Worcester

[Glizdka]

This comes from an episode of Map Men on Jay Foreman's YouTube channel.

It's about how to pronounce British place names, and why to pronounce them that way.

"(...)No letter of the English alphabet is safe from being pronounced any of dozens of different ways—including not at all. Thankfully, there are some general rules you can stick to, and because we are nice, we'll help the un-British [?] amongst you through a couple of basics.

• Cester is pronounced /stə/ - Leicester, Worcester, Gloucester.
• W at the start of the final syllable is silent - Norwich, Berwick, Southwark.
• Er is pronounced /ɑ:/ - Berkshire, Clerkenwell, Hertfordshire."

Do you approve of this?

 

[Rover_KE]

Broadly, yes, but you're sure to encounter exceptions.

 

[Tdol]

This is where GB Shaw's ghoti (= fish, from enough, women and station) kicks in.

 

[Glizdka]

I am not sure what you mean by that.

I meant Jay Foreman's summary, but now that you've mentioned it, I too think it's a cunning device. ;-)

 

[jutfrank]

My friend grew up in a town called Towcester.

(Yes, like the kitchen appliance.)

 

[GoesStation]

Towing cesters around gets tiresome.

 

[Glizdka]

I once heard a joke about -ssexes.

We have Sussex in the south, Wessex in the west, Essex in the east, but people in the north don't get Nossex.

 

[Rover_KE]

... and don't get the wrong idea about Middlesex.

 

[Tdol]

This comes from an episode of Map Men on Jay Foreman's YouTube channel.

It's about how to pronounce British place names, and why to pronounce them that way.

"(...)No letter of the English alphabet is safe from being pronounced any of dozens of different ways—including not at all. Thankfully, there are some general rules you can stick to, and because we are nice, we'll help the un-British [?] amongst you through a couple of basics.

• Cester is pronounced /stə/ - Leicester, Worcester, Gloucester.
• W at the start of the final syllable is silent - Norwich, Berwick, Southwark.
• Er is pronounced /ɑ:/ - Berkshire, Clerkenwell, Hertfordshire."

Do you approve of this?

I am from Leicester and went to school in Loughborough, so I approve of no sound/spelling system fully. :up:

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm told that the proud residents of Berwick (in East Sussex on the south coast of England) pronounce it "Ber-wick", unlike those in Berwick-upon-Tweed (in Northumberland, and just 3 miles from the Scottish border) who pronounce their town's name "Berrick ...".

 

[GoesStation]

Strangely, nobody from Wooster, Ohio pronounces it war-sess-ter. I can't explain the phenomenon.