Trivia: Stations that don't sound like they're Spelt

[steamybrian]

Here are some local ones to me here in the South East
Meopham pronounced Mep-ham
Leigh (Kent) pronounced locally as " lie"
Eynsford pronounced as ains-ford ain as in pain (without the p)
Beaulieu (Road) pronounced Bew-ley and ( Bew to rhyme with cue)
Isleworth pronounced I-sall-worth (sall to rhyme with ball)
there are a few others I have heard foreigners mis-pronounce such as Chiswick, Dulwich for which I tell them to ignore the "w" in the placenames.

 

[marks87]

Prudhoe (Prud-huh)

Fletcher Mathers (the voice of ScotRail) pronounces it phonetically.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Surprised no one has said Milngavie pronounced Mulgie.

Post No.1

Some are easy to work out where the pronunciation is either a shortening or pronoucning letters out of character but how did Milngavie get to be pronounced the way it is?

What about Airdrie? Anyone on the train would tell you it's "Errdrie"

 

[Sir_Clagalot]

The Tyne & Wear Metro announce Prudhoe as prude hoe!!

Wymondham had me stumped when our trainer said we were going to Wyndham and I couldn't find it on the map until we got there and I saw the spelling!!

Isn't Slaithwaite pronounced Sla-wit?

 

[Ivo]

How about the obvious one that even locals aren't sure of - Shrewsbury? Is it phonetically "correct" to say it as it looks - or should it be "Shrows"?

And that place near Brighton that's pronounced "Hove Actually"

Calling at Worthing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Hove Actually and Brighton.

Hmm... not sure about that

 

[Lampshade]

How about the obvious one that even locals aren't sure of - Shrewsbury? Is it phonetically "correct" to say it as it looks - or should it be "Shrows"?

I have a mate from Shrewsbury and he says it's definitely said how it looks.

 

[yorkie]

Alnmouth -> An-muth.

This makes sense (after all, Alnwick is pronounced An-ick!) but apparently some people call it "Alan-mouth". This is sometimes debated on trains when passing through Alnmouth.

Norwich is sometimes called "Nowidge" or "Norridge" but I don't think that's correct.

Marylebone should be "Marley-bone" but if you go to the GCR they say something funny like "Marrie-le-bun"!

Bicester pronounced Bister

Of course everywhere ending "cester" is changed to simply end "ster", e.g. Leicester, Bicester, Worcester.... with the exception of Cirencester!

And what about Keighley?.

Keith Lee!

But people from Keighley can't say "(Wakefield) Kirkgate", they say "Kurr-gut"

Americans can't pronounce Loughborough correctly, they say "Loo-gah-bor-oou-gah"!

 

[AlterEgo]

Three pages and nobody's said Penistone?

Really gents!

 

[yorkie]

Pen-istun :P

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Maybe obvious, maybe not, but....

Aigburgh - "egg-berth"

Haborough - "hay-borough"

Huyton - "High-ton"

 

[Crossover]

Alnmouth -> An-muth.

As Yorkie has said, I have also heard Allun-mouth, too.

Another one is Bradford Forester Square, which the auto announcement on the 333's has wrong. Of course, it Forester is just pronounced as "Foster"
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Haborough - "hay-borough"

It is so clearly Harborough......*ducks for cover from certain members :P*

 

[class156]

In the old days before Beeching Hawick was a good one (pronounced Hoick).

 

[asylumxl]

Would Plymouth count? I can imagine tourists asking if the train goes to ply-mouth...

 

[Railsigns]

Chatelherault - "Shatler-Oh"

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Americans can't pronounce Loughborough correctly, they say "Loo-gah-bor-oou-gah"!

Americans can't even pronounce Luton ("lut-on" rather than "loo-tun") or Edinburgh ("Edin-burrow" rather than "edd in-bruh"). Although, I have heard them say "low-buh-rah" before.

 

[thelongestroad]

Get very confused with tickets to Llanelli.

Apparently it doesn't sound like it looks. Not like lan-elly anyway.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

It is so clearly Harborough......*ducks for cover from certain members :P*

Funny you should say that, I asked for a ticket to "Harborough" from Scunthorpe a month or so back, and, having been corrected, I got a funny look after saying "I say tom-ar-toe, you say tom-ay-toe"

 

[Jordy]

This makes sense (after all, Alnwick is pronounced An-ick!) but apparently some people call it "Alan-mouth". This is sometimes debated on trains when passing through Alnmouth.

I visited Alnmouth once, the locals called it Allen-mouth.

It is so clearly Harborough......*ducks for cover from certain members :P*

*Scowls*

 

[LE Greys]

Americans can't even pronounce Luton ("lut-on" rather than "loo-tun") or Edinburgh ("Edin-burrow" rather than "edd in-bruh"). Although, I have heard them say "low-buh-rah" before.

Americans never drop the last vowel in names, so it's Birmingham in Alabama and Birminghm over here. But you should see the tricks I've used to get my computer to pronounce Slauwe (Slough) or Milton Keens (not as in John Maynard Keynes).

 

[WatcherZero]

Kirkby, pronunced Kirby NOT Kirk-by.
Horwich, pronunced hor-itch, not hor-witch
Weaste, pronounced weest
Mosley is not pronounced Moss-ly

 

[TheJRB]

Hever - of course pronounced as in fever ("heever") not "hev-er".
Wrotham (i.e. Borough Green & Wrotham) which is pronounced Route-ham, not Rotham.

Then there are a few local to me which there seem to be some confusion over: Bearsted - should it be "beer-sted" or "bear-sted"; Malling "mal-ing" or "maul-ing" although I get the feeling the consensus is that the latter is correct.

 

[WatcherZero]

Get very confused with tickets to Llanelli.

Apparently it doesn't sound like it looks. Not like lan-elly anyway.

In Welsh Ll is kl/cl (there isnt a direct english phonetic equivalent)

 

[stut]

For the more old school among us, there is the now archaic pronunciation of Sawbridgeworth as "Sapsed".

On a slight tangent, I've never understood what it is about Arlesey that so many people manage to mispronounce. It's "arl-zee" but you hear all sorts: "arse-lee" and "ar-lessie" in particular.

In general, though, it's hard to know when local accent becomes official pronunciation. Is it "haver-hill" or "hay-vrill", "burry" or "berry" (there's two of those, of course), "brad-ford" or "brat-fud"?

And that's before we even get onto Wales and Scotland. Auchinleck to Rutherglen, anyone?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Isn't Dalry (between Paisley and Ayr) pronounced Dal-rye?

 

[Stephen55a1960]

For the more old school among us, there is the now archaic pronunciation of Sawbridgeworth as "Sapsed".

On a slight tangent, I've never understood what it is about Arlesey that so many people manage to mispronounce. It's "arl-zee" but you hear all sorts: "arse-lee" and "ar-lessie" in particular.

In general, though, it's hard to know when local accent becomes official pronunciation. Is it "haver-hill" or "hay-vrill", "burry" or "berry" (there's two of those, of course), "brad-ford" or "brat-fud"?

And that's before we even get onto Wales and Scotland. Auchinleck to Rutherglen, anyone?

Speaking of which, I heard someone say, recently, that Rutherglen was pronounced Ruglen? Is this correct or a windup? Any scotttish members on here know the definitive answer? Thanks.

 

[stut]

Speaking of which, I heard someone say, recently, that Rutherglen was pronounced Ruglen? Is this correct or a windup? Any scotttish members on here know the definitive answer? Thanks.

A Buddy writes: yes and no. It is, in a glottal-stop, consonant-dropping, accented kind of way, but it's still officially fully sounded out, unlike say Strathaven or Kirkcudbright.

It's a bit like Snettisham or Osbaldwick.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Isn't Dalry (between Paisley and Ayr) pronounced Dal-rye?

It is, although the a is lightly sounded, and the accent is on the second syllable.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Thanks!

Here's another - the freight siding near Carstairs - Renstrie or Ravenstruther? I've seen both used, but I think the former is more common.

 

[Stephen55a1960]

A Buddy writes: yes and no. It is, in a glottal-stop, consonant-dropping, accented kind of way, but it's still officially fully sounded out, unlike say Strathaven or Kirkcudbright.

It's a bit like Snettisham or Osbaldwick.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


It is, although the a is lightly sounded, and the accent is on the second syllable.

That's interesting. Thankyou.

 

[stut]

Thanks!

Here's another - the freight siding near Carstairs - Renstrie or Ravenstruther? I've seen both used, but I think the former is more common.

I've always thought it was Renstrie. Lanarkshire seems to be a particular magnet for dropped syllables - remember when Dalzell steelworks was in the news?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Thanks again.

I also believe Whitwell station on the Robin Hood line is pronounced 'Whitwul' (or is that just me? )