25 UK Place Names You Are Saying WRONG! (*Maybe)

In this video, we'll learn how to pronounce 25 of the most commonly mispronounced place names in the UK. They aren't necessarily the hardest, just the ones that visitors seem to get wrong frequently. Please remember there are various accents in the UK that might say these names differently to me.
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:25 Bicester
00:50 Gloucester
01:14 Leicester
01:41 Leicester Square
01:51 NEW Pronunciation Course Waitlist
02:40 Worcestershire
03:42 Berkshire
04:01 Warwickshire
04:20 Warwick
04:32 Edinburgh
05:00 Middlesborough
05:16 Knaresborough
05:35 Aberystwyth
06:31 Wrexham
07:04 Birmingham
07:25 Nottingham
07:35 Durham
07:54 Shrewsbury
08:32 Canterbury
08:42 Glastonbury
08:56 Bournemouth
09:17 Plymouth & Falmouth
09:27 Norwich
09:49 Derby
10:11 The Welsh Town With The Long Name
12:09 JOIN THE WAITLIST
Music by Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com)

[@BostonBobby1961]

We have a Gloucester here in Massachusetts. It's a coastal town on the northshore on Cape Ann. We have a leicster in Massachusetts. It's not a coincidence neither, since This part of the USA was originally an English colony, hence, New England for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

[@ggamba2]

Thanks for "Plymouth". Not only I rhymed it with "mouth", I also though the first syllable should have been read as in "plight".

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Ah awesome! You can nail it now : )

[@angreagach]

Funny. I think most of us Americans get "Plymouth" right (as in "Plymouth Rock"). We also pronounce the e in the first syllable of "sergeant" with the "ah" sound.

[@carolynsaffoe8718]

I live in Durham, NC in the US, and we pronounce it the same way.

[@alicemilne1444]

As a Scot, I have to tell you that Edinburgh is not pronounced that way! It's either Edinbuhruh or Ednbra. Also Welsh does not have "consonants galore". W and Y are mostly vowel sounds in Welsh.

[@Jemmyleedoesart]

Thanks for shouting out Wrexham! My home town 💖 I’ve lived in and out of the UK for 35+ years, and even I didn’t know Berkshire was pronounced “Bark-shur”. I actually loved all the different pronunciations, and I especially love hearing people try to say “Worcestershire”, as it’s a bloody ridiculous name 😂 So if you’re coming to the UK, don’t worry too much about getting it wrong: some of us here find it hard too.

[@GustavSandim]

Tom, most people arrive in the UK via one of the six London airports (LHW, LGW, LCY, LTN, STN, or SEN), but my story was very different. I landed in BIRMINGHAM (BHX) from Munich (MUC) via Amsterdam (AMS) with KLM. Upon arrival, I had a great gift: an afternoon tea (it's impossible to be more British than that) in front of WARWICK Castle. My first memories of the United Kingdom are simply delightful and unforgettable!

[@BrooklynNan1]

As always, fun and a joy to watch. Happy Birthday, Teacher Tom! I hope you have a wonderful day!!

[@mikecoffee100]

Thank's for sharing this always look forward to these lessons thank you

[@drzander3378]

I used to commute by train between London and Oxford and visitors would mispronounce Slough and Reading all the time. The former rhymes with ‘cow’ and the latter with ‘bedding’. I’ve been to Salisbury and non-Britons also get that one wrong; it’s pronounced ‘solzbree’.

[@mariafrederico9137]

Brilliant video! Really useful❤

[@cjhansen6618]

I've been practicing pronouncing the longest city name in Wales for a little while. It's thanks to actor Taron Egerton, who lived there for 10 years when he was growing up, that I've gotten better at pronouncing the city's name.

[@itfml]

Thank you for your sharing, it's amazing spelling on the special place in UK, especially Llan fau...What... Silliogogogoch......!

[@ericmartin3681]

Knaresborough is a lovely town, but hard to pronounce. Cheers Tom, very useful video!

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Always a pleasure mate : )

[@TheValwood]

I think in Massachusetts they would get most of these right. I'm from Texas, but my daughter moved to MA as a young adult and still lives there today. She's lived in New England 1/2 her life, by now. My granddaughter was born in Leominster, MA...pronounced Lemstir or lemstah

[@GustavSandim]

Another fabulous video of yours, Tom. Thank you! Just for the records in Brazil the Worcestershire sauce is known as "molho inglês" (English sauce). It's pretty easy, isn't it?

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Ahhh much easier!

[@peterbanning7074]

Great lesson, thanks a lot! Yeah, and I actually mispronounced some of the place names. Welsh will of course be an extra challenge ...

[@bobbiscrittercave2348]

I already knew how to pronounce all of these, except the last one!😂 I've even visited a few last year - Plymouth, Warwickshire, and Birmingham.

[@maryjackson1194]

Durham, North Carolina, is pronounced the same way.

[@raisa_cherry33]

Gratitude to you for teaching us correct English ❤❤

[@EbenLenz-fl1hi]

In America’s New England, many of these names exist. The contraction of “bury”, “borough”, “shire”, “ham”, “mouth”, etc., are used in town names regularly. The State of Rhode Island has its own “Warwick”. Indeed, a video could be made for the proper pronunciation of place names like “Peabody”, “Billerica”, and the most difficult; “Woburn”.

[@GustavSandim]

They seek him here They seek him there In Regent Street And LEICESTER Square Everywhere the Carnabetian army marches on Each one a dedicated follower of fashion "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" (The Kinks)

[@jacekmokrosinski3434]

One that threw my mind off is Bellingham in Norththumberland. Very tricky as it doesn’t follow the pattern of Birmingham and others with the same suffix. And since we’re looking into Northern England, another interesting pronunciation of a place name is Carlisle.

[@bosshog36]

There's Calne and Frome near to where I live, I mispronounced both when I arrived

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Oh great examples!

[@TravellingTorunn]

Great lesson! 😊 And then you have Fowey, Marazion, Tintagel and Mousehole and an endless line of others 😅

[@annamarielewis7078]

Thank you.

[@xusblasco5563]

😂😂😂😂 Loved this! Thanks, Tom 🪁

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Awesome! Very glad you liked it

[@GustavSandim]

The quayside's full of friends A farewell in their hands No-one knows if they'll reach the shore As PLYMOUTH slips away They'll not be back again They're sailing off towards the promised land "Sailing to America" (Saxon)

[@marcobrugnoli3548]

Another tricky one is Southwark. I witnessed a little kid on the tube practicing his reading with his mummy, and he was saying: “Look mum, South - waaark”. And her mother: “No sweetheart, it’s Sathak!”. “Oh, come on mummy, look, it’s sooouth waaaark!” And on and on and on

[@stCenturySchizoidMan-tm4kj]

The most curious is Godmanchester, which actually is Gamster.

[@gammock4026]

I've visited this place (or been very nearby) many times and I never knew that! That's really interesting. I live near Manchester and I always thought that it was pronounced "Godman Chester" as opposed to "God Manchester"

[@mjq3555]

It's actually MiddlesBROUGH, not MiddlesBOROUGH, so it's spelled more closely to its usual pronunciation, although confusingly it is a borough in terms of political subdivision and is often known locally as The Boro (pronounced burra)

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Ah cheers mate! Well spotted! I think I wrote 'Middlesborough' because of the football fans calling it 'The Boro'

[@CaptainSiCo]

Yes, colloquially it’s known as ‘Boro (pronounced like “borough”) so that’s an odd anomaly! Some people - even in the North East - say “Middles-borough”.

[@CaptainSiCo]

As for Scottish place names, it’s another ball game altogether!!

[@jesseestrada8914]

My question is why does the ce make a ss sound? North shore of Boston has several of them too

[@sleepycalico]

haha -- I can't even remember that in English. But it's so beautiful.

[@PurnaRodman]

Most of these place names cna be found in New England, especially Masschusett and have the same pronunciation as they do in the UK, except we often, though not always, use a rhotic "r." When you say "Americans," which ones do you mean?

[@fionagregory9147]

I could do this course but I know everything already.

[@annamarielewis7078]

Me too

[@Dabhach1]

Re Berkshire. There is an insult used in southern England for a foolish man. He might be referred to as a berk. This sounds quite mild, but in fact, it's a contraction of a now defunct piece of rhyming slang, "Berkshire hunt." You can figure out for yourself what that stood for. The fact that this word is pronounced as spelt, not "bark", indicates the county may once have been pronounced as the spelling would suggest.

[@craigmacmillan2528]

Best ones are Loughborough and Marlborough - Americans rarely get the first syllable right

[@Liofa73]

Loads of sports presenters get Norwich wrong. They pronounce it as Nor-rich... when, as you say it's "Noridge". Here's one for you... Happisburgh in Norfolk... It's pronounced hayz·buh·ruh. That's right Buh!

[@db8980]

Derby as "Darby" always mystified me, but now that I see Berkshire's pronounced the same, it must be a regular thing.

[@RAMAFASTENAMONATO]

7:17 /ˈbɜːmɪŋəm/, but /ˈwest ˈhæm/

[@henriettejosephine]

The funniest is the pronunciation of Mousehole !

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Hehehe yes! Mousehole is a great example of how totally mad UK pronunciation is!

[@stCenturySchizoidMan-tm4kj]

@@EatSleepDreamEnglish And how it should be pronounced properly?

[@raisa_cherry33]

The last one makes me feel dizzy 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@hijmestoffels5171]

I was already familiar with the weird pronunciation of many place names in the UK. But when I see the Welsh ones I become dyslectic instantly..

[@annamarielewis7078]

No vowels

[@annamarielewis7078]

Is it like the American “bruh” like “bro?”

[@toobatooba5334]

❤❤❤💕

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Thanks for watching as always : )

[@briankane6547]

I can, just about ,write it with VERY few letters wrong.

[@christinewormann1273]

Next time we'll learn how to get the knot out of our tongue 😊

[@peacekeeper3026]

Cwmbwrla...

[@Wonders_of_Reality]

This is a perfect reminder of how miserable my English actually is.

[@Lisveree]

first? maybe

[@fionagregory9147]

Anybody knows this.

[@raisa_cherry33]

So many shires 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@JoseHenrique-xg1lp]

Geez, English is utter madness

[@raycornford283]

And one title that is wrong! It should, correctly, read "25 UK Place Names you are saying wrongLY. Adverb! Not adjective.

[@viceroyzh]

Such an inefficient language. Uses so many silent letters. For the first few: the "ce" can be completely left out because the "s" sound comes from the following s.

[@joshyam4026]

"Scarborough" is [skɑːbərə]?