American Reacts to Why British Place Names are so Hard to Pronounce 

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My favourite comment of the day by far! 🤣🤣

Brilliant!

they do tend to drop the wrong H's sometimes. surprised they don't call large-scale medical centres 'Ospitals' for the sake of that level of continuity.

Mirror - meer Orange - onje Boot - trunk 😁

@@101steel4 Bonnet - hood squirrel - squirl solder - sodder etc etc

@@audiocoffeeI’m from south east london with I suppose a mostly cockney accent and I say ospital lol I didn’t notice my accent to much until I moved to Kent! I though they spoke the same as me, they do for the most part, but certain words are pronounced differently. E.g round here they pronounce out properly but I would say it like ahht

I've never understood how America has a state of Oregon with the stress on the first and last phoneme, but in 'Oregano' put all the stress on the second phoneme 🤷‍♂️

You are correct. We even often make errors in our own grammar, as in "us Brits" as opposed to the more grammatically correct "we Brits". 😅 (Don't take me seriously. I'm only extracting the urine!)

I didn't even realise a place near where I live was spelt the way it was until I was in my early 20s. I knew of a nearby town pronounced 'Karma' although I'd never seen it written down. Then one day I saw a place name 'Caldmore' and my sister had to tell me THAT was 'Karma'. I was disgusted with myself 😅

Yeah, but you can tell Steve has no idea of the humour!

I got Towcester wrong for a long time. I said it 'Tau-stuh', not 'Toe-stuh'.

I wonder if fewer did before Lord of the Rings took off.

But, The Shire is pronounced SHYER which is correct in English, just like we have Shire horses. It's only when adding shire at the end of a word it becomes SHEER.

In Scotland it is pronounced "Shyer " as well.

They forget there are two sounds to the letters

I used to live near Grimsby 😂😂😂

Sometimes even the locals can't agree on a pronunciation; I used to live in a village with less than 2,000 inhabitants, and those in the north pronounced it very differently to those in the south and east - all of half-a-mile apart!

haha, thanks! I enjoyed this one so I'm sure I'll look at more of their videos in the future :)

I know Americans have a rhotic R in their accent, so it comes out as Hamp-sure instead more like Hamp-sha.

Good old Dr. Foster. He never did come to Gloucester again, went to Frocester instead ;-) With Steve's pronunciation of Wales, it's just an accent thing isn't it? Doesn't bother me particularly. His accent just has weak differentiation between /eɪ/ and /ɛ/. There's a difference between mispronunciation and differences in accent, as the French particularly need to learn.

Yes, we've told Steve about his constant mispronouncuation of 'Wales' to "Wells" _umpteen_ times but he _still_ can't seem to say WALES correctly...😢 Which is a shame, because what will he then call 'Tunbridge Wells'?! (...or 'Tonbridge', which is a different spelling, but similar pronunciation of a different town, might be in a - maybe? - different county

@@brigidsingleton1596 while we're on a spelling/pronunciation path, it's umpteen and shame. I know, it's probably a typo, but I couldn't help myself 🤭

@@utha2665 Thank you ... I missed those. They were changed by my Tablet (again) sorry about that. I've edited them now. 😏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿♥️🙂🖖

Some pronounce thames as its spelt instead of tems how it's actually pronounced . 😊

Oh that cracks me up completely 🤪

One that really gets my goat and not many realise is solder, they pronounce it sodder. Now you will never un-hear it.

​@@utha2665 One of the biggest culprits for that is John Parks over at Adafruit he really winds me up because he knows he is saying it wrong admits to saying it wrong does not correct himself and he is instructing people in electronics people like him are what is wrong in all types of education, you would not get a mechanic refer to a cam wheel as a sprocket doda.

@@surfaceten510n Haha sprocket doda, I get what you mean though. I can understand other pronunciations, even the 'erb one, but there is no rhyme or reason for sodder. And it seems a large proportion of Americans say it like this as well.

Yeah, very true! :)

Be thankful that you don't live in Milngavie, or even Edinburgh or Glasgow. See also Culzean and Kirkcudbright.

A lot of Americans have problems with Worcestershire sauce, one lady has worked a way round it, by calling it the Dub (as in W) very clever!

JJLA is the only reactor I’ve seen that got it

I heard it, but I thought it was just to get around the YT police. Of course, the silent 'w'. Gotta love Map Men, very engaging.

You can blame lord of the rings for that haha :)

Also in Scotland, we pronounce shire - shir, as in shirt or shire without the e at the end of the word. Have you tried Scottish name places? How do you pronounce Anstruther or Taynuilt? Or Edinburgh?

Don't be too harsh - he's trying

Should be prounonced more like "Sheer"

Most of the place names in this video are place names in the USA. My guess it's no different than over here where if your not from a place or ever been there then it's likely you won't know how to pronounce it properly. USA place names in video: Grimsby Leominster Loughborough Keighley Beaulieu Gotham Newcastle Leicester Worcester Gloucester Norwich Berwick Southwark Berkshire Cirencester Sandwich Berkhamsted Hertfordshire Aberystwyth Buckingham I wouldn't be surprised if all them places are pronounced correctly in the USA by the people that live in the places or near by

Honestly even by seemingly simple ones. A common gripe of the people from where I live, Bury, is that ppl from outside for some reason seem to call it buh-ree instead of berry

Solihull and Shrewsbury spring to mind

Some place-name pronunciations vary not just by the speaker's location, but by social class. For example, Shrewsbury has traditionally been pronounced to rhyme with, well, "threw" by most of its inhabitents and by working-class people, but to rhyme with 'throw' by many middle-class and most upper-class people.

@@terryhunt2659 just to confuse you more I pronounce Shrewsbury "Amwythig", Chester as "Caer" (rhymes with Tyre) and Snowdon as Eryri

I refuse to call Gotham anything but like Gotham from Batman You have a cool ass name like that and you decide to pronounce it Goatam.. like really?

There's nothing wrong with a beautiful view of a beaver 😊

Same with Beaulieu; en française 'Bow-lee-uh', but in English 'Bew-lee'.

WE have our own flag , The flag features a chain to represent the manufacturing heritage of the area whilst the upright triangular shape in the background recalls the iconic glass cones and iron furnaces that featured in the architectural landscape of the area. The red and black colours recall the famous description of the Black Country by Elihu Burritt that it was "black by day and red by night" owing to the smoke and fires of industry., Black country very intresting place ,

I remember our English teachers would get us to read to our class in English lessons. In my first year at secondary school, my classmate Brian was chosen to read a chapter from the book we were studying. One line is forever etched on my memory: "Down at the quay was a small jetty"... which, thanks to Brian, became "Down at the qway was a small yeti".

Cracks me up how the English pronounce Cay when it should be pronounced 'Key".

As a kid i lived there, we got stopped by someone looking for Trosley ( days before sat nav and only road map were used) we sent them the wrong way whilst standing right next to the road sign 🤣

I'm moving to one of the new estates in wymondham in summer. You will be not far xD

Even people in Sheffield can't get that right.

De-Dahs get more than that wrong @@PedroConejo1939

I grew up in Sheffield and my first memory ever learning the weird naming conventions of our country as a kid was my dad correcting my pronunciation of Derby lol@@PedroConejo1939

Absolutely. The long version was a publicity stunt from about 1870. The original name was Pwllgwyngyll or Llanfair y Pwllgwyngyll.

I heard you can get a train to the end of the name and back.

There are still inconsistencies in Welsh pronunciation. E.g. "Yn", "Yr", "Aberystwyth" the Y varies. Or the A in "Blenau" vs "Da"

@@kalvindeane1 The "a" in Blenau (Blaenau?) and Da would be the same noise. Some vowels have minor variations in duration, and accent/dialect muddles things beyond the standard pronunciation as it does in all languages, but to my recollection "Y" is the only letter that can be anunciated in two completely distinct ways, such as in "ynys". Much more managable than the 6+ ways of pronouncing "-ough" in English.

They are not the same noise at all. The 'au' in Blenau sounds like 'i' in English. The 'a' in Da sounds like the A in 'Arm' in English. That is not consistent.

Mackinac Island MI (pron. Mackinaw)

When I see arkansas I would say ar-kan-sas. Not ar-kun-sar lol.

Godmanchester is NOT pronounced gumster it's a myth as someone from Godmanchester

Yeah the Gumster thing is wrong, it is exceedingly out of date to the extent that even 60 years ago people who lived there didn't pronounce it that way. Maybe just a handful at that time. Cirencester is similar. Most people pronounce it like "Sirensester" but there are older people who pronounce it "Sisester" or "Sisetter". However the number of people who pronounce it those ways is dwindling by the year.

@@duntalkin Are you a native? I used to work with someone from there, and he always said Gumster, in fact it took me sometime to figure out he was talking about Godmanchester. He also told me that locals all called it Gumster.

I think he was pulling your leg I was born and brought up there even had a railway station back then

I'm a Nottinghamian and I always say 'Luff-bruh' for Loughborough.

I get my first house in wymondham this year! Hype

Thanks! Appreciate you :)

Yeah, the Kansas and Arkansas one doesn't even make sense to us :)

Those are native american names so they could be thousands of years old

native american indians had no written language - so pronunciations only recorded post 1492!! @@gallowglass2630

The differences in pronunciation between American English and British English can be attributed to historical and linguistic factors. American English has evolved separately from British English since the colonization of North America, leading to differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. In the case of place names, the pronunciation reflects the local dialect and historical linguistic influences. For example, the pronunciation of "New Hampshire" follows American English phonetic patterns, while "Yorkshire" and "Worcestershire" adhere to British English phonetics. The pronunciation of these British place names reflects the regional accents and historical linguistic developments in the UK. Additionally, the spelling of place names often does not correspond directly to their pronunciation in English, leading to differences in how they are pronounced in different dialects. This can contribute to the variations in pronunciation between American English and British English. Overall, the differences in pronunciation between American English and British English place names can be attributed to the historical development of each dialect and the influence of regional accents and dialects within each country.

I'm sure it's true about the 'How to spot a German' because there were films about it for the general public. The one that sticks in my mind was if they try and order a coffee in a pub. These days that would be normal- but not in the 1940's!

So basically a Shibboleth....

I live in Crewe,and I've always pronounced it Chumley, I wonder if Steve has heard of local names like why are people from Nantwich called Dabbers and so on.

@@CollieDog24 I doubt it! Could be a good thing for him to look into!

Apparently the English and French word for squirrel was also used to detect a spy. Both difficult to pronounce if your not from that country.

Neither did Britain in 50s and early 60s. That stupid ITA system of mid 60s onwards was useless. Little kids were taught to read phonetically, then 2 years later told to 'forget all that', now you have to learn to read, spell and correct pronunciation. To this day my 64year old sister cannot spell to save her life. Nor can many of her contemporaries. Please teach Sophia the correct words (even if they are the American, not English spelling or pronunciation. At 7 years old, I thought Arkansas was pronounced Ar-kan-sas!

I was bet £20 I couldn't learn it in one day, I did and got that cash.

It's not difficult once you know how to pronounce welsh letters. Our alphabet is different to the English alphabet x

In my primary school we used to race to say it the fastest 😂

Yep, me too. It came in handy when I was teaching and we had an assembly with Welsh guests. They put the name on a projector and asked if anyone could pronounce it. I was the only one.

The only hard part is the LL sound. But that just takes a little practise @@heulwenhughes4110

Wrotham gets most Brits - Rootum

I’ve heard it pronounced lugga bugga and it’s stayed with me for years!

Actually it's from the Latin 'castra' meaning military camp. Every place-name that includes '-chester', '-caster', '-cester' or '-caister' is a former military camp of the Roman Army - some, like Chester, became cities in their own right. The Welsh word 'caer' meaning 'castle' is borrowed from Latin - it is also the name of the city of Chester in Welsh.

And of course, this is why the British ended up so good at war. Practise, Practise, Practise. Our little Island was a melting pot of survival of the fittest, a real little vipers nest. And once we got good enough, we built ships. 😈🥳😉

Not to mention Pratt's Bottom.

And six Mile Bottom!@@geoff1201

We've got The Land of Nod, and Wetwang, Blubberhouses, plus lots of other weird names in Yorkshire, even some of the street names are strange like Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate in York, there's the Tickle Cock bridge underpass in Castleford and Geese and Green Peas Yard in Pontefract, etc etc

Where are you from? It's near Hurt ford shire? Never heard of it. 😂