‘Baseline’ or ‘bass-eline?’ Debate over Phoenix street name goes viral

PHOENIX — Sometimes explaining the proper pronunciation of streets or other locations in Phoenix can be tricky, especially if the person is not from the Southwest.

Words that contain a double-l (think “cholla” or “calle”) get that lovely soft “y” sound, while saguaro is actually pronounced with an “h” sound instead of the hard “g.”

But Baseline Road was never one we thought people would have a disagreement over.

In a viral video that was posted to Twitter earlier this week, a man named Cole asked a woman, Morgan, how to pronounce the name of the street that crosses through the entire Valley.

Her response? “Bass-e-line,” like Vaseline. She even goes on to clarify that she meant “‘bass-e-line’ with a ‘b.'”

BASELINE pic.twitter.com/kD1cTWPLr6

— Cole (@ColeWorld239) July 11, 2017

While we don’t agree with Morgan in the slightest (come on, we all know it’s “base-line”), the internet was eating the video up. It had received more than 2,500 retweets and 5,000 likes by Thursday afternoon.

Some of the reactions on Twitter were also really funny.

pic.twitter.com/4IVCtpdehj

— Wolf De la Cruz (@YahItsMeh) July 11, 2017

pic.twitter.com/NEOLDU3XnH

— Israel (@DurnanAndres) July 12, 2017

pic.twitter.com/kbFcr0t8Tc

— July 29th (@J_Ballah24) July 12, 2017

If you need further proof that you’ve probably pronounced Baseline Road correctly, consider this: It earned its name because it is the baseline for Arizona under the Public Land Survey System.

Here’s a couple more baseline facts about Baseline Road: The longest continuous stretch is 43 miles long and it runs through two counties — Maricopa and Pinal.

And it’s still pronounced “Base-line.”