There’s a chance Americans have been mispronouncing a special holiday all along.

The Thanksgiving holiday in America is a time for food, family, and friends. But also, a time for travel. Over 50% of Americans will travel for Turkey Day, bringing their regional diction along with them in their carry-on. You’ve probably heard of the American ‘pecan’ pronunciation debate, but did you know that there is more than one way to pronounce Thanksgiving?

According to language experts at online learning marketplace Preply, who analyzed how each U.S. state pronounces ‘Thanksgiving,’ there are two main pronunciations: THANKS-giving and Thanks-GIVing, with a third pronunciation that is a testament to the way language evolves over time and space.

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When it comes to the word ‘Thanksgiving,’ a Harvard study revealed that 16% of states emphasize the “thanks” while 74% of states place emphasis on “giv.”

Dr. Melissa Baese Berk, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Chicago told Preply: While there is no one correct way to say Thanksgiving, there are regional differences (THANKSgiving vs. thanksGIVing) which are consistent with other regional differences in pronunciation for other words. Many Americans have first-syllable stress for Thanksgiving and common knowledge is that the southerners say THANKSgiving while northerners say thanksGIVing.

Chances are, if you are from the American South, you’re part of the 16% emphasizing “thanks,” with the exception of Louisiana and Florida.

After a further look into the linguistics of the word, experts at Preply found that there was a third pronunciation that is often overlooked: THANGS-giv-ing. In a survey of 1,000 Americans, Preply found that about 48% of those who placed emphasis on “thanks” pronounced it this third way.

Dr. Berk also added that “the pronunciation of ‘THANGSgiving’ is also consistent with other trends in language production. We often “reduce” the pronunciation of words when we are speaking casually, and sometimes these pronunciations end up becoming the default pronunciation through language change.”

At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong way to pronounce Thanksgiving, though some people may look at you funny if you say THANKSgiving and not ThanksGIVing, depending on which state you live in.

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