Win-koop or Whine-koop?
When I first moved here, I made reference to the street in Lodo right after Wazee and pronounced it “Win-koop.” I was immediately warned that such pronunciation would instantly label me an outsider. Wanting to fit right in and not draw attention to myself, I quickly adopted the “Whine-koop” pronunciation. Well, the other night I ate at the Wynkoop Brewery and the waiter walked up and said, “Welcome to the Win-Koop.” Today I heard a co-worker and longtime Denverite say “Win-koop.”
Is there a right answer?
I vote for the “whine” pronunciation. Otherwise the wine store Wines Off Wynkoop doesn’t have a very clever name.
I’ve always thought it was win-koop
hmm… not sure. I grew up in Colorado and we always said "win", the newscasters said "win", but I don’t have that on good authority. These kind of thinks are funny, though. In Atlanta, there’s "DeKalb", which you say "Duh-CAB" and to say it otherwise will get you branded. Then, in Portland, there’s "Couch", which everyone says "Cooch" and uses as the test of friend or foreigner — the irony there being that it is *supposed* to be and was historically said "cowch" but changed sometime.
According to the February 9, 1994 issue of Westword, it’s "WINE-coop":
http://www.westword.com/1994-02-09/dining/mouthing-off/
What’s in a name: A recent visit to the Wynkoop Brewing Company (where they’ve introduced a great Sunday brunch buffet) answered a question I’ve been puzzling over for months: Why does half of Colorado pronounce the name "wine-koop" and the other half "win-koop"–and which is right? According to the waiter’s explanation to the next table–which had a bet riding on it–the brewpub is named after General Edward W. Wynkoop, who pronounced it "wine," as do most male Wynkoop customers.