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

[Devonian]

...When I told her it was "Siren-sester" (which I bl**dy hope is right, after all that!)...

(Stage whisper) Also known as Sister or Sissiter.

Totnes, I have been firmly told, follows London's pattern of slight emphasis on the first syllable (TOTness), which is inevitably intoned by ATOS Anne as TotNESS instead.

Nearby Dittisham may be Dit-i-shum, Dit-iss-um, Dit-shum, or Ditsum; but I have only heard the local soft fruit referred to in speech as Ditsum Plums.

And a little further south, Aveton Gifford - and its tidal road - can trap the unwary. Ar-ve-ton Gifford? Ar-ve-ton Jifford? Ayv-ton Jifford? Avv-etton Gifford? Avv-etton Jifford? No: generally it's Orton Gifford. Or Orton Jifford.

 

[Stampy]

A friend of mine lives in a village called Cogenhoe near Northampton.

It’s actually pronounced Cook-no and not Coggen-o’

 

[mm333]

Habrough. Never knew how this was meant to be pronounced. As a guard with Central we had some through workings from Salop to Grimsby. Don't think anyone at my end had heard of the place either. No one corrected me on my undoubtedly dodgy pronunciation during the opening announcements.

Welcome to Hay-brr

 

[2392]

Further to my entrie with regards tom Pike ering [Pickering] at the other end of the NYMR you have Grosmont. Which cause all sorts of fun with folk trying to pronounce it. It can be pronounced either as Gross-mont or Grow-mont. I've heard Goathland to pronounced as Goat-land and assorted other ways. Though depending on who's getting the tickets they'll perhaps ask for "Hoggsmead" [Harry Potter] or Aidensfield [Heartbeat]........

 

[TheScud]

Welcome to Hay-brr

Thankyou! I guessed right but wasn't sure if it was Har, Ha, Hay, Brr or Borough.

I once had some non locals ask for a return to Coss Elli

For moment I thought is that somewhere in Wales? They meant Coseley. Pronounced Coze-lee

 

[martin2345uk]

Station has long since closed but Tolleshunt Knights in Essex - is it “tolls-hunt” or “toller-shunt”..? Or neither!

 

[transmanche]

There was the Gloster Aircraft Company, based at Hucclecote. Possibly spelt like that in deference to some people's inability to pronounce Gloucester properly.

Indeed. In fact, it was originally called the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company and renamed in 1926 for the reason you describe.

 

[paddington]

I believe you don't pronounce the second k in names like Kirkgate or Kirkby, but quite a few guards don't seem to know this (even though they have northern accents) and neither does ATOS Anne (??).

Are there any places named Kirk___ where you do pronounce the second k?

 

[Dr_Paul]

I've heard Goathland to pronounced as Goat-land and assorted other ways.

How is it pronounced? I had the feeling that it is pronounced 'Goat-land', although I'm not sure where I heard or read that.

Wraysbury on the Staines to Windsor line used to be spelt Wyrardisbury but pronounced Wraysbury, and eventually the name changed officially to how it's pronounced. I guess it's a matter of chance whether this happened or not and there was not some sort of official campaign to simplify spelling; otherwise Wymondham in Norfolk would have become Wyndham or Windham, along with lots of other examples, especially in East Anglia.

A good one I saw was on the BBC Ceefax years back when Leominster was rendered as 'Lempster'. Presumably, someone said it over the telephone and the person keying it in didn't know of the place and took a guess at its spelling.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Plumstead in South-East London often gets an additional 'p' after the 'm'; I pronounce it like that myself. This article explains that where two consonants that do not go too well together in speech they may over time get another in between them that makes the word easier to say:

Our anatomy can make some changes more likely than others. The simple mechanics of moving from a nasal sound ("m" or "n") to a non-nasal one can make a consonant pop up in-between. Thunder used to be "thuner", and empty "emty". You can see the same process happening now with words like hamster, which often gets pronounced with an intruding "p". This is a type of epenthesis.​

Hampstead and Hampton are good examples, as they each come from two old English words with no 'p' in them, and the 'p' later appeared in speech and became officially adopted in the spelling. Why it didn't happen in the Birmingham Hamstead, I'm not sure. And then there's 'Lempster' as Leominster is pronounced (see my earlier post).

 

[weepingwillowb]

Two I had to ask about when I moved to Staffordshire -

Gnosall, pronounced No-sull
Brewood, pronounced Brewed, not Bree-wood

 

[krus_aragon]

I believe you don't pronounce the second k in names like Kirkgate or Kirkby, but quite a few guards don't seem to know this (even though they have northern accents) and neither does ATOS Anne (??).

Are there any places named Kirk___ where you do pronounce the second k?

Kirkcaldy? (Though the second 'k' may still be silent, with the 'c' making all the noise...)

 

[Calthrop]

(Stage whisper) Also known as Sister or Sissiter.

(My bolding.)

There was a young lady of Cirencester
Who got up to speak, and they hirencester;
A man threw a carrot --
She screeched like a parrot,
But ducked in a flash, and it mirencester.

(Limerick which I came across, many years ago.)

 

[mirodo]

I believe you don't pronounce the second k in names like Kirkgate or Kirkby, but quite a few guards don't seem to know this (even though they have northern accents) and neither does ATOS Anne (??).

Are there any places named Kirk___ where you do pronounce the second k?

Kirkburton.

Kirkcaldy? (Though the second 'k' may still be silent, with the 'c' making all the noise...)

See also: Kirkcudbright.

 

[weepingwillowb]

Hawick took me a while to learn - Hoyk

 

[Dr Day]

Newcastle (upon Tyne) - should the emphasis be on the 'cas' or the 'new'?

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

Newcastle (upon Tyne) - should the emphasis be on the 'cas' or the 'new'?

I guess that depends on whether you pronounce it in the local dialect or in standard English, if such a thing exists!

I don't think it makes sense to insist that everyone pronounces a place name in the same way that local residents do. Regional and local variations are one of the joys of the English language but you can't expect outdiders to follow the excact same pronounciation. I mean London is London for most of us, not the Lunnon that many Londoners use.

 

[MarkWiles]

Newcastle (upon Tyne) - should the emphasis be on the 'cas' or the 'new'?

I must admit, having grown up on a mining estate where a lot of the miners had moved south from the north east, I find myself inadvertently calling in "N-yecassul", possibly some sort of subliminal thing from having heard it called that when growing up!

Here's another from Staffordshire, there used to be a signal box called "Brereton Sidings" next to Rugeley Town even though Brereton isn't anywhere near the site (it once was a junction for a line serving the old Brereton Colliery which closed long before the new Lea Hall colliery opened in the town). Brereton, now a suburb of Rugeley, is pronounced either "Bree-erton" if you are posh, or "Breetun" if you are a former yam-yam. Staffordshire has quite a few weird place names that sound different to how they look. Even Colwich, site of the infamous collision, you'd think was pronounced "Collitch" based on other places like Baswich (Bassitch) but no, it's "Cole-witch".

 

[InOban]

Kirkburton.



See also: Kirkcudbright.

I think that all the Scottish Kirk...s are pronounced. Kirkintilloch, kirknewton kirkliston ...

 

[weepingwillowb]

Masham, Yorkshire is 'Massam'

There are two villages in Lancashire called Claughton. The one near Lancaster is pronounced 'Claff-ton' (the village of Aughton across the river is 'Affton'), and Claughton-on-Brock, further south towards Preston, is pronounced 'Cly-ton'.

 

[hexagon789]

Station has long since closed but Tolleshunt Knights in Essex - is it “tolls-hunt” or “toller-shunt”..? Or neither!

Believe it's "Tolls-hunt"

I believe you don't pronounce the second k in names like Kirkgate or Kirkby, but quite a few guards don't seem to know this (even though they have northern accents) and neither does ATOS Anne (??).

Are there any places named Kirk___ where you do pronounce the second k?

Definitely all the ones in Scotland I can think of, hadn't appreciated that in England the second 'k' is silent in place names that start "Kirk-"

 

[2392]

How is it pronounced? I had the feeling that it is pronounced 'Goat-land', although I'm not sure where I heard or read that.

Whilst yes the commonest pronunciation by visitors is Goat-land. The other is Go-thland with folk dropping the a.

 

[Djgr]

Masham, Yorkshire is 'Massam'

There are two villages in Lancashire called Claughton. The one near Lancaster is pronounced 'Claff-ton' (the village of Aughton across the river is 'Affton'), and Claughton-on-Brock, further south towards Preston, is pronounced 'Cly-ton'.

Claughton Village in Birkenhead is pronounced Claw-ton.

 

[Djgr]

Gwersylt anyone?

 

[krus_aragon]

Gwersylt anyone?

And the other 'l'... Gwersyllt

Along the lines of G'where-sill't, but rather than the English "sill" (of windowsill), the double 'l' is the same 'll' sound as in Llan...

 

[weepingwillowb]

Chwilog, near Criccieth.

 

[krus_aragon]

Chwilog, near Criccieth.

Roughly "we-log" (as in the two English words), but with the 'ch' from 'loch' stuck in the front.

(Admittedly many English people pronounce "loch" as "lock", so try to think how a Scotsman would pronounce it instead.)

 

[AndrewE]

(Stage whisper) Also known as Sister or Sissiter.

Totnes, I have been firmly told, follows London's pattern of slight emphasis on the first syllable (TOTness), which is inevitably intoned by ATOS Anne as TotNESS instead.

My parents and relatives (natives and still living in the area) don't stress the second syllable, certainly not the emphasis implied by the final "s." It almost sounds like a simple plural.

 

[johnnychips]

Is it Wakefield Kirk-gate or Kirgate? Only ever heard first on announcements.

 

[Ken H]

Related: Allerton on Merseyside is AFAIK pronounced as in "Al," the Bradford one is "Ol" - then there's Chapel Allerton in Leeds which I'm not sure about! And neither have stations so I'm OT.

always said al as in Alan when I lived there as a kid