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

[DXMachina]

An oft-mispronounced (and misspelt) station is Berkhamsted.

It's "Berkham - sted", not "Berk-hampstead".

Not sure that either's correct
I grew up in that area

Older people seem to pronounce it Barkham-sted
Bit like the two pronounciations of 'Berkshire' in that respect.

Think its been changing slowly for a long time though
TO wit - there is an American town called Barkhamsted which is named after Berkhamsted's original pronounciation.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Not sure that either's correct
I grew up in that area

.

I thought the locals called it Berko ?

 

[DXMachina]

I thought the locals called it Berko ?

I do. Pensioners don't.
Local rumour has it that East End children evacuated to Berko/Barko during the war were largely responsible for changing the local accent and pronounciation. Dunno if that's true or not though

 

[p123]

Surprised nobody has yet mentioned....

Lundun Yooston.

Just saying

 

[dvboy]

How is Marylebone supposed to be pronounced?

 

[37 418]

How is Marylebone supposed to be pronounced?

I pronounce it MARR-le-bone

 

[The Barlow Boy]

How is Marylebone supposed to be pronounced?

Exactly as it's spelt. Mary-le-bone with equal accents on all the syllables. The name derives from Mary's Bourne, one of London's lost rivers which flowed nearby.
Not Marlybone
Not Marrybone

 

[cjmillsnun]

Not sure if it's been done:

Cosham is 'Cosh-um'
Bosham is 'Boz-um'

And yet I've heard some Pompey natives pronounce Cosham as Coss-um
Oh and my two.

Ruislip - rye-slip

Southend -saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaffffeeend

 

[tsr]

Exactly as it's spelt. Mary-le-bone with equal accents on all the syllables. The name derives from Mary's Bourne, one of London's lost rivers which flowed nearby.
Not Marlybone
Not Marrybone

I believe one of the older names for the district is Saint Mary Lebone.

I know this area well, and also pronounce it "Mary-le-bone", as it's written. Nobody has ever actually found a good reason to criticise me, and I know people who have worked in the area for upwards of 20 years who will accept that pronunciation without so much as a raised eyebrow.

 

[PinzaC55]

I remember the first time I went to Grosmont - for the NYMR - asking the Guard for a ticket to "Groz-mont" and him sneering "You mean Grow-mont?". And then there is Seaham, pronounced "See-um".

 

[MCR247]

Isn't Sea-um how you'd say Seaham anyway? Since the a isn't normally said in '-ham' places?

 

[PinzaC55]

I think I have a steam era DVD somewhere where the BBC type narrator says "Sea-ham" and later on "Prud-hoe" instead of "Prudder".

 

[D1009]

Isn't Sea-um how you'd say Seaham anyway? Since the a isn't normally said in '-ham' places?

Unless you're American. Reminds me of Bal Ham, gateway to the South.

 

[Ivo]

Southend -saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaffffeeend

Lousy Eastenders influence

I don't know which I dislike more - the locals of the Avon area saying Baff or the locals of the Thames Estuary area saying Sarfend!

 

[Eagle]

Exactly as it's spelt. Mary-le-bone with equal accents on all the syllables. The name derives from Mary's Bourne, one of London's lost rivers which flowed nearby.
Not Marlybone
Not Marrybone

Wrong. The correct pronunciation is "Marlibun", not "Marrilibun". Listen to any tube train or bus in London and you'll find that out.

Phill and Celia on Chiltern get it wrong. But then again they get Coleshill (should be "Cozul", not "Coals Hill") wrong too. Plus points though for them being right on Bearley ("Beerly", not "Barely").

 

[tsr]

Wrong. The correct pronunciation is "Marlibun", not "Marrilibun". Listen to any tube train or bus in London and you'll find that out.

Phill and Celia on Chiltern get it wrong. But then again they get Coleshill (should be "Cozul", not "Coals Hill") wrong too. Plus points though for them being right on Bearley ("Beerly", not "Barely").

Wrong! The Number 2 bus announcements often say "Two to Marylebone" with "Marylebone" pronounced "Marry-lee-bone" extremely precisely!

 

[Eagle]

Wrong! The Number 2 bus announcements often say "Two to Marylebone" with "Marylebone" pronounced "Marry-lee-bone" extremely precisely!

In that case I guess it depends on who did the recording. The Bakerloo line and the Audio Tube Map both use "Marlibun".

Same with Portslade, I noticed recently. The station announcements at Brighton said "PORTS-lade", whereas the trains said "port-SLADE".

 

[Smudger105e]

Same with Portslade, I noticed recently. The station announcements at Brighton said "PORTS-lade", whereas the trains said "port-SLADE".

My brother runs a pub in Portslade (The Battle of Trafalgar if anyone's interested!!) and Portslade is spoken as one word, no emphasis on Port or slade. Portslade all one word. Although when I was a lad it was Portslade and West Hove!!

 

[Stephen55a1960]

How about Maybole? Is it MAYbole or MayBOLE? Emphasis on May in first example; and Bole, in the second.

 

[Eagle]

Also I've noticed how Londoners always stress Heathrow on the "row" but no one else seems to. Given that the hamlet was two words, I'd be inclined to say they're correct on that one.

Has the 'w' always been pronounced in Gatwick? (The airport takes its name from a racecourse which took its name from the station itself—which was in turn named after a derelict manor.)

 

[tsr]

Has the 'w' always been pronounced in Gatwick? (The airport takes its name from a racecourse which took its name from the station itself—which was in turn named after a derelict manor.)

Possibly. "Gat wick" seems to be a rough rendition of an ancient phrase meaning "goat farm", and therefore the name may have stayed as two separate words for a while, especially if the original meaning was maintained by goat farming carried out by workers of the manor's land. If anyone cares by tomorrow, I might look it up in some local history guides and see if they mention anything!

 

[Eagle]

Some Welsh ones: Hawarden is "HOR-den", Cathays is "ca-TAYZ", Bynea is "BIN-ya" (the Welsh Bynie is "BUN-yeh" as expected).

Wales doesn't have very many, because the Welsh language itself has no such thing as unphonetic spellings; everything is written exactly as it's pronounced. Actually the majority of languages are like that :P

 

[SprinterMan]

Some Welsh ones: Hawarden is "HOR-den", Cathays is "ca-TAYZ", Bynea is "BIN-ya" (the Welsh Bynie is "BUN-yeh" as expected).

Wales doesn't have very many, because the Welsh language itself has no such thing as unphonetic spellings; everything is written exactly as it's pronounced. Actually the majority of languages are like that :P

How the hell do you pronounce Amlwch then :P

I say Amell-wooch but I think thats wrong.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amlwch_railway_station)

 

[Stephen55a1960]

How the hell do you pronounce Amlwch then :P

I say Amell-wooch but I think thats wrong.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amlwch_railway_station)

Someone once told me, that it's pronounced Amluck? I don't know, how accurate that is?

 

[Eagle]

Someone once told me, that it's pronounced Amluck? I don't know, how accurate that is?

A-m-l-w-ch. Simple.

'w' in Welsh is as English 'oo', and 'ch' is as in 'loch'.

Same goes for M-a-ch-y-n-ll-e-th, and Ll-a-n-f-a-i-r-f-e-ch-a-n, and P-e-n-rh-y-n-d-eu-d-r-a-e-th.

 

[SprinterMan]

Someone once told me, that it's pronounced Amluck? I don't know, how accurate that is?

More likely to be right than me, thanks.

 

[Stephen55a1960]

A - m - l - w - ch. Simple.

'w' in Welsh is as English 'oo', and 'ch' is as in 'loch'.

Same goes for M - a - ch - y - n - ll - e - th, and Ll - a - n - f - a - i - r - f - e - ch - a - n, and P - e - n - rh - y - n - d - eu - d - r - a - e - th.

They weren't far out then? Thanks.

 

[ert47]

A - m - l - w - ch. Simple.

'w' in Welsh is as English 'oo', and 'ch' is as in 'loch'.

Same goes for M - a - ch - y - n - ll - e - th, and Ll - a - n - f - a - i - r - f - e - ch - a - n, and P - e - n - rh - y - n - d - eu - d - r - a - e - th.

Wow... On first inspection, I called it Am-wich - as in "Ham Sandwich"

 

[Gwenllian2001]

Also I've noticed how Londoners always stress Heathrow on the "row" but no one else seems to. Given that the hamlet was two words, I'd be inclined to say they're correct on that one.

It was always pronounced that way until the media lot started to adopt the absurd American habit of stressing the first syllable of just about everything.
e.g. Di-rect; Cont-ribute; Dis-tribute and Re- search. It's ugly and unecessary.

 

[Ivo]

Regarding Marylebone, will we ever know for certain - and if not, can we just agree to disagree?