Place names 1

[stackdump]

I travelled through a town called Wymondham (in Norfolk, England) today and found out it was pronounced 'Windum'.

There's a place in Hampshire called Beaulieu, this is not pronounced the french way, it's pronounced bew-lee.

I got to wondering what really extreme examples of place names are around that are pronounced totally differently to their actual spelling. Only other one I could think of was Arkansas?

 

[SantaMufasa]

My favourite examples are:

Leicestershire: pronounced "Lester-shure" (in UK)
Worcestershire: pronounced "Wooster-shure" (in UK)
Hurricane: pronounced "Hurricun" (in Utah)
Tremonton: pronounced "Tree-mon-tun" instead of "Trem-un-tun" (in Utah)
Tooele: pronounced "Too-illa" (in Utah)
Buena Vista: pronounce "Byeuna Vista" instead of the Spanish "Bwayna Vista" (in Florida)



Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

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[tsdragon]

I guess there were some English settlers in Maryland, Worcester is pronounced "Wooster".

In Texas the city of Houston is pronounced "Hew-stun". In Warner Robbins, Georgia the main street is Houston St., pronounced "House-tun".


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[trollacious]

In Toledo, Ohio, there's a street named Nevada, but it's pronounced like Nevayda rather than the state in western U.S.

Lee

 

[craigsboyd]

South Dakota's State Capitol, Pierre is pronounced "Peer" (even if you're French).

http://www.sweetpotatosoftware.com

 

[Lightning]

In New South Wales (Australia) there is a town called
Goonoo Goonoo
pronounced (any guesses??)

Gunny Gah-Noo

Lightning

 

[snuv]

Near Nottingham there is Belvoir castle, Belvoir village and the vale of Belvoir, all pronounced "Beaver"

"If it could have gone wrong earlier and it didn't, it ultimately would have been beneficial for it to have." : Murphy's Ultimate Corollary

 

[kalistoh]

There's a place in Central Scotland called Milngavie, it's properly pronounced as "Mulguy"

I also heard an English colleague talk about a place called "Kill Malcolm". He was referring to the town of Kilmacolm (also in Scotland), pronounced "Kilma-colm"



she who destroys the light

 

[KenCunningham]

Kilmacolm's only three or four miles away and I got caught out like that when I first moved here. A common one amongst my English relatives is to pronounce Greenock as Grennock, following the convention from Greenwich, London. It is in fact pronounced Greenock, exactly how it's spelled. I'm sure it's only done to confuse the invaders!!

 

[columb]

But for real confusion you need to go to Wales. On a walking holiday once I asked for directions to Cwm Ddu. I know that the first part is pronounced 'coom' but it took some time before the person I was asking realised that my 'coom do' was his 'coom the'

And as for Eire......

Columb Healy

 

[stackdump]

I think Goonoo Goonoo (Gunny Gah-Noo) sounds like the name that would cause maximum confusion. I can just imagine asking for directions to that place!

But Wales is certainly a real challenge due to the totally different pronunciation, then again Welsh is a different language so the English pronunication is almost certainly going to be wrong.

This same problem applies to peoples names too, for Brits Captain Mainwaring (pronounced mannering) is a good example. There's also the surname Charmondley (which is pronounced Chumley!).

It's not quite the same thing as English words being pronounced in a diverse way, but my personal favourite in terms of names with wierd pronunciation is a polish friend who's surname is 'gryzb', any guesses?

[white]He pronounces it as chip![/white]

 

[Sheco]

There is a suburb of Austin, Tx with the name Manchaca

The locals pronouce it: Man Shack

 

[AnotherHiggins]

I've mentioned these in another thread once upon a time, but here they are again:

In North Carolina there is a town named Wendell. Dang! That page is under construction. Ok, the following is taken from

http://www.wendellchamber.com

- the entire site is flash, so I can't point you directly to this story:

Wendell: Just make sure you say it right.

The first thing you need to learn about Wendell is how to pronounce the name. Despite the fact that the town was named for the American writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, the town has long been known as "win - DELL".

Another local favorite is Kerr Lake. It is pronounced like "car", as in automobile. The same is true of Kerr Drugs (a local-ish chain of drug stores).


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[Zathras]

Foat Wuth, Texas

 

[SilentAiche]

Another from Carolina: I suppose it's not that big a stretch, but we have Kure Beach that is pronounced like Currie.

Something seems wrong with that, but I don't what the cure is.

Tim

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[AnotherHiggins]

Oh, yeah, NC coastal places!

Bodie island - pronounced Body not boe-dee.
Corolla - pronounced kuh-rahl-luh not kuh-ro-luh
Rodanthe - pronounced ro-dan-thee not ro-danth



[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue]
[/tt][red]"If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit."[/red]
-Mitch Hedberg

Help us help you. Please read FAQ181-2886 before posting.

 

[GwydionM]

Edinburgh - e-DIN-bruh
Peterborough - PI-ta-brou
Hillsborough - HILLS-bor-ou
London - Lun-dun
Thames - Taims


------------------------------
An old man who lives in the UK

 

[67peshawar294]

In Oregon, a river and county named Willamette.
Easterners call it Will a met
Oregonians pronounce it Will lamb it (non US, the b is silent)
jim

 

[vidru]

Here in FL, I live in Alachua county (uh-LA-chew-uh). In the nothern part of the county lies the city of Alachua, but they pronounce it uh-LA-chew-AY. I've no idea why...

-dave

 

[SilentAiche]

Here in the states, we have a State of Confusion, pronounced "Democratic National Commitee" (hey, after a record 18 [blue]on topic[/blue] posts, someone had to do it!

Tim

[blue]_____________________________________________________
If you need immediate assistance, please raise your hand.
If you are outside of Raleigh, raise your hand and say[/blue] [red]Ooh! Ooh![/red]