Weird pronunciations
 

I know we've talked about this before, but I couldn't find the thread!

So -anyway - some names, of people and of places, defy the uninitiated with their weird and wonderful pronunciations. So, I found this list of British place names and thought I'd throw it out to youse guys.

Many ofthese I did not know how to pronounce properly. Some of them have a distinct local pronunciation that differs from the national pronunciation. Some of them you'd hae to either live nearby or have heard them on the news to have the first clue :P

So, how would you pronounce these place names?

Auchinleck
Barnoldswick
Berkeley
Bicester
Birmingham
Cambois (people outside Northumberland actually refuse to believe that it isn't pronounced "camb-bwah")
Cholmondeley
Cirencester (in fact, any name ending in -cester.)
Cogenhoe
Culross
Edinburgh
Harwarden
Kilconquhar
Leicester
Loughborough
Shrewsbury
Stiffkey
Slaithwaite
Towcester
Warwick
Woolfardisworthy
Worcester (or even better, Worcestershire)
Wymondham


From http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fun:British_English

Can we have some odd place names from over the pond too?

There's a major street here (and a lesser-known municipality outside the city) spelled Manchaca, pronounced "Man-shack."

Nearby is Bexar "bear" County.

I like that. It makes sense, you can see how it evolved.

That one too, you can see how it has become shortened and the syllables run into each other.

I think my favourite from the above list is a great example of that effect: Cholmondeley - pronounced chumley

Woolfardisworthy for me every time! Also, same part of the world, Beaminster (maybe I made it up but I think it's pronounced Bumster!)

Schuylkill : sku-kill

Hahahahah love it.

This one is a surname and, frankly, is taking the piss just a little:

Fetherstonhaugh

Anyone care to throw out a guess as to how that one is pronounced?

A not so near by community here in KY has the name Chalybeate. It's pronounced kuh-LEE-bee-uht.

There's also Moutardier...I've never heard it pronounced, but, for fun, I pronounce it Mutter Dear (Mother Dear).

Going the other way, there's Gamaliel, pronounced locally as guh-MAIL-ya.

feather-stone-oh?

I was always perplexed why Mackinac Island is pronounced Mackinac IS-land. Just kidding. It's pronounced Mack-in-aw. How do you get 'aw' from 'ac'?

Yeah, you'd think, wouldn't you?

It's actually 'fanshaw'.

No - I have no idea how that one arose.


And incidentally, te one Limey mentioned - Woolfardisworthy - is pronounced woolsree

Here's another odd surname:

Marjoribanks

anytakers? :P

omg...based on the previous two I'd say: muffler? ;)

"Munks?"

hehehehe excellent guesses both :)

Marshbanks

From just round here
Delhi, Saline, Milan and Lyon. None of them pronounced the same as their more commonly known namesakes. '
From the UK: Tintwistle and Alwick are your starters for 10 from Northumberland.