5 ms·

A bit tangential, but 'Leicester' is one of those wonderful British place-names that doesn't really follow any English pronunciation rules and you just have to

by mrjh 3y ago

A bit tangential, but 'Leicester' is one of those wonderful British place-names that doesn't really follow any English pronunciation rules and you just have to know the right one... In this case 'Leicester' is pronounced 'Lester'.

laputan_machine 3y ago
Towcester (Toaster) , Gloucester (Gloh-ster), Worcester (Wuh-ster)... cester -> ster (or 'stɜː' round my end)
jjgreen 3y ago
Locals call it "Lesstaaah"
gokhan 3y ago
Bournemouth Worchester Southwark ...
- throwaway426079 3y ago
  Marylebone... Mornington Crescent! (No pronunciation trickery on that last one, it is just the name of an absurdist parlor game)
- timthorn 3y ago
  ...Happisburgh
  - benjamta 3y ago
    Ha! Norfolk's a treasure trove of interesting place names. Wymondham also trips outsiders up. I was here for almost 20 years before I learnt that Heighham is pronounced as just "Ham".
  - UncleSlacky 3y ago
    Woolfardisworthy.
technothrasher 3y ago
We've got a Leicester here in Massachusetts which is also pronounced 'Lester'. It is just West of Worcester, which is pronounced 'Wuster'. But they become 'Lestah' and 'Wustah' with a Boston accent.
- kinbiko 3y ago
  In the UK instead of “booster shot” they say “borcester shot”.
- weevil 3y ago
  True to their namesakes then; Leicester is pronouned by the locals as 'Lestah' or 'Lestoh'.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
meekaaku 3y ago
Gloucester Southwark (pronounced sutherk) Warwick (pronounced wo-rik)
JdeBP 3y ago
All of the recent fuss about Welsh placenames only serves to highlight that places in England, in contrast, are usually named in languages that no-one speaks any more. At least Welsh is still spoken. Latin gives us, via Old English, the "-cester" in all of the placenames mentioned elsethread, as well as "-chester" and "-caster". Old English gives us all of the "ton"s, "hamp"s, and whatnot. The "win-" in "Winchester" is Celtic, as are the "dor-" in "Dorchester" and the "man-" in "Manchester". The "lei-" in "Leicester" means an unploughed meadow, a.k.a. a lay or lea. * https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lay#Etymology_6 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lay#Etymology_6 When one isn't a native Latin or Old English or Celtic speaker and cannot even understand placenames in England, it does seem a little silly, and missing a huge elephant in the room, to be worrying about Welsh placenames. (-: This is why the names don't follow Modern English pronunciation rules. They aren't actually Modern English.
- russdill 3y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOd3lwluQIw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOd3lwluQIw "it just might be a shibboleth"
vincent-manis 3y ago
I was born in England, but we emigrated to Canada when I was 5. A few years later, we returned for a visit. My mother and I were on the Tube when I announced loudly `Ooh look, Mummy, the next stop is Lye-ces-ter Square!'. She shushed me and said she didn't want the other passengers to think we were Canadians.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

by mrjh 3y ago

laputan_machine 3y ago

Towcester (Toaster) , Gloucester (Gloh-ster), Worcester (Wuh-ster)... cester -> ster (or 'stɜː' round my end)

jjgreen 3y ago

Locals call it "Lesstaaah"

gokhan 3y ago

Bournemouth Worchester Southwark ...

throwaway426079 3y ago
Marylebone... Mornington Crescent! (No pronunciation trickery on that last one, it is just the name of an absurdist parlor game)
timthorn 3y ago
...Happisburgh
- benjamta 3y ago
  Ha! Norfolk's a treasure trove of interesting place names. Wymondham also trips outsiders up. I was here for almost 20 years before I learnt that Heighham is pronounced as just "Ham".
- UncleSlacky 3y ago
  Woolfardisworthy.

technothrasher 3y ago

We've got a Leicester here in Massachusetts which is also pronounced 'Lester'. It is just West of Worcester, which is pronounced 'Wuster'. But they become 'Lestah' and 'Wustah' with a Boston accent.

kinbiko 3y ago
In the UK instead of “booster shot” they say “borcester shot”.
weevil 3y ago
True to their namesakes then; Leicester is pronouned by the locals as 'Lestah' or 'Lestoh'.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

meekaaku 3y ago

Gloucester Southwark (pronounced sutherk) Warwick (pronounced wo-rik)

JdeBP 3y ago

All of the recent fuss about Welsh placenames only serves to highlight that places in England, in contrast, are usually named in languages that no-one speaks any more. At least Welsh is still spoken. Latin gives us, via Old English, the "-cester" in all of the placenames mentioned elsethread, as well as "-chester" and "-caster". Old English gives us all of the "ton"s, "hamp"s, and whatnot. The "win-" in "Winchester" is Celtic, as are the "dor-" in "Dorchester" and the "man-" in "Manchester". The "lei-" in "Leicester" means an unploughed meadow, a.k.a. a lay or lea. * https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lay#Etymology_6 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lay#Etymology_6 When one isn't a native Latin or Old English or Celtic speaker and cannot even understand placenames in England, it does seem a little silly, and missing a huge elephant in the room, to be worrying about Welsh placenames. (-: This is why the names don't follow Modern English pronunciation rules. They aren't actually Modern English.

russdill 3y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOd3lwluQIw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOd3lwluQIw "it just might be a shibboleth"

vincent-manis 3y ago

I was born in England, but we emigrated to Canada when I was 5. A few years later, we returned for a visit. My mother and I were on the Tube when I announced loudly `Ooh look, Mummy, the next stop is Lye-ces-ter Square!'. She shushed me and said she didn't want the other passengers to think we were Canadians.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]