Mis -pronounced names

[DaveGoddard]

One that I don't think has been mentioned - why do Americans pronounce Nissan "NEE-san"?

[mr mac i]

Cockburn Street in Edinburgh always causes some consternation.

The multitude of ways to mangle Leuchars increases each year with the latest influx of tourists.

[thebraketester]

Holborn

[h0b0]

Tony Angelino said:

One for the Yorkshire lads:

Slaithwaite

Slough-it.

I will give you one back....

Greenacres

The locals are trying to call it Green Acres but those of us who have been around know there are no green acres either physically or in the name.

[john2443]

yellowjack said:

Oh! For a language with rules. Like German, for instance. See a letter, say a letter, what could be simpler???

Except W

[hidetheelephants]

GroundEffect said:

Morningside said:

djt100 said:

In the UK we like to confuse people with town names

Reading
Beaconsfield
Bicester
Ewell

Googles maps needs an interpreter when going to any of these places.

Stiffkey
Happisburgh

Google maps does get Happisburgh correct.

Teac the audio company. I have always pronounced it Tee-ACK and others teak. Appears I was correct.

Milngavie = Miln-Guy

Mul-Guy shirley?

[Cyder]

DaveGoddard said:

One that I don't think has been mentioned - why do Americans pronounce Nissan "NEE-san"?

Because that's how the Japanese pronounce it 'ni' is pronounced 'nee' in Japanese.

[Lucas CAV]

mr mac i said:

Cockburn Street in Edinburgh always causes some consternation.

The multitude of ways to mangle Leuchars increases each year with the latest influx of tourists.

And the pronunciations are?

[Lucas CAV]

h0b0 said:

Tony Angelino said:

One for the Yorkshire lads:

Slaithwaite

Slough-it.

I will give you one back....

Greenacres

The locals are trying to call it Green Acres but those of us who have been around know there are no green acres either physically or in the name.

So? How do you pronounce it?

[Lucas CAV]

Cyder said:

DaveGoddard said:

One that I don't think has been mentioned - why do Americans pronounce Nissan "NEE-san"?

Because that's how the Japanese pronounce it 'ni' is pronounced 'nee' in Japanese.

It's funny how with some words people try and affect a "local" pronunciation... Witness TV newsreaders
However no one except the French seem to say parse as opposed to Paris

Another one...

The tttery around Althorp... According to the Queen of Hearts' brother its Altrup.....

[Drummond Baize]

motco said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Apologies if it's already been done but "Fish"

'f' from gh as in rough. 'i' from the 'o' in women, 'sh' from the the 'ti' in emotion. GBS I believe.

Ghoti should be pronounced "Goaty", because those combinations of letters only give those sounds in context; out of context they are pronounced as they're seen.

[motco]

RichB said:

motco said:

RichB said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

djt100 said:

Beaconsfield

I work near there and there is no common agreement even by the folk that live there. Some say Beek, and some say Beck. I've always been a Beck.

I've always been a Beeconsfield but Bekonscot.

I lived there for thirty five years and the different pronunciations are 'class' related and also to how long your family has been there. Too complex to say that C1 C2 and D say Beek, and A,B say Bek. Some Bs still say beek if they recent arrivals, and some Cs say Bek if they're second generation. It derives from 'Bekensfeld' which is a clearing in the beech woods. Seems to have nothing to do with beacons...

Interesting, thank you for the explanation. I first visited about 55 years ago with my Mum and Aunt. We took the 207 from Ealing to Uxbridge and a Greenline from there to Beaconsfield. Being a London boy, when I got off the bus at the Saracen's Head and started to walk to the model village I thought the quaint little cottages were the model village!

My parents, an uncle, and my older sister used to cycle on tandems from Perivale to the Beaconsfield old town before I was born. And I am a post war model by not by much!

[motco]

mebe said:

And according to a Romanian friend it is "daychia" with the ch a little softer than we would make it sound, certainly no "t" in there.

I cannot envisage any occasion when I might need to attempt to pronounce that name!

[Eric Mc]

kowalski655 said:

I was trying to write it as it's pronounced

It's not pronounced "Porter" either (although certain English accents do place "r" sounds where there shouldn't be any - so that might explain it).

[xRIEx]

Eric Mc said:

kowalski655 said:

I was trying to write it as it's pronounced

It's not pronounced "Porter" either (although certain English accents do place "r" sounds where there shouldn't be any - so that might explain it).

Please do enlighten us with the ultimate truth then.

[Shakermaker]

john2443 said:

yellowjack said:

Oh! For a language with rules. Like German, for instance. See a letter, say a letter, what could be simpler???

Except W

Greek would have been a better example.

[Vipers]

Like the German parachuting into uk.

Instructor said where are you heading for.

Soldier said "Sluff"

Instructor said, "Sluff, how do you spell that it"

Soldier said "S L O U G H"

Instructor said "That's pronounced S-Low"

Soldier said, "I think English is very t-ow to learn" (i.e. Tough as in slough)

[xRIEx]

Vipers said:

Like the German parachuting into uk.

Instructor said where are you heading for.

Soldier said "Sluff"

Instructor said, "Sluff, how do you spell that it"

Soldier said "S L O U G H"

Instructor said "That's pronounced S-Low"

Soldier said, "I think English is very t-ow to learn" (i.e. Tough as in slough)

I think I read that 'ough' is the letter combination with the most different pronunciations in English:

Tough/rough
Slough
Though
Through
Thought/sought
Trough
Thorough
Etc.

[Hugo a Gogo]

and in the place name Middlesbrough, Teesside, it's pronounced burrah, like all the other places spelled Borough (with an extra O)

[nicanary]

Hugo a Gogo said:

and in the place name Middlesbrough, Teesside, it's pronounced burrah, like all the other places spelled Borough (with an extra O)

The locals pronounce it Middlesbro.

(As for Happisburgh in Norfolk, my mother's family came from that region - she was born in East Ruston, and lived in Walcot, my uncle lived in Happisburgh itself. She pronounced it Happisberg, and I don't think she was having a laugh. She was a fairly simple kind of person, in the nicest way. She wouldn't have understood irony. She believed it was middle-class elitists who conceived the notion of Haisbra. So there - from the horse's mouth so to speak - a real local yokel.)