Heimdall

Now we can all have fun checking for errors.

They do have a button on the bottom of the page for reporting errors, so let's give them some feedback. BTW, the company is registered in Australia, so perhaps I was wrong in calling it an American accent.

stfc

Dukey - thank you for the invitation. How do you know my buns are little? Buns - that's a curious American usage. I am sure that I would be welcomed with all the generosity and hospitality I experience every time I visit the US. No doubt your Baltimorean ladies would swoon over my wonderful 'English accent'.

Sadly I must defer the visit as I am once more soon to go to a hot and dusty place to work alongside your brave servicemen in a different war I fear we have all lost. Maybe another time.

Josser

We could play for hours.
I just tried Featherstonehaugh and it got it right

Heimdall

Josser, try Mousehole again. ;-)

twoflower

Launceston is another interesting Cornish one that ain't said how it sounds (whereas the Launceston in Tasmania IS said how it sounds - but that's Aussies for you!).

PatrickLondon

Bude and Bodmin Parkway are pronounced the way they look.

HAHtl'nd Key.

PADs-toe.

BARnst'p'l.

Josser

I tried Mousehole again.
That's brilliant.
Did you contact them?

tuscanlifeedit

You should have heard what we did with Goonhavern.

Heimdall

Josser, yes, I used the error reporting button on the bottom of the page, but all credit goes to you for spotting the error.

We exchanged a few emails, and the howjsay people are very responsive, with a wonderful sense of humour. I quoted your reply: "I just tried Featherstonehaugh and it got it right." They answered back: "Phew! Good to know we passed the Featherstonehaugh test!"

Underhill

H. V. Morton said that Mousehole was pronounced Muzzle. True?

irishface

I didn't know there was a universal "American accent". IME pronuciations vary widely around the US. Many Americans who come to New England have trouble pronouncing some of our towns and cities. Worcester, Gloucester, and Leicester in Massachusetts are pronounced fairly like those towns with the same name in England. However, our Ipswich and Harwich are pronounced as they look, unlike those two towns in England. (I have had some trouble with towns down south, but listening to locals helped me get a sort of apporoximation.)

MissPrism

I was born in Ipswich, Suffolk and I have visited Ipswich in Massachusetts, nice beach btw.
They are both pronounced the same.

Heimdall

I also used to live in Ipswich, Suffolk. With Ipswich, the "w" is sounded, while with Harwich and Norwich it is silent. I have also lived in Aldeburgh, which some non-locals, never mind foreigners, have difficulty pronouncing.

irishface

Miss Prism and Heimdall, thanks for setting me straight. After visiting Norwich and Harwich in England, I made an incorrect generalization while looking at the map. I apologize to all Ipswich natives.

Sorry and thanks! (I like learning new things!)