Dear Americans, I have a question.

wideload · Post by **wideload** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:21 pm

Brendocon wrote:
wideload wrote:On the topic of weird pronounciations, perhaps someone can explain to me how "Leicester" becomes "Lester".
The same way Bicester became "Bister" and Worcester became "Wuh-ster."

Ie anybody who ever knew how/why is dead, but at least they were consistent with it.

Is this the same guy who decided to start pronouncing "Lieutenant" as "Left-tenant"?

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:53 pm

wideload wrote:Is this the same guy who decided to start pronouncing "Lieutenant" as "Left-tenant"?

Nah, but he may have been related to the guy who changed the spelling from the archaic French luef to the modern French lieu.

And we only have one "t" in our pronunciation of it.

wideload · Post by **wideload** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 5:55 pm

Brendocon wrote:
wideload wrote:Is this the same guy who decided to start pronouncing "Lieutenant" as "Left-tenant"?
Nah, but he may have been related to the guy who changed the spelling from the archaic French luef to the modern French lieu.

And we only have one "t" in our pronunciation of it.

Ahh so it's just my uncivilized ears that are hearing the word "left"

In reality, I should be imagining a French guy saying Lu-eef. Thanks for clearing that up. Any solution that involves imaging French stereotypes is usually a good one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9MlYKMF ... re=related

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 9:32 pm

Brendocon wrote:The same way Bicester became "Bister" and Worcester became "Wuh-ster."

You're missing out my favourite, which is also the most amusing - Towcester.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 7:59 am

Win.

I think Cirencester is the only exception to the rule, though probably because that n makes truncating it even more of a ******* hassle.

Oh, follow-up to the original question!

North American type folks. How would you pronounce the following name:

Graeme.

?

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 9:26 am

Gray-me?

DJ_Convoy · Post by **DJ_Convoy** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 6:32 pm

I'd listen, and pronounce it correctly.

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 11:50 pm

DJ_Convoy wrote:I'd listen, and pronounce it correctly.

I'd probably do the same, but when it comes to reading it aloud without the luxury of hearing it I'd probably pronounce Graham as "Gram". It's easier to drop the hard "H" and I'd honestly never heard it pronounced otherwise until a few years ago.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:37 pm

those of us who actually live in Worcestershire tend to pronounce it Wooss-ter.

Or "That place the posh wankers live".