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This is the Conversation Forum for Talking Point: One Minute Rants GM Food >> Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 19, 2003 by Scumbag   Posting 1 Gloucester? Leicester? Worcester? Reading? Southwark? And the all-time worst ... Loughborough! How can it have the same letters being pronounced two different ways in THE SAME NAME? Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 19, 2003 by 2 of 3 This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 2 the worse has got to be 'Happisburgh'. Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 19, 2003 by Mojo's big stick This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 3 Well that's not just English place names, that's the whole English language! Keeps Johnny Foreigner on his toes, what? Seriously, as someone living in Reading I sort of agree. It's a right pain trying to find local information on the internet. Try typing "Reading" int a search engine. I think Loughborough has it easy. By the way I personaly heard an American student ask about "Loogerberoooger"; sadly it's not an urban myth. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 21, 2003 by Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry! This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 4 And of course there's the old classic "Featherstonehaugh", which is pronounced "Fanshaw". Some place in North Yorkshire, apparently..... Besides, annoying tourists is fun ;o) Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 21, 2003 by KerrAvon - Regret is a part of life. But keep it a small part. This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 5 Featherstonehaugh is also a surname. Most of our place names are weird in some way- even a simple looking one like 'Derby' isn't pronounced the way it's spelt, if you think about it. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 21, 2003 by DMK This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 6 slough means 'dirty patch of water in the corner of a field' sums the place up really Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 21, 2003 by Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry! This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 7 Yes... One of my colleagues, an American, asked if I knew the way to "war-wick?" (with the 'r' pronounced quite heavily). I had to explain we pronounce it "warrick". English is one of the most difficult languages to master; up there with Finnish, apparently. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 21, 2003 by DMK This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 8 ...and Czech which has sounds that no other language comes close to, but are really easy to say after spending a night in a Prague bar supping the local firewater. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 21, 2003 by Cam This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 9 I'm an Englishman in Canada and have been here since highschool. I took Shakespear in Uni with students, teaching assistants and a prof who had no idea how to pronouce English placenames. I gave up correcting people when it becase obvious they were happy in thier ways. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 21, 2003 by roparom This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 10 do you remeber that classic character in "Harry Enfield and Chums"?the classic english gentleman Cholmondley-Warner - pronounced chumly-warner...thats one of the more simple ones. names are no way as bad as place names though. i have friends in america and i live in the UK (scotland). have you got any idea how hard it is to convince americans that the pronounciation of burgh in scotland is different to borough (which is also a totally stupid spelling anyway!) i tell you, the madness of people these days Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 21, 2003 by Maz - Has booked her flight to UK This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 11 Near Melbourne we have two towns - Ballan and Wallan. Ballan is pronounced with emphasis on both A's. Wallan is pronounced 'Wollen'!! Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 22, 2003 by Advocatus Diaboli This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 12 In Northumberland there's a village called Ulgham: "uffam" for no adequately explained reason. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 22, 2003 by Mojo's big stick This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 13 A quick question? Given there are many American towns and cities that carry English names (Boston, Washington, Birmingham etc), do Americans pronounce them the same as we do? Or has the pronunciation changed over time? Mojo (delighting in Kirkcudbright - Kir-coo-bree!) Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 22, 2003 by Extra Bold This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 14 Guesses please for the pronunciations of the following Sheffield-area place names: Beaucheif Owlerton Penistone Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 22, 2003 by Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry! This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 15 As a native of that area I'm not going to help with the guesses (tee hee), but I know Elsecar tends to confuse people! (ell-si-ker for those who don't know!) Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 22, 2003 by Advocatus Diaboli This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 16 Beecher?? Ollerton? Pen-ston? Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 22, 2003 by Maz - Has booked her flight to UK This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 17 Beechif? Oleton? Penstin? Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 22, 2003 by Skankycode [bound for bed without dessert] This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 18 One of my favourites is Trottiscliffe in Kent. This is pronounced "Trosley". "Milngavie" also confuses the uninitiated, it should be said "Mull-guy" with the emphases on the last syllable. In the United States there's a town called Cairo but they pronounce it "Kay-ro". And also an Athens pronounced "Ay-thens". Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 22, 2003 by PQ - possibly back This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 19 How bout Beauliea Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Spelling of English Placenames Posted Jul 22, 2003 by KerrAvon - Regret is a part of life. But keep it a small part. This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 20 Bow-lee? 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