Proper pronounciation: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glouchester, Glouchestershire; Who, exactly, is British?
 

Hi U.K. experts (again). Just so I do not sound like a COMPLETE rube when I am in the U.K., how do you pronounce the following names? <BR> <BR>Edinburgh (Ed-in-burg, Ed-in-burr, Ed-in-bur-ah, Ed-in-bur-oh)?; Glasgow (Glass-go, Glazz-go)?; Glouchester/Glouchestershire (Gl-ow-stir, Gl-ow-stir-sure)? <BR> <BR>Also, when someone says they are British, where are they implying they are from? England, the U.K., the British Isles? Do the Scots call themselves British? <BR> <BR>I hope these are not offensive questions. <BR> <BR>Thanks!!!

That's Edinburruh and Glazgo;Gloster and Glostersheer. <BR> <BR>Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is the united kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The British Isles include Ireland as well as the big bit and all the little bits. <BR> <BR>Scots are (technically) British, but many think of themselves as Scots rather than British. Many don't, however. <BR> <BR>Good luck

I LOVE the fact that you can get questions like this answered! Thanks, Sheila, and Greg, thanks for asking!

Thanks Sheila. What I meant more specifically is, which folks in the British Isles (English, Scots, Irish and Welsh, Isle of Man, Channel Islanders) identify THEMSELVES as British?

BTW, it's spelt Gloucester and Gloucestershire, pronounced Gloster and Gloste'shir respectively.

Facetious answer... I don't know Greg, you'd have to ask each of them individually. <BR> <BR>Serious answer...it's a hot topic. There's some evidence that we Scots and the Welsh are "enjoying" a bit of a revival of our national identities, and probably you'd get the micro answer more here. <BR> <BR>But lots of people in England don't think of themselves as "English"; they are Cornish or Yorkshiremen or whatever. <BR> <BR>Many English people think that Britain is England, which the revolting Scots and Welsh tend not to like very much. <BR> <BR>There's a thread running about living in Glasgow which I will top for you so you can see some of the tensions.

Gee Sheila, in the present environment do you DARE to top anything? :-)

As to pronunciation. I had good fun in the lounge of a hotel in Penzance full of "British?" tourists. One asked where I had been that day, and I answered Tintagel. I was immediately corrected by one gent and another immediately corrected him. There ensued an argument that became hotter and hotter. Before any blood was shed, Dor was ready and we left for supper.

Robin, as you may see from another thread, the chance would be a fine thing! <BR> <BR>But here's a test for you ( and one is a trick) How do you pronounce the following Scottish place names?:- <BR> <BR>Garioch <BR>Milngavie <BR>Auchinachie <BR>Auchleven

While you're at it, would someone please tell me how to pronounce Betwys-y-Coed?

Carolyn: Friends of mine lived in a house with that name at Bryn Mawr College, where they jokingly pronounced it Betsy Co-ed. But, if I recall correctly from my trip to Wales, it's more like Beddis Ee Code. I hope a Welsh speaker will step in here, because I freely admit that I had problems picking up Welsh pronunciation, even though I'm generally pretty good at that sort of thing.

It would be great if some nice UK person could generalize how to pronounce British place names for us confused Americans. For example, I know that "w" is typically silent when it is part of "wich," as in Greenwich (GREN-itch) and Chiswich (CHEZ-ik). Also, "bury" seems to be pronounced "bree," as in Salisbury (SAULS-bree) and Shaftesbury (SHAFTS-bree). Anyway, it would be very interesting (and useful) if someone from the UK would list and explain the most common place name pronounciation errors that Americans tend to make.

Permit me to digress, but we here in the States have our "code" names. Where I grew up, Rennselaer was 'Ren-slur'. We moved to Columbia County, NY, Valatie is 'Vuh-lay-shuh', Claverack is 'Claw-vrick' and for us old-timers, creek is 'crick'. Now I live in Texas, Mexia is 'Muh-hay-uh', Bexar is 'bear' and Refugio is 'Ruh-few-rio'.

Pride in local identities in the UK is a great source of interest, sometimes amusement, sometimes something else. I remember when the Scottish National Party had as one of its slogans, "It's Scotland's Oil," and someone from the Shetland Islands said no, "It's Shetland's Oil," and was then corrected by someone pointing out that really "It's Unst's Oil." <BR> <BR>Sheila, how about Anstruther? (You know, a little southeast from Auchtermuchty, across the water from Embra, way east of Glesga, or is that Glesca?) <BR> <BR>Disagreeing a little with Rick, here in Murika we usually don't take to these fancy spellings or pronunciations. Pittsburgh doesn't need an "h," and Edinburg, Texas, told it to git outta town rat naw. <BR> <BR>'Cept in Alaska. Try Atmautluak or Kwigillingok. Not that far from Red Devil. <BR>

Dear Local: You are right. Gloucester with an H? What was I thinking? Sorry about that. <BR> <BR>Another pronounciation question: <BR>How do you pronounce Cheltenham? <BR> <BR>Thanks!!!

Cheltnam <BR> <BR>But this could get boring. Why not just have a shot and charm everyone, with your quaint accent?

OK, common pronounciation mistakes I have noticed in and around London..... <BR> <BR>Leicester Square - (Lester Square, cant count the amount of times I have been asked where Ly-cest-er Square is, heehee) <BR>Southwark - (suv-irk) <BR>Deptford - (detford) <BR>Tottenham Court Road - (Tott-nerm) <BR>Aldgate - (all-gate) <BR> <BR>Steve you already mentioned most of the common ones like Greenwich etc. Another one is the H in HAM is silent when used at the end of a word, as in Buckingham and the above mentioned Tottenham, sort of pronounced "nerm" rather than "am" (unless you are from certain parts of London). <BR> <BR>If I think of anymore I'll post them. BTW I'm from England and I think of myself as English first, then British. <BR>

I know that Rough Tor on Bodmin Moor rhymes with cow and Woughton near Milton Keynes is woofton, but what do I do with Slough? I hope it is sluff.

Slough is, in fact, pronounced to rhyme with cow. I sometimes call it Sluff though, because somehow it seems more appropriate to the character of the town (I live close by), or sometimes, the Slough of Despond, but that's just my personal opinion.

Two years in Oxford (ox-ferd) as an overseas student, I went to Wales many times (short distance), and like the language. Try to read, but cannot, one thing i noticed from Welsh spelling is the Noun comes before adjective or details like my language. For example Barclays Bank will be Banc Barclays, Cardiff Bus is Bws Caerdydd. <BR>Betws-Y-Coed should be like Betus-sy-co, but i was told Betsy-co by a local at the hostel i stayed. <BR>