make the choice.
There are other regional practices that can instantly enable someone to identify themselves as "not from around here". Mono is locally pronounced "Mo-no", never Moh-no". Did you ever see the TV show Bewitched? One of the characters was Sabrina, pronounced "Sabreena". But don't say "Sabreena Lake", it's named Lake Sabrina, and locally pronounced Lake "Sa-breye-na". The foothills above Bishop are not "the Buttermilks", they're literally named "Buttermilk Country". In all likelihood, no one will confront you with any of these, but you may well overhear a discussion among locals nearby on the proper name. These are simply a few of the examples that I've witnessed. Are there more that I've missed?
Whatever you choose to call the places around here, they're pretty spectacular to experience!