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Yes, it's A403642 . It looks awful.

A16352381 - Pronouncing British Place Names

Author: Icy North U225620


That's much better.

I'm glad I checked Torpenhow, as it's in Cumbria, not Cornwall

I've added something about the derivation - does that look okay, SoRB?

One minor point:
>>'dd' like 'th' in 'thin' <<
I would say the 'dd' sound is much 'harder' than that. It's much more like the 'th' sound in 'the' than 'thin'. Unless I've been pronouncing 'thin' wrong all these years...

Danny's just come up with a solution to the link problem.

Llanfair PG"
It worked fine when I checked in one of my entries.

I live in Ayrshire (tho' not Auchinleck) and have only ever heard it pronounced Och-in-leck.

I, too, am in the mull-guy camp (or perhaps m'l-guy)

Great one Icy - living as I do in Coventry (pronounced as cuventree, by the Wicca obsessed BBC) in an area called Coundon (Cowndun to locals, coondon to a large number of people) and having grown up in a pit village call Kerseley pronounced Carsley by the out-of-towners, I reckon people can mis-pronounce anything.

Are you pronounced McKai, McKay or McKey

Muck Eye

Great entry! Really like it.

There are a few Merseyside placenames that can be a hassle. Kirby and West Kirkby are prounced the same with the latters 'k' silent, while Ormskirk keeps its k. Near to Ormskirk, Burscough causes a few problems.

The word Meols crops up a couple of times in the area, coming from the Norse word for sand-hill. Finding a consistent pronunciation of it is impossible, possible variants include 'mills' 'mels' 'mols' 'me-ols' 'moles' or that 'stupid, boring place near Southport/West Kirkby'

There's also Haworth (of Bronte sister's fame). I remember being in the district once and mispronouncing this, and the locals not understanding me at all.

I'll come back with more.

Makes you think does n't it?
As a southerner who was married to a Fifer (Fee fee)I fell into the many holes of the scottish language.
How my rellys laughed as I too said Milngarvee and Kirkcaldee.
We have a place by us called Boldre, which scottish people said was boldree!!

Thanks all - I really appreciate the feedback and local knowledge.

Thanks for all the new ones. If you think any of them are particularly indispensable, let me know, and I'll add them.

I've added that Llanfair PG link, and changed the description of the Welsh 'dd'.

I know someone from Meols - he pronounces it 'meals', but he's not a native.

Icy

I'll be really interested to see what happens to this Entry in two days time - I reckon it'll be snapped up by a Scout double-quick-time and whisked off in front of the Ed's before you can say Shitlingthorpe (Yorkshire).

I wouldn't worry about extra additions too much - there will always be someone who suggests another - and it's going to make for some really interesting convos at the bottom of the Entry when it finally hits FP. Sadly, those convo's are missing from a lot of the newer Entries - it's something I'd like to see more often.

Fabulous entry, Icy!

A couple of comments.

You say English is not pronounced as it is read. This is, I'm afraid, plainly false. Much of it isn't, certainly, but much is.

Secondly, the tourist terms you mention (emmet I think? and one other) - could you clarify in the entry if they're just Cornish terms as I believe they are? At the moment it reads a little like, to me anyway, they're general British slang.

Also, you mention to a Scottish term used to refer to people living south of Hadrian's wall. Do you actually mean that, or do you mean English people? As Hadrian's Wall is actually in England, it wouldn't be accurate if you meant Englishmen.

As I said, really great entry and I hope it gets into the guide ASAP!

I'm curious, Elentary, as for the English words which are pronounced as they are read, can you give some examples?

"I'm glad I checked Torpenhow, as it's in Cumbria, not Cornwall

I've added something about the derivation - does that look okay, SoRB?"

Well... I wouldn't say "may" mean hill. They DEFINITELY all mean "hill".

"Tor" is from Middle English, and can be found in placenames such as Glastonbury Tor, well known new age hangout. You can find Raven Tor near Coniston in Cumbria.
"Pen" is from Brythonic Celtic, related to Welsh and Cornish (and Breton), and can be found in placenames such as Pen-y-fan, well known SAS hangout. You can find Penrith just off the M6 in Cumbria.
"How" is Norse, and can be found in placenames such as Tarn Hows, well know SoRB hangout. Which can also be found in Cumbria.

They really all do mean hill, I promise.

SoRB

Thanks SoRB. I was very moved by your promise, but in the end I decided to verify the facts through research.

Now I put the 'may' in there as a couple of sources weren't so sure - I still think 'hill hill hill' is a bit of an over-simplification, as indicated here: http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/news/archive/2003_01_01_archive.html#90226882 But as you were so keen, and it's only an aside to the article anyway, I've removed the 'may'. I've also moved it to the 'Tintwistle Town' section, as it's Cumbria.

Thanks Elentari,

I believe Emmet is more of a Cornish dialectal word - it means 'ant' of course - ant derives from the Old English 'aemete'. Grockle is a more recent term used across the wider South West - It was derived from a fantastic creature in a children’s comic, and popularized by the film The System (1962). I'm not going to add this to the entry, but I've said that the expressions are regional.

If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to keep Hadrian's Wall in there, as it's a well-known historical border.

Icy

There's an Edited Entry on Grockles: A701623