People from Illinois pronounce it, ill eh NOY or ill uh NOY (even though proper french would be ill EE nwah) and get pissed when people from Wiscaaaahnseeehn pronounce it ILL uh noise. It is clear they are aware of this.
But people from Missouri (especially southern) may pronounce their state as misery. Having known someone who moved away from there, I'm assured this is perfectly accurate. Biases may have been involved, but 'state of misery' jokes basically write themselves.
Apologies both to the fine people of North Carolina and the good people of Charleston. You do not all look the same and I did not mean to imply that Charleston has anything to do with North Carolina.
(I'm from the midwest, we take our cross-border rivalries far more seriously than should be legal, but nobody outside the midwest can tell you the difference between Iowa/Illinois/Indiana/Missouri and have no qualms about saying it to your face. The struggle is real)
But people from Missouri (especially southern) may pronounce their state as misery. Having known someone who moved away from there, I'm assured this is perfectly accurate. Biases may have been involved, but 'state of misery' jokes basically write themselves.