Pronouncing place names (and how to eat food politely)


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The other night I was watching Notts TV and they mentioned Wollaton. They pronounced it WOL AT ON not WOOL at on. I might be petty but it really peed me off that they hadn't said it correctly. But then my wife put a spanner in the works by saying maybe that is the way to say it but we (Radford gutter snipes) say it incorrectly. She's Barmy of course but why do we say it the way we do. Other locations in my present area have similar ways of pronouncing their names. Averham near Newark (Air ham) and Hallam (Hailam). Southwell often spoken as both South well and Suthell. I always use the South well variant as I live near but previously always said Suthell as that's the way my dad told me it was pronounced.

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I can honestly assure you RR.that don't hang listening at bog doors. I have more important things to do, like knitting spaghetti or filling ravioli parcels. ( Got tired of counting mushy peas in a pot

5hit hole for Derby

How typical of Nottstalgia, but lovely ....... we moved effortlessly from pronouncing place names to eating spaghetti.   Situation calm on the site! 

I agree entirely. I deplore incorrect pronunciation especially by local reporters. Another couple that springs to mind are Rainworth, a lot of folk pronounce it as Renn oth. Then there is Blidworth which some pronounce as Blidd eth. Confusing to say the least.

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Southwell is Southwell, my sister will kill you if you say it otherwise, which every BBC racing blokey pronounces suthall (and you have Southall in London) and Colwick (COLLICK) which is often pronounced COL WICK. I would say 'Renn oth' and 'Blidd eth' are correct pronunciations. There's a place I have to deal with in Norfolk called Costessey and the locals call it 'kossy'.

Gudinit!

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Thank Goodness we don't live in villages I've seen on my travels.

Twatt in Scotland, Booze and Crack Pot in North Yorkshire.

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Try Happisburgh in Norfolk and Barnoldswick in Pendle. I reckon the locals just make it up to confuse the visitors. And in Northumberland, they call Bellingham, and all of the other places ending in 'ingham', as 'Bellinjam'. Nottingjam, anyone?

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Rawtenstall in Lancashire is another oddity pronounced Rotten Stall.

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Where I live seems to flummox some people. Basford is pronounced Base Ford, not Bass Ford.

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ValuerJim #5

In the early seventies I was sent from Derby to Barnoldswick to do some metrology on some components. On my first visit I phoned the guy in the engineering department who I was supposed to meet and he said he would meet me at the main gate at "Barlick". After getting to the general area and asking for directions it took me quite a while to cotton on to the fact that "Barlick" was the local pronunciation of Barnoldswick.

Fly2 #2

Renn-uth and Blid-uth

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People say "Middlesborough" but it's "Middlesbru"

There's some tongue twisters this side of the pond, probably due to places taking Native American names...And down under even worse!! Try Bulli for starters..

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Isn't Beaver Castle spelled Belvoir Castle??? Norman in origin, so correctly Belvoir.??

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...or Amwythig pronounced Shrewsbury ! Also Llandrindod is usually referred to locally as Landod (no Welsh pronunciation of the initial "Ll").

Foreign translations of well-known place names are a bit of a nightmare. I remember waiting at Rimini for a train to Munich. We were expecting the German version, but then the indicator flashed up "Monaco di Baviera" - which rather threw us.

Lincolnshire also has a few oddities. Locals pronounce Threekingham (which used to have a pub called the "Three Kings") as Threckingham. Aslackby is Azleby (long A), and Kirkby la Thorpe = Kirby Laythorp (with the stress on the Lay). Not to mention Leicestershire's Sproxton = Spro'son.

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Yes Stephen many city names change in the translation. Nice becomes Nizza. Surnames its guess who, Hughes becomes juugs.

Some letters are missing from the italian alphabet and when theres an english letter they dont know how to pronounce it.

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Hard to describe how you say the Welsh Ll... as in Llan.... But visualize "Clan" Now the Ll is said with the tongue in the roof of your mouth and say cccclan, that's the best I can describe as, it flows off the tongue easily with practice...Can't for the life of me taught me how to say it, must have been a Welshman though.

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