Mr Portillo does not know proper pronounciation of a town

[toffee]

Cathays - pronounced Kerttays or Cuttays (not as in the air line Cathay Pacific)

 

Canton - pronounced Cantun (not as the Chinese province of Can-tonn)

Phew, that's all right then Bri, I'll agree with you over those, I'll go with Cattays as it's always the way I heard it, have you seen the new book on Cardiff Buses ? Quite tasty.

[toffee]

Big - Jim, I would say Al- re- was, the locals I know say it like that, I'm 5 miles away so not local enough to have a say !

[trisonic]

I am an old codger who feels the same as Edwardian about rising cadences at the ends of sentences, but a far worse crime in my book is the Americanism of using it to repeat what I've just told you as a question, as in (me) 'I'm going up the pub after tea', (criminal moron) 'you're going up the pub after tea?' rant...

 

Why is that an Americanism? Never heard it much over here.....There’s plenty of peculiar Englishisms to go around - like the rising cadence question thing.

 

Best, Pete.

[melmerby]

I am an old codger who feels the same as Edwardian about rising cadences at the ends of sentences, but a far worse crime in my book is the Americanism of using it to repeat what I've just told you as a question, as in (me) 'I'm going up the pub after tea', (criminal moron) 'you're going up the pub after tea?'.  Yes you knuckle dragging merkanised fool, didn't you hear me, how many times have I got to repeat myself, I just bloody said I'm going... oh, you were only taking a polite interest and have tricked me into an inappropriate response, my psychiatrist warned me about those...

 

Merkan sitcoms are full of this idiocy.  Bit OT but I feel better for having had the rant...

It seems to be fashionable to blame all debasing of the English language on Americanisms when in fact in the UK we have plenty of poorly educated half-brains which are quite capable of doing on their own!

 

Keith

[Fenman]

Why is that an Americanism? Never heard it much over here.....There’s plenty of peculiar Englishisms to go around - like the rising cadence question thing.

 

Best, Pete.

I understood it was originally Australian, popularised here by soaps like "Neighbours".

 

Paul

[Gwiwer]

I understood it was originally Australian, popularised here by soaps like "Neighbours".

 

Paul

 

"Popularised" and "Neighbours" should not be used in the same language  

 

But yes, Australians do often end a statement with a rising intonation as though it were a question and do likewise with questions.

[Tiffy]

Big - Jim, I would say Al- re- was, the locals I know say it like that, I'm 5 miles away so not local enough to have a say !

Just up the road from me is the thriving metropolis of Alresford  (on the Watercress Line) - which although it has the same root as Alrewas, is pronounced locally as Allsford.

 

Ain't language fun?

 

And of course, we also have the cities of Porsmuff and Sarfamtun quite close as well.

[Rivercider]

Over many years of listening to station and train announcements made by people from a variety of ethnic and regional backgrounds

I have often had a quiet chuckle to myself at some of the different pronunciations, but almost always it is still obvious to me which station is referred to.

 

In some ways I think we should rejoice that there are still different ways of pronouncing a place name, as long as the place is still understood.

It would be a shame if we all spoke the same way and regional dialects were lost.

 

One pet hate I do have though is the disappearing 'r' at the end of words, I often travel via Exeter St Davids not Exetah St Davids!

 

cheers

[Fenman]

...

One pet hate I do have though is the disappearing 'r' at the end of words, I often travel via Exeter St Davids not Exetah St Davids!

 

cheers

Do you also hate it when people leave out the "k" at the front of knight, or the "g" at the front of gnat?

 

This evolving language thing is a b-u-g-g-e-r, isn't it? Anyone would think us old farts were trying to fossilise the world on our own terms rather than accepting that evolution doesn't just stop with us.

 

Paul

[Gwiwer]

 

 

It would be a shame if we all spoke the same way and regional dialects were lost.

Absolutely

 

Compared with the UK where it is still possible to pinpoint the speaker's native town or village in some instances from their accent alone there is far less regional variation in the vastness of Australia.  Yet the pitfalls are present for the unwary just as they are back home.  And no doubt everywhere we might go.

 

Merri Creek is "Merry"

Merri River is "Merrye"

 

Tanti Avenue is "Tantee"

Tanti Estate (through which Tanti Avenue runs) is "Tantye"

 

Wunghnu is "one you"

Wagga Wagga is always the single form "wogger"

Nunawading (where Neighbours is filmed) is "NUNner-WODding"

Murgheboluc is "MERJ-ee-BOLLuck"

Sydney is "SIDnee" though you'd be surprised how many people ask for "SIDE-nee" or "SIDER-nee"

 

Koolyanobbing and Burrumbuttock are pronounced exactly as you might expect!

[Rivercider]

Do you also hate it when people leave out the "k" at the front of knight, or the "g" at the front of gnat?

 

This evolving language thing is a b-u-g-g-e-r, isn't it? Anyone would think us old farts were trying to fossilise the world on our own terms rather than accepting that evolution doesn't just stop with us.

 

Paul

It is a buggah isn' it?

Yes I realise language continually evolves, and I will have to live with it, but I am from Devon (strong in arm and thick in head) so I like to roll my rrrrrrs 

 

cheers

[Fenman]

It is a buggah isn' it?

Yes I realise language continually evolves, and I will have to live with it, but I am from Devon (strong in arm and thick in head) so I like to roll my rrrrrrs

 

cheers

 

Fnar fnar.

 

Paul

[Richard E]

One I was always told about, not sure if it true, is Congresbury in Somerset (used to be on the line from Yatton to Cheddar) which was allegedly pronounced by locals as Coonsbry. And Nailsea is Nailzee of course.

[melmerby]

Then there was Althorp which was pronounced Alltrop by a certain Earl, even though the locals that lived in the village called it Althorp.

 

Belvoir (from the French for beautiful view) pronounced Beevor/Beever (more like a dam building rodent!)

 

Or in Cumbria: Torpenhow pronounced Trupenah

The legend goes that Tor, Pen and How all mean "hill" in different languages and there is also a Torpenhow Hill so it's Hill-hill-hill Hill!

(That's apparently not quite the accepted version today)

 

Keith

[pH]

One pet hate I do have though is the disappearing 'r' at the end of words, I often travel via Exeter St Davids not Exetah St Davids!

 

Not to worry - it gets added to other words, as in "lawr and ordah", so it all balances out in the end.

[lmsforever]

Out in the wilds of Bucks there is a village called Ludgershall   ​known as Luggershall  but you have to be carefull as it really is in the wilds.

[wombatofludham]

The legend goes that Tor, Pen and How all mean "hill" in different languages and there is also a Torpenhow Hill so it's Hill-hill-hill Hill!

(That's apparently not quite the accepted version today)

 

Keith

 

By the same token, the River Avon is an Anglicised "Afon" from the Welsh for river.  So the River Avon is actually the River River. 

[Gwiwer]

 

 

... in Cumbria: Torpenhow pronounced Trupenah

The legend goes that Tor, Pen and How all mean "hill" in different languages and there is also a Torpenhow Hill so it's Hill-hill-hill Hill!

(That's apparently not quite the accepted version today)

 

Keith

 

 

Cumbric is one of the overlooked Celtic languages closely connected to Welsh, Cornish and others.  In Cornish Tor is a type of hill with a specific natural rock formation on top (Bre is more generically any hill) while Pen is a headland but How is not present.  Tautological place names are far from unknown.  There are at least three locations called Castle-an-Dinas; since Dinas means castle and an is the definite article these are "Castle the Castle".  Beare Green in Surrey is "Green Green"

[Davexoc]

So much for river rivers and multiple hills.

How did we end up with a Fordbridge?

You can't go through a ford on a bridge can you?

 

Dave

[Zomboid]

Out in the wilds of Bucks there is a village called Ludgershall ​known as Luggershall but you have to be carefull as it really is in the wilds.

There's one of those near Andover, too. I've heard it described as Luggershall (as in hall rather than shall) and Ludgers-hall. I have no idea which is right, it's mostly a military place, so I suspect most of the locals aren't born-and-bred types. It's probably mostly said with a Geordie accent or something...

[Gwiwer]

So much for river rivers and multiple hills.

How did we end up with a Fordbridge?

You can't go through a ford on a bridge can you?

 

Dave

 

But most fords have a by-pass bridge for pedestrians and (sometimes) animals.

 

Hence Fordingbridge in the New Forest.

[melmerby]

So much for river rivers and multiple hills.

How did we end up with a Fordbridge?

You can't go through a ford on a bridge can you?

 

Dave

But you can go over a bridge in a Ford! (Or BMW or Merc or............)

 

Keith

[Fenman]

So much for river rivers and multiple hills.

How did we end up with a Fordbridge?

You can't go through a ford on a bridge can you?

 

Dave

The small NW Norfolk port of Rising gained a Norman castle. Over time, the village became called Castle Rising. To distinguish the castle, it became called Castle Rising Castle.

 

The modern signposts now list both, pointing to:

 

Castle Rising

Castle Rising Castle

 

This does seem inefficient.

 

Paul

[melmerby]

Cumbric is one of the overlooked Celtic languages closely connected to Welsh, Cornish and others.  In Cornish Tor is a type of hill with a specific natural rock formation on top (Bre is more generically any hill) while Pen is a headland but How is not present.  Tautological place names are far from unknown.  There are at least three locations called Castle-an-Dinas; since Dinas means castle and an is the definite article these are "Castle the Castle".  Beare Green in Surrey is "Green Green"

It's accepted these days that the tautology is not quite as it seems.

Language experts now suggest that Torpen can mean crest of a hill rather than Hill - hill with the how(e), which is Norse, added as tautology, and modern Hill redundantly placed at the end!

So it is really Crest (or top) of a hill-hill Hill

 

It's like all those Cumbrian Meres that are also incorrectly called Lakes. e.g. Lake Windermere, where mere means lake.

 

If you want to go big think Milky Way (astronomically) the word 'galaxy' is derived from the Greek for milky may so our galaxy is the "Milky Way Milky Way"

 

Wandering off the main thread of the topic now!

 

Keith

[Gwiwer]

 

 

If you want to go big think Milky Way (astronomically) the word 'galaxy' is derived from the Greek for milky may so our galaxy is the "Milky Way Milky Way"

My Galaxy has always been bigger than the Milky Way.  

 

 

Wandering off the main thread of the topic now!

How can chocolate ever be off-Topic?