We can all universally agree that some of the place names in the UK can be difficult to pronounce if you aren’t from here.
People from all over the world - including the UK - are now sharing the British places that they struggle to enunciate... and there’s a lot of them.
It all started when Kate Burton on Twitter asked her followers: “Who wants to torment some Americans with English name pronunciations? Give me some ideas.”
She then suggested Southwark (suh·thuhk) in London and Wymondhams (Wind’m) in Norfolk which both sound completely different to how they look.
Who wants to torment some Americans with English place name pronunciations? Give me some ideas. I’ll start with Southwark, London.— Kate Burton (@Kate Burton) 1620048400
This spurred other people to share their own places names and the tweet has since received nearly 6,000 replies.
Read more:
- Bill Gates announces he’s getting divorced - here’s how the internet reacted
- Billie Eilish fans defend singer after her Vogue cover sparks debate about her body
- TikToker told to leave partner after he was caught rolling his eyes during Live Photo
- Woman wearing bikini at a Hawaii beach told to leave beach by angry mother
- Man who claims he is Charles and Camilla’s son shares new photographic ‘evidence’
Some of the most popular places mentioned in the replies were:
- “Loughborough,” (luhf·buh·ruh) - a town in the East Midlands.
- “Bicester” (bi·stuh) - a town in Oxfordshire.
- “Worcestershire” (wu·stuh·shuh) - a county in the West Midlands.
As a result, all of them began to trend on Twitter with people sharing times they’ve heard those places being mispronounced, including Loughborough as “Loog-ba-roog.”
I once met someone who worked at a service station and had a couple of Americans asking for the best way to ‘Loog-b… https://t.co/ZTlPjlwDjp— Lee W-F (@Lee W-F) 1620105955
I know it's bad, but I heard a non-Brit try to pronounce Bicester the other day and I nearly spat my tea out 😂😭 https://t.co/1yEz842ELG— Sushil (@Sushil) 1620119043
@BeTheMagpie Worcestershire is pretty impossible for them.— Emily⚡️ (@Emily⚡️) 1620117821
People shared other suggestions from all over the country to add to the list, including:
- “Moggerhanger” - a village in Bedfordshire
- “Garboldisham” - a village in Norfolk
- “Holborn” (how·bn) - a district in Central London.
- “Marylebone” (maa·luh·bn) - a district in West London.
- “Keswick” (keh·zuhk) - a town in Cumbria.
- “Leicester” (leh·stuh) - a city in the East Midlands.
- “Ruislip” (rai·sluhp) - a village in London.
- “Leominster” (lem·stuh) - a town in Herefordshire.
- “Mousehole” (muzzle) - a village in Cornwall.
- “Fowey” (foy) - a town in Cornwall.
- “Beaulieu” - a village in Hampshire.
- “Birmingham” (BUR·ming·uhm) - city in the West Midlands.
@BeTheMagpie Moggerhanger in Bedfordshire is pronounced Morhanger ... and my favourite is Garboldisham in Suffolk .… https://t.co/zCKpd84MWX— John Spiers (@John Spiers) 1620066591
@BeTheMagpie Birmingham. They think they know it, but they can't stop saying birmingHAM— Dr Sally Le Page (@Dr Sally Le Page) 1620066900
@Whoozley @BeTheMagpie Beaulieu in Hampshire is a good one. Pronounced "Bewley".— Kaya Burgess (@Kaya Burgess) 1620051207
@BeTheMagpie Cholmondely Godalming Belvoir Teignmouth Loughborough Worcestershire Salisbury Alnwick Wightwick Engl… https://t.co/9eL5fgsK3Z— Rachel 💙 (@Rachel 💙) 1620072435
One place is so difficult to pronounce in fact, that there is actually a phonetic spelling it underneath on the place’s sign for residents in “Woolfardisworthy” (Woolsery) - a village in Devon.
Guess it saves everyone a lot of time trying to understand the pronunciation.
@BeTheMagpie this one is just down the road from my mum https://t.co/epZObNHJFk— @aldroid@mastodon.social (@@aldroid@mastodon.social) 1620053309
Though let’s not leave out Wales and Scotland - they have some complicated place names of their own too.
From “Llanelli” (luh·neh·lee) to “Edinburgh” (ed-in-burra) to “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch” (which understandably can be shortened to Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll or Llanfair PG).
@BeTheMagpie Can i cheat and go over the border. https://t.co/1ENK2W2EiG— Atheist Experience UK (@Atheist Experience UK) 1620049970
@BeTheMagpie Who wants to torture anyone with Welsh names. I'll start Llanelli 😂— Gareth Davey 3.5% 🏴🇵🇸 (@Gareth Davey 3.5% 🏴🇵🇸) 1620056124
@Davey1969Davey @BeTheMagpie Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrngogogoch.— Kate Gladstone (@Kate Gladstone) 1620117971
@BeTheMagpie Not just English place names...Edinburgh, Milngavie, Kirkcaldy, Kirkcudbright. A lot of English strugg… https://t.co/fOTMdQxMJa— Sophie (@Sophie) 1620049095
@BeTheMagpie Scottish villages ... Tighnabruaich, Drumnadrochit, Kilconquhar— KnightAngel🏴#PrisonerOnPlagueIsland (@KnightAngel🏴#PrisonerOnPlagueIsland) 1620079579
Although this Twitter thread was created to highlight how Americans mispronounced some of our place names, it seems even us Brits are still left baffled at some of the names in our own country.
Who knew there were so many tricky places names out there in the UK?