Quote Originally Posted by joecity View Post
Russians say 'Moskva' and that's marvelous. 'Moscow' is the next best way to say it. Maybe even the best for me because I'm not Russian and it doesn't sound like I'm taking the piss when I say it. 'Mascaaaw' is clearly not an acceptable substitute. I refute any suggestion otherwise and consider it to be mildly irritating.
You are obviously aware as to how the two ways of pronouncing it came about (via Polish and possibly a Finnic language before that) and the transliteration of those spellings into other European languages, some of which agree with the American pronunciation.