"End" is just so...negative.
Do not make the mistake of calling the East End the East Side; I’ve
been living in Portland for a little over a week, and locals have
already corrected me several times, with sets of raised eyebrows, for
misidentifying where I live. “Don’t ya mean the East End?”
It seems logical enough that the eastern side of town at
least could be called the East Side, but oh, no. One thing I’ve
noticed in my time here is that Mainers—and Portlanders in
particular—are fiercely proud of their linguistic heritage.
–Collin “Biermeister” York
This is just so, so true. We should start a list of “Things We ‘From Away’ Peoples Mispronounce, Confuse, and Just Say Wrong.” To get you started: Damariscotta (Duh-mahr-is-cotta), Katahdin (Kah-tah-deen), and Baldacci (Ball-doo-chee).