Londoners: questions on pronounciation?
Dec 18th, 2006, 06:26 AM
#61
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"Wooster (as in Berty Wooster) shir"
Except, as Flanner points out, most of us drop the 'shire' of the end of the sauce name, wouldn't you agree?
'Wuster' sauce is the closest I can type.
Except, as Flanner points out, most of us drop the 'shire' of the end of the sauce name, wouldn't you agree?
'Wuster' sauce is the closest I can type.
Dec 18th, 2006, 06:41 AM
#62
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I don't think I've ever heard anyone pronounce the 'Shire' on the end of Worcestershire sauce. I'm not entirely convinced that most Brits even realise it's there!
As someone mentioned, even we Brits can't agree on how things are pronounced - Marylebone is a good example. I think most people appreciate how difficult it can be to know how to pronounce things that they're not going to laugh in your face if you don't get it right (living in Southwark means I have been asked many times directions to South Wark tube station)....Mind you, it grates every time I hear Robert de Niro ask about the boat-house at "Hearford" in Ronin. Good lord surely someone could have told him he was pronouncing Hereford entirely incorrectly on film??
As someone mentioned, even we Brits can't agree on how things are pronounced - Marylebone is a good example. I think most people appreciate how difficult it can be to know how to pronounce things that they're not going to laugh in your face if you don't get it right (living in Southwark means I have been asked many times directions to South Wark tube station)....Mind you, it grates every time I hear Robert de Niro ask about the boat-house at "Hearford" in Ronin. Good lord surely someone could have told him he was pronouncing Hereford entirely incorrectly on film??
Dec 18th, 2006, 11:10 AM
#65
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NOT nucular.
And for ira, lestershuh and Siren-sester. I believe there are some who say the latter is Sissester, but that might have been a Victorian joke.
SheBu? Is that just a slack London elision, like the bus conductor's "Tonkor Row" of my childhood, or one of those arch little jokes like St. Reatham and St. Ockwell (or Battersea pronounced BaTERsiyer, otherwise South Chelsea)...?
And for ira, lestershuh and Siren-sester. I believe there are some who say the latter is Sissester, but that might have been a Victorian joke.
SheBu? Is that just a slack London elision, like the bus conductor's "Tonkor Row" of my childhood, or one of those arch little jokes like St. Reatham and St. Ockwell (or Battersea pronounced BaTERsiyer, otherwise South Chelsea)...?
Dec 18th, 2006, 11:25 AM
#66
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I think the comments about Worcester serve to point out the problem we face in England with regional differences in pronunciation.
I can't say I have ever heard Worcester as Wooster (oo as in pool).
More common is Wister, Wuster (u as in bull) or somewhere between the two.
Michael
I can't say I have ever heard Worcester as Wooster (oo as in pool).
More common is Wister, Wuster (u as in bull) or somewhere between the two.
Michael
Dec 18th, 2006, 02:40 PM
#68
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Heimdall, I'm wary of hijacking the thread, but to answer your specific questions: Wollongong: WOOL-ong-gong, Bourke: berk (named after an Irish-born explorer and presumably pronounced as in Ireland); Wagga Wagga: wogga wogga (in practice just 'wogga'). Another tricky one is Goulburn (GOALb'n).
The Western Australian towns of Albany and Derby are pronounced Al-bany (not AWL-bany), and 'Durby' (not 'Darby').
The Western Australian towns of Albany and Derby are pronounced Al-bany (not AWL-bany), and 'Durby' (not 'Darby').
Dec 19th, 2006, 12:24 AM
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Diff.BRit: "Oh yes, we went to Washington, New York, and then up to Niagara Falls."
As my friend Mr. Wilde said: "Niagara Falls is the American bride's second great disappointment.
As my friend Mr. Wilde said: "Niagara Falls is the American bride's second great disappointment.
Dec 19th, 2006, 08:00 AM
#77
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Nuclear,
New Klee Are
I think it was Eisenhower who crated Nuw Queue Lar, along with "finalize".
>I can't say I have ever heard Worcester as Wooster (oo as in pool). <
Wooster (as in Berty Wooster) is Wuster.
Re: Cirencester
I had thought it would be pronounced Sear 'n Caster, as it seemed to be a Roman name.
I was informed, however, that it is Siren Sester, because the name is Anglo Saxon.
I doubt this, since the Romans founded Cirencester in 49, and the Saxons didn't arrive until about 400.
New Klee Are
I think it was Eisenhower who crated Nuw Queue Lar, along with "finalize".
>I can't say I have ever heard Worcester as Wooster (oo as in pool). <
Wooster (as in Berty Wooster) is Wuster.
Re: Cirencester
I had thought it would be pronounced Sear 'n Caster, as it seemed to be a Roman name.
I was informed, however, that it is Siren Sester, because the name is Anglo Saxon.
I doubt this, since the Romans founded Cirencester in 49, and the Saxons didn't arrive until about 400.
Dec 19th, 2006, 08:46 AM
#78
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Worcester is pronounced anywhere between Wust'r and Woost'r. Or between Wawst'r and Waawrst'r (some seriously local people lent just the hint of an "r" be heard)
The word Cirencester IS of post-Roman origin. Whether Angle, Saxon, Dane or bunch of overflying Hottentots is unclear. But it has nothing to do with how the word's pronounced anyway.
The Romans called the town Corinium - almost certainly a Latinisation of the word earlier, probably Celtic, tribes had given the river.
British "cester", "chester" etc towns get their name from the post-Roman habit of describing places as "where such and such a 'castrum' (Roman camp) was". Offhand, I can't think of any whose post Roman name is very like the word the Romans had used.
How these places are pronounced is just the result of history. No-one fantasises for a moment that Manchester is pronounced Master, for example.
Most people pronounce Cirencester Siren-sester. There IS a fantasy that it "ought" to be called Sister or something equally preposterous. There's no base for this prescriptive nonsense, except that some people derive comfort from the thought that God can find the time to tell us how to pronounce words. And many of the Sisterhood think their fetish makes them superior to the rest of us.
Gloucestershire, and the products of Cirencester's agricultural college in particular, is rather stuffed with people whose IQs are roughly the same as their Labradors' (or often the same as the number of Labradors they own) and whose ability to invent hokey snobberies involves creativity rivalling Shakespeare's.
The word Cirencester IS of post-Roman origin. Whether Angle, Saxon, Dane or bunch of overflying Hottentots is unclear. But it has nothing to do with how the word's pronounced anyway.
The Romans called the town Corinium - almost certainly a Latinisation of the word earlier, probably Celtic, tribes had given the river.
British "cester", "chester" etc towns get their name from the post-Roman habit of describing places as "where such and such a 'castrum' (Roman camp) was". Offhand, I can't think of any whose post Roman name is very like the word the Romans had used.
How these places are pronounced is just the result of history. No-one fantasises for a moment that Manchester is pronounced Master, for example.
Most people pronounce Cirencester Siren-sester. There IS a fantasy that it "ought" to be called Sister or something equally preposterous. There's no base for this prescriptive nonsense, except that some people derive comfort from the thought that God can find the time to tell us how to pronounce words. And many of the Sisterhood think their fetish makes them superior to the rest of us.
Gloucestershire, and the products of Cirencester's agricultural college in particular, is rather stuffed with people whose IQs are roughly the same as their Labradors' (or often the same as the number of Labradors they own) and whose ability to invent hokey snobberies involves creativity rivalling Shakespeare's.
