When I went to live in Beaconsfield, I would buy a ticket at Marylebone (itself of questionnable and variable pronounciation) asking for Beeconsfield, often to be corrected to make it Beckonsfield, and the conductor (in them days they still had them on every train) calling out Beeconsfield - or the other way around. Never got a definitive answer.

Wally, when did you live in Beaconsfield? We were there in 1982, not as long as I'd hoped, however. We ended up moving from there to Vienna for a couple of years. Not bad, but I wasn't really ready to leave England. Bucks is such a beautiful part of the country. We really enjoyed it.

The Cotswold list does not show obscure vowels. I think they are here:-

Gloucester – Gloster : second vowel, ter
Cheltenham - Chelt-num: ten and ham
Berkeley – Barkly: second vowel
Wotton-under-Edge - Woohton-under-Edge: ton and der
Wootton Bassett - Woohton Bassett: ton
Salthrop - Saultrup
Doughton - Duffton (where Prince Charles lives at Highgrove House): ton
Througham – Thruffem: ham
Cranham – Cranum: num
Bussage – Bussidge: sage.

Often, the vowel in ter and ham is obscure

Ben Haines

There's always Barnoldswick which is variously pronounced more or less as it looks, or barlick, or barwick.

And in my youth locals would call Asthall Leigh - lee, -lay or (most commonly) -lie.

Michael

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned "Estuarine" English.

That is wot I speak and I come from Saaffend

(Southend-on-sea - Essex)

Me mate Jamie talks this a well but he is from Saafron Warden (Safron Walden - Essex)

Estuarine is a more extreme version of Cotney if you arst me!

Poughkeepsie, anyone?

http://www.skaneateles.com/

Easy...

PA - KIP - SEE

In Baltimore, Maryland, the locals pronounce it as Balmer, Murrilyn.

Druid Hill Park is Drood Hill.

To make a car go, you step on the exhilarator.

Shall I post the OLDEST joke in this category?

Earnest American talking with Diffident Brit about his recent trip. "We stayed near Lay-sesster Square."

Diff. Brit "Ahem, that's Lester Square."

E. Amer: "We were so thrilled by the cathedral in Sawl-is-bury."

Diff. Brit: "Ahem, that's Sarum."

And so on, through Worchester/Wooster, Beachamp/Beecham, etc. Finally:

E. Amer: "Have you ever visited the US?"

Diff.BRit: "Oh yes, we went to Washington, New York, and then up to Niagara Falls."

E.Amer: "Ahem. That's Niffles."

If you want to be completely "with it". The new pronunciation for Shepherd's Bush is SheBu (chez Bu). But I wouldn't hop in a taxi and say that. It is more "I had a great night out in Chez Bu".

I even heard someone on the tube yesterday referring to it as that.

I think it is brilliant but worry that in 50 years the name will have changed!!

The "Beauchamp" problem reminds me of the time we sought driving directions to Beaufort in South Carolina and only got them after my pronunciation had been corrected to byew'furt. I later discovered that there's also a Beaufort (bow'furt) in North Carolina.

Some of my favorite reading is done in the BBC Dictionary of Place Names.

Hello Neil of Oz!

We have a small town north-east of Toronto called Stouffville (pronounced Stow-ville), and an area west of us named Etobicoke that provides us with a lot of laugher. It's pronounced E-toe-bee-co with the "E" as in wet.

But Worcestershire Sauce has always caused problems with us. Can we have a few correct pronunciations please?

Neil Oz, maybe you should enlighten the readers of the correct pronunciation of your home town of Canbra.

And Melbun for that matter.

I loved the thread where a tourist had great trouble getting directions to Gare Bercy (can identify, even though I knew it doesn't rhyme with Percy, still a challenge for the novice. And Poggibonsi has to said with faux Italian accent or they pretend not to understand.

Hi, michi - long time no hear!
"Worcestershire" in our house was always wooster-shuh (the 'uh' would be ben_haines' "obscure vowel', I guess).

eigasuki, I believe that "Canbra" was the work of an English aristocrat, Lady Denman (wife of Governor-General Lord Denman), whose plummy tones rang out across the sheep paddocks in 1913 when she declared the city open for business (sort of).

Visiting North Americans do have problems with Melbourne (MELb'n, not MelBORN) and also Brisbane (BRIZb'n, not BrisBAIN). Luckily they seldom have to come to grips with places like Goonoo Goonoo (Gunna G'noo).

Worcestershire sauce:

It may just be me, my family and every British barmaid I've ever met. But whever I'm been around, it's always been pronounced :
- either "Wuster" (I've never heard the "shire" get used in English), or
- Lea and Perrins (whatever brand is actually served). It's practically the only product Britons refer to by brand, while Americans use a generic term.

Neil_OZ, how about some other Australian place names? Is Bourke (as in 'back of Bourke') pronounced berk or bork? The aboriginal derived place names (eg Wollongong, Wagga Wagga) mystify me as well. That would be a good thread for the Australian forum, but what about giving us a taster here?

If you want to be completely "with it". The new pronunciation for Shepherd's Bush is SheBu (chez Bu). But I wouldn't hop in a taxi and say that. It is more "I had a great night out in Chez Bu".>>>>>>

For my sins I work in the Bush and I have never heard it called that - mind you i don't move in BBC circles.

>Worcestershire Sauce<

Wooster (as in Berty Wooster) shir

How about Leicestershire? Cirencester?