Trivia: Place names that you're not sure how to pronounce

[mirodo]

I'm pretty sure that Micheal Portillo pronounces Alnmouth as Alanmouth in his TV series.

Aln or Alan? I've heard both used.

The error most people make is pronouncing the -mouth as -muth (as in Portsmouth), where it should be pronounced -mowth, like the hole in the front of your face.

 

[Strathclyder]

Give us a clue then!

I'd guess at something along the lines of "Shattell-erro"...

It's French in origin, so I'm really outta my depth here lol I've always copied the way the P.I.S systems in the Class 318s/320s (not sure on the 334s, tho. Might be the same) pronounce it, so it sounds to my totally untrained ear like 'Chat-alhe-rau'. I dunno for sure, but it sure sticks out between Merryton & Hamilton Central!

 

[tspaul26]

(c) Ely; Cambridge; Manea
(d) Althorpe

 

[tspaul26]

Exactly!

SELNEC all the way!

 

[tspaul26]

And of course every stopping train through Camelon has an on board announcement that gets it totally wrong.

I see that someone has already bagged Camelot.

 

[Dr_Paul]

My mother was born in Marylebone and always pronounced it ''Marry-le-bone'' and I don't believe she so much as visited anywhere in the Midlands in her life. Could be a class thing, may I suggest.

For me, it's always been pronounced Marralabone.

Ewell -- pronounced 'Yool' -- is a puzzle for many people; just the other week on the bus someone asked me how to get to 'Eee-well'.

Some years back I did a phonetic map of London for my PhD supervisor's Russian girlfriend, as her English was at that point somewhat rudimentary and she had trouble matching the spelling and pronunciation of quite a few names. So we had such things as Tah'ill, Arra, Sahf Arra, Ern'ill, Ba'sea and many more.

Back in the days of spoken station announcements, nearly everyone at Hammersmith station, and there was quite an array of different accents, would insert an additional 'i' in two stations, thus making them 'Westminister' and 'Upminister'.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

yet South Yorkshire brings you Adwick (Ad-wick)...

Not according to #37!

 

[Adsy125]

Frome is often pronounced F-rome instead of Froom by people from outside the area. Bath is definitely pronounced Barth though, never heard anyone who isn't a Northerner say it differently!

 

[nottinghamcity]

Shrewsbury (recorded announcements at Crewe say Shroo-sbury, and at Birmingham New Street say Shrow-sbury) - there is plenty of debate about which is correct even in the town itself of course!'

I know plenty of locals to Shrewsbury and Shropshire and I agree. To the point that I think both of them are probably correct.

 

[Iskra]

Lostwithiel, Cornwall.

It was always interesting when I used to work at Wakefield Westgate which still has manual announcements, I'm not sure any of the staff knew how to pronounce it either. It was always interesting hearing them fudge it.

 

[nottinghamcity]

Aln or Alan? I've heard both used.

The error most people make is pronouncing the -mouth as -muth (as in Portsmouth), where it should be pronounced -mowth, like the hole in the front of your face.

My ex-wife's family were from Alnwick, and they pronounced it Alan-mooth. As an aside I'm amazed how much the service there has improved. From a couple of XC and a couple of EC back in the 90s to practically hourly now on XC.

 

[fairysdad]

Ewell -- pronounced 'Yool' -- is a puzzle for many people; just the other week on the bus someone asked me how to get to 'Eee-well'.

I just tell people to think of the sheep.

Frequently mispronounced, - even by BBC newsreaders is Plaistow, (pronounced 'Plarstow' or even 'Plarster' by some eastenders. Alf Garnett always got it right though.

Not even the buses have it consistent... the 5/115 buses have at least one announcement where they use both pronunciations...

 

[2HAP]

Gillingham, Kent (soft g)
Gillingham, Dorset & Gillingham, Norfolk (hard g)

 

[6Gman]

In view of the numerous comments re Welsh placenames can I just point out that - almost without exception - these names are entirely consistent within that language.

They may seem odd, but that's because they're formed in a different language!

English placenames, on the other hand, can be arbitrary in their pronunciation.

 

[hexagon789]

Some other Scottish ones that are not pronounced quite how they are spelled:
Avoch
Findochty
Kingussie
Kirkcudbright
Kilncadzow
Friockheim
Glenzier
Athelstaneford
Culzean
Gigha
Strathaven
Sanquhar
Ravenstruther
Udny
Ruthven
River Avon in Aberdeenshire (just the Avon part)

Probably more I've forgotten!

 

[3141]

Micheldever, If i pronounce it Michel-deever (rhymes with beaver) I get corrected to Michel-dever (to rhyme with never) and V/V.

I live in Overton, about four miles from Micheldever Station, and people who were born here pronounce it Michel Devver.

 

[IanXC]

Not according to #37!

No no no!

Definitely not. The 'w' is most definitely pronounced in Adwick. Many a local to Doncaster have corrected me over the years.

 

[Ianno87]

Gilslochill (I understand pronounced (hard G) Gill-shee-hill)

Milngavie (Mull-guy)

Manea (May-knee, not man-ear)

Meols (Mells)

And there's how to say Hall i' th' Wood like a true Boltonian...

 

[Dr_Paul]

On South-West Trains, the announcer annoyingly emphasises the last syllable of Stoneleigh, saying 'Stone-Leee' whereas it's the first syllable that's emphasised by everyone else.

 

[CheesyChips]

Theydon Bois was a bit of an anti climax for me a few years ago when I looked up the pronouciation.

 

[iknowyeah]

Greater Manchester. Salford is a separate city from Manchester despite having the same M postcode.

Salford is in Lancashire

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Berkhamsted - locals say "Berkumsted" all in the one go, and people who want to wind up locals call it "Berk-hamp-stead".

I thought it was just Berko to locals

 

[MidnightFlyer]

And there's how to say Hall i' th' Wood like a true Boltonian...

As a native of that corner of the realm, I go for 'alith-wud' (and 'besses-ut-barn' for that matter...). I never trust anyone who individually pronounces all four constituent parts of either place name

 

[Mutant Lemming]

It is, I think Marly-bone is a Home Counties pronunciation. I thought that the local working class pronunciation was more like Marry-le-b'n.

".

Always pronounced it over the PA as Marill-le-bone

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Could never quite get these Valley ones

Llwynypia
Troed-y-rhiw
Penrhiwceiber

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Could never quite get these Valley ones

Llwynypia
Troed-y-rhiw
Penrhiwceiber

LLwynypia =- you mean the grove of the magpie ....? ,..tidy

 

[urbophile]

Theydon Bois was a bit of an anti climax for me a few years ago when I looked up the pronouciation.

What is it? I've always wanted to say Bwah in the French way but it probably isn't.

 

[EM2]

What is it? I've always wanted to say Bwah in the French way but it probably isn't.

Thay-don Boyz.

 

[tomsy47]

A station in Kent is Borough Green and Wrotham (pronounced Borough Green and Root-ham by the train’s on-board announcements)

 

[PHILIPE]

Surprised no-one mentioned Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch yet (yes, I know, the station is officially only Llanfairpwll). I always thought it was Thames (and also Thameslink, City Thameslink) with a proper th sound, although it's actually more like "Temz". In Germany, we have some tricky Low German-ish place names, such as Duisburg (more like Düsburg) or Soest (more like Sohst) to surprise non-local passengers.

An earlier poster said "anywhere in Wales"