Quirky British Place Names Part 1

A group of authors writing interesting posts weekly and interacting with readers.

Quirky British Place Names Part 1

8/5/2021

How do you pronounce that?

British place names are diverse, influenced by Saxon, Viking, Norman, Latin words, among other sources. What you see if definitely not what you get. At least not always.
Here is a selection of British place names that often throw those folks unfamiliar with the pronunciation – including my fellow Brits!

Spelling

Belvoir Castle
Leominster
Frome
Loughborough
Claughton (Lancaster)
Claughton (Merseyside)
Claughton on Brock
Cholmondeley
Bicester
Gloucester
Happisburgh
Hunstanton
Isleworth
Keighley
Little Hautbois
Magdelene College
Magdelene Hall l
Marylebone
Mousehol

Pronunciation

Beaver Castle
Lem-ster
Froom (to rhyme with broom)
Luff-bruh
Kluff-ten
Klaw-ten
Kly-ten – on Brock
Chum-lee
Bis-ter
Glos-ter
Hayz -bruh
Huntston
I-zel- worth
Keeth-lee
Little Hobb-iss
Mawd-lin
Mawn Hall
Mar-Lee-Bone
Mouzall

Confused? Yep, that’s English for you.

Source
Source
Source

author page

4 Comments

Cindy J. Smith

8/5/2021 06:34:26 pm

It is interesting how the spelling of a name can be so different from how it is pronounced. Here in the US it is the same, with towns spelling their names the same and the pronunciations are totally different!

Eric J. Gates link

8/5/2021 07:54:56 pm

And then there is the classic American tourist in the West End of London asking directions for Lie-sester Square - it's happened to me more times than I can recall. It's Lester Square, guys.

Erika M Szabo

8/6/2021 05:51:29 am

This had caused me a lot of headache when I started learning English LOL
And then the homophones drove me crazy:
Hour - Our
Knew - New
Mail - Male
Overdo - Overdue
Pain - Pane
Plain - Plane
Real - Reel
English is a weird language, indeed!

A.J. Park

8/6/2021 03:08:24 pm

English is a crazy language for sure! I'm always fascinated by the differences between British English and American English. Many place names in the US are vastly different due to different local influences. The Great Salt Lake is pretty self explanatory, but what about the Grand Tetons (French people always giggle at that one) . How about Mississippi? I live next to a mountain range called Wasatch.