22 Most Difficult British Places to Pronounce

[@TheDMFW62]

I am English and I have to say a lot of these are hard even for a native. Sure, some of the "better known" ones you do absorb but unless you're local there are plenty of places in this list that you're only rarely going to hear mentioned and when you do, you more than likely don't see them written at the same time so you rarely get a chance to learn them. I learned quite a few here myself!

[@grantparman4705]

I'm sending all you lovely folks in the UK some positive vibes from the US. Your country has had quite a week!

[@RockyBobbieBuster]

Cheers fella, yesterday was the worst day of this Englishmans 57years on earth.

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

💛💛💛

[@grantparman4705]

@@RockyBobbieBuster Cheers!

[@robinknox3569]

Thanks for thinking about us.

[@indigoflow6525]

Thank you, or cheers mate as we say.

[@philiplindley7384]

Godmanchester has changed in recent times and was always pronounced Gumster in the old days.

[@KenFullman]

I've always pronounced it Gumster. When did it change?

[@philiplindley7384]

@@KenFullman I'm not sure there's any official change just a habit and custom one? As a lorry driver in my former life I noticed it.

[@rogerwitte]

To make the Welsh 'LL' sound, put your tongue up to the top of the mouth as if you were about to say 'L' but instead of simply vocalising, blow air harshly out between the sides of the tongue and the upper jaw (so it makes a harsh sound combining blowing a raspberry wit a regular 'L').

[@michaelsanderson5023]

I'm 61 and British and I still got half a dozen of them wrong. If you haven't seen the Jay Foreman/Map Men video 'Why are British place names so hard to pronounce' I can recommend it. It's really funny, as are all Jay Foreman's videos, and it may even help a bit. Mike

[@JoanneTelling1]

I'm a 59 year old Englishman and I didn't know half of them, so well done. By the way, Aberdeen has the stress on the last syllable not the first. Also, congratulations on your pronunciation of 'pronunciation'. So many people get that wrong.

[@norbertfricke7116]

After 42 years of living here as a foreigner I still can't get all of them right. English place pronunciation is a bloody mine field ! 😮 your efforts made me laugh , in a good way , which I guess is your goal in these videos. Great stuff Alanna 😂👍👌

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Thanks so much!!

[@MostorAstrakan]

There's a few I know, and I know that "burgh" or "borough" usually gets pronounced as "bruh" - Aldeburgh -> All-bruh. And some of them you just have to know because there is no sane way to get to the correct pronunciation. I guess some of them are used as a shibboleth. And I pronounce, with great gusto, Worcestershiresauce exactly as it is spelled. If they wanted me to say wooster, they should have spelled it wooster.

[@norbertfricke7116]

I know exactly what you mean . The spelling with ' ough ' can be Slough Town , cough , though , and Clough as in Brian. 4 ways of pronouncing the same spelling in 4 different ways. Only English can give you that much variety , and fun.

[@hairyairey]

@@norbertfricke7116 5 - you forget hiccough (often mispelt as hiccup). Which is why there's a place nicknamed lugabarooga!

[@stevebarlow3154]

There are apparently ten ways to pronounce the 'ough' sound in British English and six ways in American English. For example 'The wind was rough along the lough as the ploughman fought through the snow and though he hiccoughed and coughed, his work was thorough'.

[@englandcalling9721]

While there are 26 letters in the alphabet, half are for comedy effect. Most Brits would struggle with those pronunciations, as the words are regional rather than national. The only thing that doesn’t exist in UK English, is the letter zee. We have a zed and we have a cee, but no zee. Delightful video as always.

[@hairyairey]

And we have the yogh which also uses the z

[@StephMcAlea]

"Northern Irish ones fill me with the most dread." Welsh: "Hold my beer."

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

😂

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@AdventuresAndNaps "I recognise Omagh.." That'll be because the IRA blew the centre of it up in 1998, killing 29 and injuring over 300.

[@AaronTheHipHopGuy]

This was funny! It’s a cool idea to guess the pronunciations like this! I was stressed out about my voice recordings, hope they were okay for you! Thank you for the video!

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

They were great, thank you so much!!

[@howardkey1639]

Always love it when you try to pronounce UK place names Alanna and this was no exception. This time you did really well particularly as some of them have their own local variation. I struggled on saying quite a few of them in my own Hertfordshire accent, I think I only got 10 right. Thanks Alanna & 9 out of 10 UK town names for a fun video. 🙂

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Thanks so much!!

[@wetcardie66]

@Krishna this i can understand much respect

[@joshbrailsford]

Crikey, I didn't do too well at these! Hilarious video though Alanna, it brightened up my Friday! And I've gotta give you a solid 19/22 Mary Poppins extras for that cockney accent 😂

[@KenFullman]

As a Brit I got every one of those first time but, for years I believed that Happisburgh and Hayesborough were two different places. I'd heard of Hayesborough and had seen Happisburgh on maps and street signs. I was about 20 years old when I first realised they were the same place.

[@agharries]

Yes, i thought there would be some Welsh places. My place of birth Llanelli got on the list ❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@stephenphillip5656]

Leominster (not "Leomin(i)ster" in your clip) has caught many people, not just foreign visitors. I recently had to correct a colleague of mine (65+ years old, lived in UK all his life) when he said he was going to Leominster (pronounced like as spelled!) Many thanks Alanna, you've provided some light relief in a time of national mourning for the death of HM Queen Elizabeth 2nd. BTW, I got 3 wrong (the Scottish ones) & "hit the post" with another one so that's 18½.

[@larrybothe8246]

I was fortunate to know how to pronounce it because my father knew it from playing softball in a city by that name while in college in Massachusetts, USA, believe it or not..!!

[@JosephHaig]

I'd never heard of Teignmouth and I got it right! I'm so proud. 🙂 I lived in Glasgow for a couple of years and for a while I genuinely thought that 'Milngavie' was two different places, depending on whether I heard it spoken or saw it written.

[@matthewryan4844]

In the -agh endings, gh is just silent or slightly like an h. The z in Scottish names often comes from an old letter we don't use any more called a yogh which is sometimes written like a 3, but it is pronounced like a y. With most of the cester endings, break it up into syllables with the ce and st separated and the ce pronounced as "ss" i.e Bicester = Bice-ster (Biss ster), Leicester = Leice-ster (Less ster) etc. And in Welsh there is an extra letter which is a double L pronounce as in the video (slightly like a breathy cl)

[@terryhayward7905]

As a Welshman, I have problems with some English names, but Welsh names are easier :)

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

Well done, Alanna. Place names, accents and dialects are various in the UK due to the amount of times that we've been invaded and had settlers over the centuries, plus of course the influence of the Celtic languages upon the nation, for example, the word 'Welsh' comes from the Old Dutch for 'Stranger' the same with 'Wales' the real name is 'Cymru' which is pronounced 'Cum-ree', the reason you find Welsh place names difficult is it has a different alphabet from English, it has no, K, X, Z, but has, DD, FF, LL, etc, a single 'F' is pronounced like a 'V', 'FF' is pronounced as a 'F', a 'LL' in the middle of a word is often has a 'TH' sound, 'W' and 'Y' are used as vowels, etc.

[@KenFullman]

Double L is NOT the same as "th". The way you make the LL sound is to put your tongue in the same position as you would to make an L, but instead of using your voice, you just exhale.

[@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis.]

@@KenFullman I know, I'm a 63 year old Welshman who has been speaking Welsh since a child, to an English speaking person it would be hard for them to master so, that why I gave that explanation as it's the nearest English sound to it.

[@roger6867]

@@Adam_Le-Roi_Davis. Most English people can manage the LL of Welsh. Nearly everybody I know manages it perfectly well in the name of the town called Llandudno and most correctly pronounce the U - Chlan-DID-noe.

[@stefankwiatkowski5241]

4 right, 2 I actually knew, and 2 by accident. Reading some of the other comments, I think that's exceptional! It was lots of fun. It also reminded me of Will Cuppy's book "The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody". He wrote that the name "Thutmose", of several Egyptian pharaohs, is pronounced "Chumley".

[@shaunlynch2660]

Well done for having a go Alanna. Even in the area where you live place names can be different spoken to what’s written. Try Newcastle accents

[@ingaborlowski1536]

I’m in stitches with laughter and stunned all at the same time. Coming from Boston, Massachusetts, I’m familiar with pronunciations that are different from the spellings…..even so, these UK specific place names are incredibly unique and difficult to say. I’m quite sure you did better than I did 🤦‍♀️🤣🤣 Fun video!

[@larrybothe8246]

I at least knew Leominster. My father played softball in Leominster, Massachusetts while in college. He made sure I pronounced it correctly when driving through it..!!

[@larrybothe8246]

@@David-vq1zg Hahaha!

[@Neil_BT]

Bicester was easy as I live 20 minutes away, but the rules that make it Bister (and Gloster) then randomly don't apply to Cirencester (Siren Sester) - loads of elephant traps to fall in to, and there are some you just have to know. There's a place in Devon called Woolfardisworthy that you pronounce Woolzery. Just bonkers.

[@adamclark7536]

I really think this should have been recorded straight after you had been to the hop festival. Just for the double jeopardy! Southwell is pronounced as you did if you are a local and Suthull otherwise so I give you that one.

[@johnturner4400]

I used to go out with someone from Southwell. I learned pretty quick to never call it Suthull….!

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

😂

[@deliciousexperience689]

Omg that video was funny. Yes you should of filmed this 1 then too i agree lol

[@gib666]

@@johnturner4400 Fourth generation Southwell resident here and I say Suthull.

[@kathrynd1936]

The Z in Culzean is actually an old letter of the alphabet - yog - that we no longer have. It was pronounced more like a Y than a Z. When printing presses were brought in, a Z was substituted for the yog.

[@hairyairey]

Same as the Z in Menzies. And technically we still have the yog it just isn't used much.

[@nutyyyy]

Yep, same with Dalziel and MacKenzie. Though in some cases, the z became as actual z.

[@renejean2523]

I haven't started this video yet, but I am so looking forward to it. As a Brit living in the US, I *really* hope that 'Worcestershire' is in here somewhere. There're not many things funnier than my American friends trying to say Worcestershire.

[@Andy_U]

Hiya. I think we were SOOOO close to hearing Alanna give the correct pronunciations of the F and C words for the first time on her channel. Stay safe. All the best to you.

[@mihohobaba]

English politician Horatio Bottomley once made a phone call to Lord Cholmondeley. The call was was answered by a butler. Horatio asked to speak to the lord, pronouncing the name as it was written, whereupon the snooty butler replied that Lord "Chumley" was indisposed and offered to take a message. "Yes, please", Horatio replied. "Could you please tell his lordship that Horatio Bumley called"

[@brianharrington4045]

I'm a new subscriber and I've going thru your back catalogue of videos. And You've consistently crack me up. Keep it up!

[@sticklebacksummer]

May I suggest you take a look at kit and caboodlers mudlarking in Kent, I think you'll enjoy it.

[@rev.baalsbum1187]

Old Englishman here, today I learned how to pronounce Leominister and Magdelane so thanks for that. here's a couple more, near where my mum lives there is a village named Southwick, pronounced suthick. There is a town just outside Brighton with the same name but pronounced as it reads. In Northamptonshire there is a town by the name of Cogenhoe, pronounced cukner. Near Salisbury there is a place called Frome, pronounced Froom and I know it is not so nowadays, but when I were a lad, both Worcester and Worcestershire were pronounced Wooster

[@andyp5899]

I knew how to pronounce Magdelene from watching University Challenge as it is the name of two of the college teams. Although with slightly different spelling

[@iancomputerscomputerrepair8944]

Alanna, that was very amusing as you butchered the Language.🤣🤣 I was surprised that "GOTHAM" was not listed. Look forward to you doing some more of the same.

[@KanmuriXV30]

I drive through Gotham quite regularly. Catches so many people out with its pronunciation

[@davidfaraday7963]

Fun fact, any placename that ends in chester, cester or ceastor was a Roman town or city. My favourite odd pronunciation is towcestor, pronounced "toaster".

[@eddhardy1054]

No mate they were specifically a Roman legionary camp

[@davidfaraday7963]

@@eddhardy1054 No "mate" they weren't. They were specifically a walled town or city.

[@eddhardy1054]

@@davidfaraday7963 where army personnel were stationed

[@Joanna-il2ur]

I was born in Norfolk, where many of the placenames are weird. The village of Hautbois is Hobbis. I also grew up in Kent, where we have Trottiscliffe which is pronounced Troshlee. Enjoy!

[@annboughton1753]

This vid made me laugh til I cried. Thanks for the best feel good of the week.

[@ashofthe3yamyamsa.k.aasher675]

Great video, glad to be apart of it. Just what I needed to help me get over my hangover though had to try not to cringe at the sound of my own voice. I'll be honest some of the Scots ones threw me as I put to much thought in to how to say it that I failed but ah well you learn something new everyday

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

😂 Cheers Ash! Thanks so much for helping create the video!

[@nbclaymore1861]

Your reaction to Hunstanton had me properly laughing! 🤣

[@jamesknightreading]

Alanna, your annoyed face when you get it wrong, is priceless. :)

[@joegrey9807]

The basic rule of thumb: simplify. The written names are more likely to reflect the etymology from the many different languages that make up English place names. But then they're tspoken by generations of local people who don't need to pronounce every letter to be understood by other local people. Add in local accents and beer (or cider/whisky). Then add in a bit of snobbery, people using modern French pronunciations for Norman French words, rather flexible spelling rules, and a bit more beer, and you get the likes of Gillingham (2 towns different pronunciations), Leigh (ditto), Bosham/Cosham, Lympne, and many more.

[@hairyairey]

Hmm, there are no rules! One, the words originate from several different languages. So Gillingham has two different pronunciations whether it's Dorset or Kent. Two, the place names have changed over centuries.

[@joegrey9807]

@@hairyairey indeed. But complex names are more likely to be abbreviated when spoken. I probably should've added a paragraph break after my comment: simplify.

[@youcantleavethisempty]

I think the main problem is that these place names were written down before the invention of auto-correct. Or cough sweets in the case of the Welsh ones.

[@surfaceten510n]

Welsh place names were mostly named in that dark period of the Bronchitis epidemic just before the Bronze age.

[@alanmills9492]

These are so deliberately difficult. It made my day when you got the "chumley" one. And though I pass through Marylebone regularly, well, no-one knows as the current posh computer train announcement says "Marrrr-u-le-bun".

[@wharfedalehome]

"Marylebone" is an interesting one to start with... It comes from the French: "Mary le Bon" = "Mary the Good" in English. This was the name of a monastery (some sources say church) named after her. In later years the three words were pushed together but this made it harder to pronounce for us bemused (lazy?) English, so the "y" was dropped from the sound but not the spelling, so you get the sound "mar-le-bon"

[@andymcgarty3099]

Great video. I didn't get a few of those. Just too many and some real local variations too. Well done for giving them a go.

[@eze8970]

Great effort Alanna, those accents are definitely coming along! No one can pronounce all the names, don't worry! 🙏

[@AnyoneForToast]

Hi 'Lana. When you enunciated "Magdalene" as "Maudlin", after hearing it, you absolutely hit the bull's eye. Harry Potter's girlfriend would have been proud of that one. Honorary English rating "top notch". Thank you, you do keep us entertained. I still fk a bunch of those up myself.. I'm with you on the whole cheese is good thing. 😁

[@ianh452]

Somewhere between 17 and 19 depending on a couple of pretty close but not quite perfect (from someone who is from the UK and lived in Scotland, England and Wales and visited Ireland a fair bit) . This comes from us speaking completely differently 30 miles apart, nevermind a couple of hundred. All fun stuff and makes our little island more fun.

[@Forest_Fifer]

I do love it when you second guess yourself and put in difficulties when they aren't there. Southwell is pronounced soth-all by the locals, but people who have moved there from elsewhere insist it's south-well

[@MTW3095]

I thought it was the other way round.

[@ianprince1698]

living for a time in Lincolnshire I was told that, that Norfolk seaside town was hun-stone but most outsiders call it Hunstanton as written I had relatives living in Wyndom-spelt Wymondham when buying a railway ticket

[@gregralph616]

You have to remember that with British place names you're dealing with three language groups, over a history of potentially 2,000 years or so. Even English has gone through so many changes in a millennia or so to affectively be read as a different language. If it's in Welsh the same language rules don't apply, the letters are simply pronounced differently & if it's in Scotland consonants together like a GH are going to produce their own sound.

[@jeffmorse645]

I got many wrong, but took issue with Leominster because there is a town in Massachusetts named that and New Englanders call it "Lemon-ster". I have to say, I was chuckling through most of this video but when you hit "Beaver Castle" I totally lost it.

[@chrisshelley3027]

You scored far more than 2.5, you actually did quite well for someone who is "new" to these names, I got around half, the Irish ones I knew some because some were often mentioned on the news because of the "troubles" as they were called in the 1960's-2000 and as for the Welsh ones, you need a half pint of phlegm in your throat to have a chance to pronounce many of those (I apologise for the mental image). Take a look at Jay Foremans Map Men, he is very funny while being very educational, the place names one will answer many questions while giving you even more to think about, watch the end of the video too as he always makes them quite funny and not to be missed, a little bit like Adventures and Naps :)

[@paulguise698]

Hiya Alanna, try this these towns from my county, First you set off from Whitehaven, Go past Pica then on the A595 to Cockermouth then on to A596 past Torpenhow then past Aspatria take the A586 TO Carlisle and Bobs Your Uncle you've reached your destination, in your vlog I got 12 ,this is Choppy In Whitehaven, Cumbria, England

[@nicholastemple-smith2635]

I lived in Marylebone for the first 18 years of my life and i never pronounced it the way your friend did. The Mar should rhyme with the first syllable of Marilyn By the way, my American wife thinks that British place names were deliberately chosen by ill-intentioned people centuries ago just to confuse her! She takes every one personally.

[@dandann8237]

she may have a point

[@markgibson3034]

Surely you would pronounce the bone. Lol. I’ve always heard the bone.

[@oneworldfamily]

Excellent comment from wife! 😀

[@hairyairey]

Oh no it's cleverer than that - the complicated place names make it easier to detect foreign spies!

[@jeffmorse645]

@@hairyairey Like asking them to pronounce the word "squirrel".

[@WillRiker0504]

When I used to work in a sales office I had customers in Scotland and it took me ages to learn that Kirkcudbright wasn’t pronounced Kirk-cud-bright but more Kur-coo-bree. Who knew? Not me 😂😂.

[@rs1884]

I'm from Nottingham, in the town of Southwell they pronounce it as you said it, only in the City of Nottingham is it pronounced Suth all. In Nottingham, there's a district called Basford but it's pronounced base fud, and nearby is Hyson Green, pronounced i sun green (original spelling was Ison Green).

[@xneurianx]

Welsh place names are easier than English, in a way. Because they're mostly just Welsh - once you know the vowel and consonant sounds they're all actually pretty logical. English place names are a mix of Old English, Middle English and modern English, so you have some vowel sounds that are Scandinavian, some that are French, some that are Germanic... it's just ridiculous. It's hard to write rules for the English language because there are always a pretty large number of exceptions. Our place names get trickier the more you learn about the language. Which is the opposite of Welsh place names, which make more sense the more Welsh you know.

[@jonb3311]

There are exceptions. For example, Ystradgynlais, which is pronounced Why-strangle-alice.

[@geoffpoole483]

Welsh sounds are consistent. A single "f" gives a "v" sound. I think people are daunted because letters that are consonants in English may be vowels in Welsh, hence Cwmbran looked difficult.

[@clivemitchell3229]

@@geoffpoole483 Single f as in "of", ff as in "off".

[@ftumschk]

@@jonb3311 Ystradgynlais is pronounced something liie UH-strad-GUN-lice, which follows the rules of Welsh spelling and pronunciation. "Why strangle us" and its variants are jokes/nicknames.

[@David-bw7is]

I live in Hereford, not far from Leominster and both get pronounced wrong, normally by Americans, they'll pronounce both Hereford and Leominster how they are spelt, Leo-minster and Here-ford when Leominster is pronounced Lem-ster and Hereford is Heh-ruh-furd. :-)

[@tonycritcher3419]

A lot of fun! My dad was born just up the road from Hunstanton and is pronounced 'Hunstun'. Have you tried these also from Norfolk... Stiffkey and Ingoldisthorpe?

[@docostler]

A genuine Alanna laugh lights up the day. Thanks. I think I got 3.5, oy.

[@rippleeffect8589]

I live in Norfolk. There are quite a few town/hamlet names that are difficult to pronounce coreectly (even for me). My favourite sign I saw on a road near where I live (on the Norfolk/Suffolk border) said "Slow yew darn a bit boi". Which translated meant "Please Slow Down". When Norfolk people butcher the english language, they don't muck about!!

[@10538overture]

My grandad (born 1898) lived in Worcester all his life and used to pronounce Powick as Pike, and Pershore as Persia. Pronunciations change over time. Regarding the Welsh ones, there are hardly any non-Welsh people who can pull-off the double L sound. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[@gordonwallin2368]

Another fun video!! Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.

[@gordonwallin2368]

It's not s "ZEE", Alana , it's a "ZED", like in Canada, a ZED!! sorry, girl, don't be a Yank,eh.

[@chrisamies2141]

I miffed the Leominster one when I went there and was corrected. Happisburgh I didn't know how to pronounce until recently, only knew that it had a ghost (I suspect it to be the original of Nearly Headless Nick).

[@emmawaldron6454]

As a Scouser (ie someone from Liverpool) I was waiting for Gateacre to come up - it's the one EVERYONE gets wrong 😂😂 it's usually just pronounced as it looks gate-acre

[@garryhammond7616]

The what does not exist? 5:23 ......Such a long way to go!!! (Great video lots of fun)

[@afpwebworks]

"Llanelli" that's not a word, you're correct. It was a sneeze. I remember a rugby test match being played there between NZ's All Blacks and the Welsh national team. The NZ TV commentator had awful trouble pronouncing Llanelli. He tried, he REALLY tried to pronounce it the way the Welsh BBC commentators told him but he just couldn't get it. I think if my memory serves he ended up just settling for "somewhere near Cardiff"

[@AdrianWright6363]

I live in Ely (although not born here), a small city with an even smaller name, but everyone - and I mean EVERYONE - who's not familiar with this little city mispronounces it. It's "ee-lee", not "ee-lie". I guess people of a certain age remember the TV Tarzan actor Ron Ely 🤣

[@58andyr]

I admire your bravery! Well done!

[@jamesalberg1132]

Ugh! 🤯 As an American, unsurprisingly, I did terribly... score, 2 - 2 1/2. Have a Gloucester in Virginia within 25 miles, so 'Shame On Me' if I didn't get that one. 😂 Fun video Alanna 🙌 👏👏

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

😂 It's funny how many UK places you can find in Canada/US!

[@dave_h_8742]

@@AdventuresAndNaps it's almost like they took names for places from the old country. 😁

[@Believer3_]

@@dave_h_8742 they did 😂 some of them they put 'new' in front of like New York, named after the original york in England. New Jersey like the Jersey off the shore of uk and many other places probably in the thousands

[@Believer3_]

@@dave_h_8742 well not they did but the british colonisers did a very long time ago

[@Alcogod]

I'm pretty sure most of these are trolling or even they don't know how it's pronounced.

[@mistycrom]

You really wanna know our secret? We really haven't got a clue most of the time either unless a place is nearby or we happen to see/hear it said on the news or something. Really, you did pretty well. Also, a lot of places have names from completely different linguistic bases depending on where they are, like Viking, Celtic, Romans etc... and were named when spelling wasn't really a thing and people wrote things how they thought they sounded, and then they got shortened/de[insert-conquering-peoples-here]ised, and yeah, you have a pretty messed up bunch of place names.

[@johnscott3714]

You are an absolute Joy, Alanna! 😃

[@hairyairey]

Alanna Joy Naps

[@jeffnorwood-brown8407]

I believe "suck on that" is actually Cholmondeley's town motto.

[@gerry343]

Try Braughing (in Hertfordshire), pronounced Braffin by the locals. Also in Hertfordshire is Haultwick, known as Artic.

[@terencecarroll1812]

Loving the 'That's not a word' Llanelli

[@naitchb16]

17...I clearly need to brush up on my Scottish and Northern Irish place names 😩 A little gutted you missed out Ruislip, I used to always end up in West Ruislip when I fell asleep on the tube. Great effort, Alanna. That was fun!

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Thanks so much! Great score!

[@geoffpoole483]

When looking at Northern Irish place names, it helps to remember that the sounds represented by familiar letters may well be different. For example "bh" gives a "v" sound.

[@AndyMcIntosh-xz5uu]

Your funniest video yet. My score was 20. Many British place names have their origins in other languages for example, Roman, French, Erse & Scots Gaelic. When talking about Cregagh, you said, "Where's the Y." Gaelic languages have only 18 letters, the last letter in the alphabet is U, so there is no letter Y in any name derived from a Gaelic language. I don't know if you were reading the same names as the ones shown in the screen but possibly spelling Happisburgh might have helped. Interestingly the sandbank 3-4 miles offshore would have been easier as it is known as the Haisborough Sands. I will leave you with my favourite.. The hamlet on the island of Jura where George Orwell lived when he wrote the novel 1984 is called Kinuachdrachd.

[@Forest_Fifer]

Kilconquhar Strathaven Ecclefechan Bonus English one...Gotham You're welcome... The important thing about Welsh is that LL is one letter, and it's pronounced "phlegm"

[@michaelstamper5604]

Here's one to have fun with. There's a village in Devon, not far from the Cornwall County line, which is written as Woolfardisworthy. It's pronounced as Woolsery. Yes, well........English, dear. What can I say? 😄😄xx

[@leematthews6812]

This is funnier than some comedy videos. A few of these would give me problems tbh.

[@Dan-zb7vn]

Cheers Alanna that was hilarious , but you did remarkably well at the same time !

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Thank you!!

[@RockyBobbieBuster]

Alanna you've got the most adorable laugh,keep up the good work.

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

🙏🏻

[@KarenGreenhalgh]

😂😂😂 loves that video..great effort, I'm from the UK and I didn't get many more than you

[@junior1138]

You should visit Kilncadzow. There’s a hotel nearby, the Dalziel Park, if you need to stay the night.

[@nordicson2835]

Thank you for your incredible cuteness... May the queen rest in peace , and majesty.

[@bobbell4461]

Try some of these towns and villagesin the South of Scotland. My hometown Langholm - Langum. Hawick - Hoik. Dumfries - Dumfrieess. the tiny village of Glenzier near Langholm yes it is known you have got it right first time - Glinger. Galashiels - Galasheels or simply Gala. Jedburgh is called locally as Jethart or Jeddart and to the north of Glasgow Milngavie actually Mulguy

[@johnrowland3105]

Well played ! 😀 Place names in the U.K are formed from words, largely from previous conquerors from a millennia ago ! Consequently there are many that are Latin based from the Romans or Olde English from the Middle Ages when we had a feudal system or from Scandanavian invaders during the reign of The Vikings.from about the 800's Also worth remembering that many of these groups didn't have written languages ! I live in Norfolk in the east so joys like Happisburgh (Hazebruh) Bawdeswell (Bawdswell) Costessey (Cossy) and Ingoldisthorp (Ingulthorp) are everywhere ! And the joy of discovering Welsh place names.......🤣

[@TJMack-]

Milngarvie is my favourite to catch people out. It looks nothng like how it's said. This was great fun and you're too cute when you get things wrong.

[@hightensionlabs]

Love the way you switch to a New Zealand accent for Hertfordshire 😂👍

[@scottlp2323]

Most people in the UK would pronounce 'Cholmondeley' incorrectly if it wasn't for Harry Enfield and his hilarious public information comedy sketches. :)

[@michaeldillon3113]

A couple of Kent ones - Trotiscliffe ( Trossley ) , Shipborne ( Shibbun ) .

[@epoch71]

There’s a nice little village up in Northumberland called “Ulgham”. Try that one!

[@JazCorta]

LOL! My family use to own a holiday home in Happisburg. Absolutely beautiful part of the world. Please try to go to north Norfolk soon, sea is really eating into it.

[@michaeldaley5831]

I only got 7,& I’m English,Alanna,I thought you done well,very close with some of them,really enjoyed the vid,made me happy.

[@Brian3989]

A couple of places to visit from those names. Southwell has an ancient church called the Minister and Bicester has large shopping area. Leominster is an easy name, about 25 miles from me.

[@shearerslegs]

Thanks for the video, I hope you have a great weekend

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Thanks, you too!

[@suchanhachan]

Having been born and raised in Gloucester, Massachusetts at least that one was easy for me. I thought you'd get it too because there's a Gloucester in Ontario as well. (I think it's near Ottawa.) I know cheese is famous in Gloucester, England. I think they have a famous festival where they roll a huge thing of cheese down a steep hill and people with questionable judgment race down the hill after it, risking various injuries in the process...

[@sarahclifford2015]

I only got about half and I’m British. I used to live in Bicester and once gave my address over the phone. The parcel arrived and it was spelt Bista. I must admit the ta part instead of ter, was probably because of my accent. Despite getting the train there quite a lot, I pronounced Marylebone as Mar-lee-bone. I think I pronounce most names wrong. I say shear for shire and my brother says shur, which I think is more correct. I again blame my accent.

[@andymehmet8206]

So many many place names derive for ancient languages other than modern English makes it hard to pronounce them sometimes

[@nicklynch8092]

I grew up not far from Southwell (it's well worth a visit, very pretty little minster town) and even locals disagree on how it's pronounced - a lot of people call it "Suth-ull", like here, but a lot of others (and I include myself here) pronounce it how it's written, the way you pronounced it! So technically you got that one haha. It's not really a big deal, people round there tend to go with however it's pronounced as they know what you mean!

[@davidburton2732]

Here's one for you Alana. Gonville & Caius (prenounced Keys) college Cambridge.