American Reacts to Why British Names Are Hard To Pronounce

Get ready for a fascinating journey through the intricate world of British place names . We explore the hilarious and mind-boggling complexities of British toponymy through the brilliant lens of "Map Men." From Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch to Worcestershire and Leicester, they attempt to demystify the pronunciation conundrums that often baffle non-Brits.
Don't forget to hit that like button, subscribe for more reactions, and share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Original Video: • Why are British place ...
Grab a mug! jjlareacts.creator-spring.com...
Support the channel! patreon.com/jjlareacts
#americanreacts #MapMen #pronunciationchallenge

[@ratowey]

Congratulations, you are the first reactor to get the Anker joke.

[@danharrup5270]

Was gonna say that myself

[@ratowey]

@@scott4600 You`d be suprised how many miss it. Especially non Brits

[@DMGamanda]

@@ratoweyi agree - seen a few watch this video and straight over the top of the head!

[@ratowey]

@@scott4600 That`s an ancient form of the British, being fairly old I don`t know if it is now fashionable to use that term. Please let me know.

[@ThePurplePassage]

I'd have assumed Australians and new Zealanders ought to be ok with that joke too

[@stephendisraeli1143]

As I like to point out, we spent several centuries making them EASY to pronounce. It's just that nobody bothered to change the spelling to match. Ignore the spelling, listen to the people, and you'll be fine.

[@andrewtaylor5984]

In Northumberland, places ending in "gham", the g is pronounced like a j except for Chillingham. In Kent, places ending in "den", the den part is normally stressed, although there may be one or two exceptions. In certain places, where l and m come together, the l is silent. Wilmslow is pronounced "Wimslow" to give one example.

[@grassytramtracks]

​@@andrewtaylor5984 Marden is in Kent and the stress is on the first syllable, so that breaks the rule

[@andrewtaylor5984]

@@grassytramtracks I did say that there could be one or two exceptions.

[@MsClaudz]

I came here to say this too. It’s not a nickname it’s an abbreviation/change in pronunciation created by accent changes over time. People really find it hard to accept that the English language doesn’t have a very phonetic spelling system .. the words are supposed to be learnt and recognised as whole words. There are some rules but tons of exceptions. The spelling reflects the history of the word itself more than the actual pronunciation itself. In London where I’m from.. we pronounce Greenwich as Grinnidge. It wasn’t until I loved to norwich and people were asking me why I said “norridge” not “norritch” that I realised this was presumably a side effect of my London accent.

[@stephendisraeli1143]

@@MsClaudz You could have reminded them that "Norwich" rhymes with "porridge" in the nursery rhyme about "The man in the moon".

[@littleannie390]

The village of Gotham is famous for the legend of the wise/mad men of Gotham who feigned madness to prevent the king from visiting. It was coined by the Americans first as a nickname for New York and later used by the Batman writer as a name for his city of madmen.

[@dave_h_8742]

Learn summit new every day 😮

[@redwaldcuthberting7195]

Gotham means 'goat enclosure' basically. Goat from old English gat and the middle English spelling was got. Gat 'goat' and ham ' settlement.' Lots of allusion to the goat headed Baphomet in DC's 'Pennyworth' but that'S probably a coincidence right?

[@mweskamppp]

Interesting. In germany we have the city of Schilda (fictional name) with mad inhabitants. Built a city hall without windows to save money then tried to trap sunlight in baskets and caskets and carried it inside. Somehow it did not work. Puzzling.

[@danielreed5199]

Baskets are not airtight so obviously it wouldn't work, I carry my light around in paper bags. @@mweskamppp

[@jmodified]

@@mweskamppp The trick they missed is that you have to line the baskets with aluminum foil.

[@Hornbeam222]

I live in Frome. It's beautiful and the river has been cleaned up!

[@brookieb538]

As a Brit, can anyone tell me why "Kansas" and "ARkansas" are pronounced so differently? 😄

[@paulbantick8266]

Arkansas is pronounced 'Arkensaw' Kansas is a different State. Kansas borders the North of Oklahoma. Arkansas is to the East.

[@chrischarman8707]

@@paulbantick8266yes, and why?

[@paulbantick8266]

@@chrischarman8707 Yes! And why is the river Thames spelt the way it is when it's pronounced 'Tems'? Or the Essex village of St. Osyth pronounced St. 'ohsif'

[@brookieb538]

@@paulbantick8266 This might help: “River” in both instances is just “river”.”Thames” is pronounced as “temz” in England, Canada and new Zealand. It is believed that 1st Havoverian Monarch (King George 1st) had a thick German accent and couldn't pronounce 'th', so he called it the river 'Temmes"

[@brookieb538]

@@paulbantick8266 Thank you for your explanation of how to pronunciate, but the key question word I used was "why" ?(Not how) Thanks!

[@MsCheesemonster13]

It’s particularly embarrassing mispronouncing an English place name when you are English, but are visiting an area new to you. 🤭 Especially when a sniggering local corrects you 🙁

[@GA-ik6pi]

😂😂yep I couldn’t agree more 😂😂 Seriously there’s so many places in the U.K. that I can’t bloody pronounce myself 🤣🤣!

[@pipercharms7374]

Been there and done that! 😅

[@fredshred5194]

not really I couldn't give a toss, but again then I'm from Sarf London.

[@antonycharnock2993]

Penistone.....WRONG...it's PEN is tun😂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYLbeJuIhdp6jqs

[@robertfarrow5853]

​@@fredshred5194 Lunnen innit?

[@GoryBark]

As someone who lives in Gloucestershire, i am proud of making foreigners struggle to say our county 😂

[@livedandletdie]

Gl-oh-sta' sure.. English place names are weird, but not that hard...

[@GoryBark]

@@livedandletdieFor naitive speakers, it can be easy. But it’s like going to a different country, and seeing smelt being pronounced as smeel et eh for foreigners. Can be a bit confusing

[@paulbantick8266]

@@livedandletdie 'Glostershire' more like!

[@gaynormainwaring1853]

If you really want to make visitors struggle, then come to Wales!

[@TheRealityleak]

I love to make them say loogie buroogie. Loughborough.

[@f1passion384]

As a friend of mine says "English is 3 languages wearing a trenchcoat".

[@robertfarrow5853]

Celtic, Norse of many kinds, Welsh, Cornish, Gaelic, Latin, French, classical Greek for the sciences and quite a bit of the Empire thrown in... It's all good in Blighty! (Army slang for England , bastardised from India , where I think it was word for Europe??) the beauty of English is it's organic and never stops adapting. That's why it's adopted everywhere as a polygot construct. Listen to Indian English, it's also a sub dialect like American.

[@blakehall7382]

I was born and raised in Frome and one of my biggest pet peeve’s, even to this day, is people mispronouncing it 😂, but unless you are from the area everyone does

[@jackcarter5101]

0:18 Leominster is 'LEMSTER', Bicester is 'BISTER', Godmanchester is 'GUMSTER' (traditionally), Loughborough is 'LUFFBURRA', and Keighley is 'KEETHLEE'. More examples - Ulgham is 'UFFAM', Happisburgh is 'HAYZBURRA', Milngavie is 'MULGUY', Barnoldswick is 'BARLICK', and Woolfardisworthy is 'WOOLZERY'. Examples local to me in North East England - Finchale is 'FINKLE', Houghall is 'HOFFLE', Prudhoe is 'PRUDDA', and Ireshopeburn is 'EYES-UP-BURN'.

[@goose300183]

Another place the "ster" is used without it actually being present in the name is Anstruther in Scotland - pronounced as 'AYNster'. A couple more odd ones in Scotland are Kirkcudbright and Hawick, spoken as (something like) 'KurKOObree' and 'HOIK' respectively. Also one that people often get wrong is Culzean, as in Culzean Castle. That's said something like 'kaLANE'

[@UKJesterVids]

Loughborough's a fun one because you've got the same sequence of letters pronounced differently

[@Burglar-King]

I’m impressed and enlightened. I bet I don’t remember them and will show myself up at the first hurdle.

[@MsSpiralmonkey]

Also Culross in Fife is pronounced Cooriss, Chatelherault near Hamilton is Chat le row. Nearly every area has a place name that’s a shibboleth.

[@beccabbea2511]

Don’t forget Cholmondeley which is, of course, pronounced Chumley. Then there’s Tarporley, pronounced Tarplee. I live in Wales, now there’s fun 😂 And yes, I can pronounce that long Welsh name, someone taught me, but I avoid doing so around Welsh speakers, because I bet my accent is terrible. 😂

[@alfresco8442]

We spell it Dunkirk (church in the dunes, or on the hill) but the French have Frenchified it to Dunkerque. It's still Viking though; they got everywhere. Half the names around where I live are Norse...including Ormskirk.

[@dave_h_8742]

Ayntre - Aintree.

[@alfresco8442]

@@dave_h_8742 I'm in Formby...another one. Not sure which I like best; maybe Ainsdale...Lone Wolf's Valley. Sounds like something out of Game of Thrones.

[@gemluka6666]

You've also the dutch version "Duinkerke"

[@joduncan4433]

There’s a town called Dunkirk in Kent too

[@alfresco8442]

I'm not sure that kirk is just Norse as the mapmen are suggesting. The Anglo Saxon was ciric or cirice, which could be pronounced with a hard or soft c (ch). Also the 'ing' element meant people...'ingas'. The Norse version was ingar, which gives us Vikingar...people from the viks, or coastal inlets. Birmingham was Beornmundingaham...the home (village) of Beornmund's people. Interesting that we lost ham to the Norman French village, but still kept 'little ham'...hamlet.

[@sarahealey1780]

I love your reactions and the fact that you understood straight away that time and literacy are the main reason for our place names xx

[@GnrMilligan]

Smart, witty, and well spoken. No wonder you're a success at making this kind of contend Sir. And it is a rare pleasure to see an American who understands and appreciates our odd British humour! Keep them coming!

[@andrewtaylor5984]

I was once accosted by an American in the Earl's Court area who asked me the way to Gloucester Road, with the "ou" pronounced as in "cow" and the "c" pronounced!

[@Demun1649]

"success at making this kind of contend Sir" You show the same laziness and attitude to education. I've corrected your atrocious use of the English language. "success at making this kind of CONTENT, sir". Contend is to "take the opposite viewpoint", and you missed out a COMMA. E minus.

[@maddym6592]

There's a place in Devon, England called Woolfardisworthy, but pronounced Woolsery

[@nickk6518]

Your comment at the end of the video about people not being able to read or write is also the reason why, if you look through Anglican Church Registers of Baptism, Marriages and Burials, there can be a number of different spellings of surnames for the same person or different people in the same household and even different branches of the same family tree. It was because people would speak their surname to the Church Official and it was written down in the register by that official phonetically, I suppose you could say. My great great grandfather was baptised, married and buried with a different spelling of our surname for each event.

[@dexine4723]

Lol, seen that with my family tree too.The number of versions of 'Riggall' were astonishing.

[@3adgamd3r]

There was also a time common people didn’t even have last names, we only got them because so many people were dying of The Black Death that it made recording deaths significantly harder without them At the time they’d be like “James died? Is that the fifth or sixth James this today?” Since for a long time people got their names largely from the Bible, as it was all that was really read to them, it made tracking deaths that much harder This is why names like “Smith”, “Mill” and “Hill” came about, it’d be like “Andrew lives on a hill, so he’s now Andrew Hill”, or “John is a blacksmith, so he’s now John Smith”; although this is an oversimplification, it really is a fascinating topic

[@andypandy9013]

I live in Ashby de la Zouch, as seen in the opening titles of that video. The Zouch bit is pronounced "Zoosh" whereas a small village a few miles away just called Zouch is pronounced "Zotch". Confused? You will be! (Many thanks to Alien Bert for that last one. 😉)

[@user-zj8qy3jt1n]

Like luga-baa-rugar.

[@andypandy9013]

@@user-zj8qy3jt1n 🤣🤣🤣👍

[@amelialikesfrogs5778]

I'm practically over the road in loughborough, also in that intro. It's a running joke that Americans would pronounce it looga barooga

[@andypandy9013]

@@amelialikesfrogs5778 Hence the 'Looga Barooga' Festival! 🤣

[@adaddinsane]

One thousand extra points for the "Soap" reference.

[@grahvis]

The interesting thing about Aberystwyth meaning the mouth of the Ystwyth, is that the river running into the harbour, is actually called the Rheidol, the Ystwyth enters the sea outside the town. It would appear that sometime in the past, a mapmaker got the two rivers confused with each other.

[@Knappa22]

Yes. Edward I. The name of the original settlement was Llanbadarn Gaerog (St Padarn in the Fort) to distonguish it from Llanbadarn Fawr (Great St Padarn’s) - the ancient monastic foundation to the east. The original Welsh castle was at the mouth of the river Ystwyth, south of the current town. Edward I demolished this and built a huge new castle to supress the Welsh at a more strategic location at the mouth of the river Rheidol. But the name of the older castle was preserved in the charters, hence Aberystwyth.

[@grahvis]

@@Knappa22. Not quite that simple, though. The old legend of the three water nymphs of Plynlimon names the third one who rushes westward as either Rheidol or Ystwyth, depending on who is telling it. The present Ystwyth rises some distance from the other three, so it would seem the names have been exchanged sometime in the past.

[@brianmorton1380]

We have Wensleydale but the river is the Ure or Yore. Although to be fair there is a Wensley brook, but it's only a tributary of the Ure

[@andrewtaylor5984]

The Welsh for Swansea is Abertawe, mouth of the Tawe, which has been anglicised to Towey. Why do we not call it Toweymouth? Similarly, Brecon is Aberhonddu in Welsh. Logically, it should be Honddumouth, although it is clearly now named after the county.

[@andrewtaylor5984]

@@brianmorton1380 I have heard it referred to as Uredale.

[@MawganRogerson]

As a Cornish person (from Cornwall!) our place names (and often people’s names) are quite different to everywhere else!

[@Knappa22]

They’re very similar to Welsh ones e.g Tre- and Pen- etc

[@skankingiant]

Pol, Pen or Tre a Cornish they will be. My favourite was someone I work with pronouncing Mullion with a French accent... like Bouillion.

[@Johnny2face]

like for example Fowey is pronounced Foy , St Austell is pronounced sain ozzal

[@skankingiant]

@@Johnny2face St Awful ain't it?

[@kevg3320]

I grew up in Marazion. Had an Italian tourist pronounce it Marrazeonee (Ma Rats Ee O Nee).

[@carolineskipper6976]

The UK is littered with places that have whole syllables that, although written down, are never said. Norfolk is particularly prone to this. I give you Wymondham (pronounced Wyndum) Happisburgh (pronounced Haze-bruh) and the small village of Talcolneston (Tackles-den).

[@petergaskin1811]

Hoxne?

[@andrewtaylor5984]

Do not also forget Costessey (Cossey) and Hunstanton (Hunston).

[@dafarsher9738]

The people of Kent often try to catch people out with this one, the town of Trottiscliffe. I wasn’t even close when I tried to pronounce it!

[@onehairybuddha]

@@dafarsher9738 Luckily the nearby Country Park gives visitors a hint :)

[@dafarsher9738]

@@onehairybuddha absolutely however I wasn’t given any clues just shown the town road sign and asked to pronounce it as we passed by!

[@Jawa1604]

I live near the town of Swindon which means, 'Pig Hill,' in Anglo Saxon. It's a very appropriate name! I used to work in the Tourist Information of the town of Devizes and there were people who'd struggle to pronounce it (Dah-vise-is) It comes from the Latin Castrum ad Divisas meaning castle at the boundaries. However my favourite miss-pronunciation was Lacock (Laycock). It was always hard to keep a straight face!

[@phatlyt]

a couple more to note is, Eboracum, a roman fort/ city, that the Vikings renamed Jorvik, to later become York, also, Manchester (obviously roman) that comes from the roman fort which still partially remains in the city, (search Castlefield, Manchester, UK) which was named Mamucium, which over the centuries became the Manchester we know today, also in my home town, there's what used to be its own township a few hundred years ago but is now part of my town, called Thorp estate, originally spelt þorp (þ being the rune for Thor, ergo, the "th" sound used in English today)

[@excelents]

There is a market town in South Yorkshire called Penistone (sits back gets the popcorn at the ready) 😃

[@sueporter1834]

Years ago a college tutor was leading a class and looking at place names, the tutor was from the South of England so not used to the local accent or pronunciation of said places. He asked one young student where she was from, she replied Nuffen, he then proceeded to try and find it on a map, eventually giving up he asked the student to show him where it was. She said its only 3 miles away and pointed to New Houghton.

[@stephendisraeli1143]

Our class once laughed at a new geography teacher who pronounced the local name Wisbech as "Wizz-bek" instead of the "Wizz-beach" which we regarded as normal. But whenever I mention that now, somebody pops up to say "I'm from there, and I do say "Wizz-bek".

[@jumpjet777]

@@stephendisraeli1143 I used to live in Wymonham (Windum) and go out with a girl from 'Wizz-Beach'. This was in the mid 80's and was the std pronunciation at the time AFAIK.

[@ThegirlfromU.N.C.L.E]

Told you it was glorious silliness. Hope you enjoyed it, and yes as already commented, you are definitely the first American reactor to get the anker joke 😊

[@22seanmurphy]

Hi brilliant as always, i have to say that i really do enjoy your interaction with the vlog and my i say kind sir that another reason why i watch you is that you have a very good brain on your shoulder's so it interesting listening to your comments as me in the UK and at the ripe old age of 60 learn things from you 🇬🇧🇺🇸

[@richardanderson8696]

Quite a lot of place names in England are assumed to be Saxon because of the spelling, but are actually Brythonic. For example, lots of places end with 'combe', which is just an Anglicised version of 'cwm'.

[@redwaldcuthberting7195]

That might not be so simple. See old English cumb from Proto-Germanic *kumbaz. The 'b' would be pronounced in old English so did they just add the 'b' back according to you? It's more like cumb was conflated with cym as Welsh doesn't have one nor does it have one in Cymry which is from earlier *combrogi as Brittonic lost the 'b.' Proto-Celtic * kumba 'valley' Proto-Brythonic: *komm Breton: komm (“river-bed”) Cornish: komm Middle Welsh: cwm Welsh: cwm → English: cwm → Old English: cumb (partially) English: combe, coomb Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kumbʰo-, *kumbʰéh₂-, either from Proto-Indo-European *keu- (“bend”) or borrowing a from non-Indo-European substrate.[1][2][3][4] Proposed cognates include Proto-Germanic *kumbaz (“bowl, vat; valley”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “basin, bowl”), Proto-Albanian *tˢumba[5] (compare Albanian sumbull (“round button, knob”)), Proto-Indo-Iranian *kʰumbʰas (“pot”) (compare Avestan 𐬑𐬎𐬨𐬠𐬀-‎ (xumba-), Sanskrit कुम्भ (kumbha)). Also providing one name suffix such as comb does not prove that many place names are British ie Brittonic.

[@richardanderson8696]

@@redwaldcuthberting7195 Interesting. Food for thought, thanks.

[@Burglar-King]

I crack up every time you mime the map men theme tune. Map men map men map map map map men men 😂😂😂

[@martinbynion1589]

Another excellent MapMen video...and another excellent reaction by JJLA! More, please...🙂

[@type45d44]

I live in Frome! People always mispronounce it, especially Americans, they always have a hard time remembering how it’s pronounced

[@JuneSivell]

Edinburgh and Peterborough are both pronounced with burra and the end not burro. The same with David Attenborough (burra not burro).

[@dr.zacking2097]

Loving these JJLA

[@bobwightman1054]

The ultra long Welsh place name is a deliberate joke, the correct name is Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, the locals refer to it as Llanfair PG, my wife used to live there. It's the second "llan" that gives it away as "llan" roughly translates as "the land of the parish" or "parish" so the meaning is The parish of st Mary (fair is the mutated form of Mair or Mary) of the pool of white hazels. I'm from the Lake District and there's a lot of Old Norse place names around there. One that gets quite a few is Kirkby which is a prefix to several towns, it means "church town" but the second 'k' is silent so is pronounced "Kerrbi" with the "bi" as in "bit". We now live near Keighley (pron: keith-lee) which I've heard pronounced a multiple number of ways.

[@dexine4723]

I used to live near Llanfair PG and never heard anyone call it anything else, because it took too long. There are plenty of other real tongue-twisters in Wales though, like Eglwyswrw or Penbontrhydyfothau, and even relatively easy ones like Llanelli get people confused!

[@andrewtaylor5984]

@@dexine4723 It should be fairly easy, once you are aware that w is a vowel in Welsh, and is pronounced like a u or oo. For example Llanrwst is pronounced Llanroost.

[@chocoholic832]

Its always interesting to hear people trying to pronounce Leicester & Loughborough is another tongue twister.

[@madabbafan]

I grew up near Quernmore on the outskirts of Lancaster and yes it is pronounced Quormer

[@clivemortimore8203]

The village I live in is spelt Saltfleetby, most outsiders pronounce it Salt-fleet-bee, people from surrounding towns say Salt-fleet-bye and those who have always lived here say Sol-o-by.

[@lynhewlett1941]

Thankyou for these videos ❤

[@RBernsCarter]

As someone from the town of Flitwick, it really used to get on my nerves with all the Harry Potter fans pronouncing the ‘w’

[@mothmagic1]

That long Welsh name is usually shortened to Llanfair PG. There's a town in Scotland which was called Millengarvie but the locals always called it Mulgie. Then they got lazy and the local pronunciation has become the way it appears on signpost and maps. Don't be fooled by that, Germans also have a habit running 3 or four words together. I used to live near a german village called Siebensteinhausen - seven stone houses.

[@TheHollowGHOST]

It's Milngavie.

[@sallyomahony1108]

There was a documentary years ago about how English developed, and they mentioned a valley where all the place names at one end were Anglo Saxon in origin, and at the other were all Viking. I can’t remember where it was though.

[@John_Lyle]

A village near Bourne in Lincolnshire is called "Twenty". Nearby is the village of "Pode Hole" , while "Three Holes" is near Upwell in Norfolk.

[@andrewtaylor5984]

@@mrsmith9597 The legal title of Hampshire is "County of Southampton." Illogically, the administrative headquarters of the county is in Winchester. The Isle of Wight, which is historically part of Hampshire, has its own headquarters in Newport.

[@andrewtaylor5984]

@@John_Lyle Twenty is believed to be twenty miles from somewhere, possibly the start of the long-closed Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway.

[@vaudevillian7]

Have been looking forward to this one

[@harrycapper69]

Launceston in Cornwall is pronounced Lanson. In Scotland Culross is pronounced Coo-riss

[@lynnejamieson2063]

Launceston is pronounced both as it looks and as Lanson...and sometimes by the same person in the same conversation. The trouble is that no-one tells you that when you move there and it ends up taking a wee while to figure out that they are not two different names but two different pronunciations…and a few attempts at finding the mythical Lanson on a map 😊

[@harrycapper69]

Surely you mean down yer@@lynnejamieson2063

[@jillosler9353]

That was educational and highly amusing. 👏👏

[@Steve14ps]

Bury in Lancashire is pronounced locally as 'Burry' rhyming with 'hurry', Slaithewaite is 'Slewit'

[@cmlemmus494]

The easy way to understand the pronunciation weirdness is that English is a combination of Old German (Celtic), Latin (Roman invasion), Low German (Saxon invasion), Danish (Vikings), and Middle French (Norman invasion), followed by a huge shift in the way all vowels were pronounced (1300-1700). So for any name you have to think about what language was common when the place was founded and what shifts happened after that. Older names are German modified by French then shifted into modern English; medieval names are mostly French with English vowel sounds.

[@Mercure250]

Two things : 1. Old German and Celtic are two completely different things; you should have just said "Celtic" 2. The Normans that invaded and ruled England spoke Old French, not Middle French; the Middle French period started around the time the Hundred-Year War started, which is when the nobility in England started to move away from French altogether And now, nitpicking : - Both Angles and Saxons invaded Britannia, and the language of the Angles was distinct from Low German. But it is true that the Saxons also influenced what would become English. - The biggest Latin influence was due to the Renaissance, where English scholars decided to create or borrow terms derived from Latin roots, instead of using Germanic roots (which is a route German tended to prefer, for example). While the Roman invasion did bring Latin influence for place names, the influence on the English language as a whole was limited. In fact, most English words that were Latin in origin during the Old English period were in fact borrowed a few centuries earlier by their Germanic ancestors, when they were still on the continent, which is why you can find them in German also (though these words have evolved in different directions since then).

[@cmlemmus494]

@@Mercure250 Thank you for the added information. I am actually well aware that Celtic and Old German aren't the same language, but I'm not about to post a 1,000 word YT comment explaining the difference between Celto-Germanic and Goidelic or how Anglo-Frisian both affected OE and split off from it. My comment was intended solely as a super quick reminder that English has multiple separate influences over time an that vocabulary was affected in different way depending on when it entered the language.

[@Mercure250]

@@cmlemmus494 Ok first, I have no idea what you're talking about... I am not aware of any language or language group called "Celto-Germanic", and I don't understand how Goidelic wouldn't just be a subset of it. Second, I never asked you to go into details, I just said saying "Old German" for the Celtic languages of the British Isles is extremely inaccurate, as "Old German" would be understood as "The ancestor of Modern Standard German", which would be Old High German, which never went to the British Isles. And I've never seen anyone refer to any Celtic language as "Old German" in the first place. And yeah, I am aware you didn't intend it to be super long, that's why that Anglo-Frisian stuff was in the nitpick section. I actually meant that section in my comment to be more of a "You can ignore this if you want" section; I didn't make that clear enough, I am now aware, and I apologise.

[@WijaLE]

Great vid!

[@Ibis117]

A video on all weirdly mispronounced place names would be several hours long, as everyone will know at least one local anomaly. Trottiscliffe in Kent, for example, is pronounced "trosley". Obviously. There are two towns called Wymondham, in Norfolk and Leicestershire, spelt the same, but pronounced completely differently.

[@Ibis117]

@@simonrobbins8357 considering I grew up in one of them, I'm surprised I forgot.

[@robertfarrow5853]

​@@simonrobbins8357 the Medway one is the soft G. The footbal team The Gills get a roasting by being a bunch of girls. Jill (Gillian)being a girls name not often used now.

[@andrewtaylor5984]

​@@simonrobbins8357The hard G belongs to the Dorset town.

[@charliecroker7380]

I was going to mention Trottiscliffe, I'll mention Wrotham and Teston.

[@callumking2152]

I'm from Grimsby and Grimsby does literally mean "Grims Village" ('By' meaning 'village') and the old tale is that was founded in the 9th century when Grim's boat crashed on the east coast, which is where he founded the town!

[@duncs3850]

Hey, a Brit here- really enjoy your reactions- you come across as funny, getting it, and lovely in equal measure. You’d enjoy it here x

[@Dan-B]

A couple of great videos exploring British History and linguistic history of the British Isles are: *“History of Britain in 20 minutes”* by A.J. Merrick, and *“Languages of the British Isles”* by History with Hilbert

[@glo0115]

I live in a place called Kirkby (so double Norse, ha) in the county of Nottinghamshire* (Anglo Saxon) *Originally Snottingham aka we are Snots people

[@enemde3025]

I live in CORBY. Or KORI'S BY ( KORI'S settlement) as it was called in the 8th century. Then , in the Doomsday Book, it was recorded as CORBEI. If you thought the English names were bad, try the Scottish and Welsh ones.

[@elemar5]

Yep as Lesley said, Dunkirk is in France.

[@Tiekorolivier]

It's a flemish name. As many names in northen France witch also is south-western Flandres

[@jerry2357]

One name that they didn't include was the Yorkshire town of Slaithwaite (pronounced Slawit).

[@andrewtaylor5984]

And the adjacent place, Golcar, is pronounced Goker. The tunnel under the Pennines a few miles further on is Stannidge, spelt Standedge.

[@Stewyboy178]

Im english and watching you react to these videos is actually teaching me alot of touch about my country i didnt even know

[@bobbybigboyyes]

They are not nicknames, they are the real names!

[@BaddaBigBoom]

If you haven't already please watch Jay Foreman's presentation on "Trams". That is one of my favourites. His brother "Beardyman" has the same sharp wit, plus he is one of UK's most skilled beatboxers.

[@danielmorley5248]

reaction videos have always irritated me but yours make me laugh 😂😂😂 and the videos teach me things i never knew about my own country

[@ArcaneStrain]

I grew up in a town called Crawley, the name is Saxon for “crow infested clearing”. It’s also where the band The Cure are from. 🤙

[@GoryBark]

Congrats on 7k subs my man!

[@61shirley]

I’ve lived in a village called Huthwaite my entire life. It means the settlement on the hill. It’s he highest point in Nottinghamshire

[@MsSteelphoenix]

I only just got the 'ankers' joke, thanks to you! Hilarious!

[@marcswarbrick3392]

I think Kirk is from old Norse for church. I grew up in a town called Kirkham which I believe comes from Church Hamlet. For such a small place there actually is a lot of churches!

[@searleflesher6689]

Hi I love in Cornwall and there are many difficult names around lol

[@Ued3b]

hehe there is, I live in Treleigh (Truh-Lay) :)

[@nobbynobbynoob]

Devonian Welsh ya see... Kernow bys vyken!

[@Andy36m]

There’s one in southern England called Herstmonceux Pronounced Husrt Mon Zoo

[@TTF_cards]

Been to Frome once, had to deliver some garden furniture I made to there, quite scenic

[@eldaro6969]

They missed out Happisburgh (pronounced hayesborough) and Cambois (pronounced Cam Us)!

[@Ethrianor]

There's a little place a bit north of us called Okeford Fitzpaine (looks easy) but locals call it Fip'ny Ockferd. Oh, and we have river Frome and a river Piddle either side of town.

[@germantoenglish898]

1:07 It sounds like a spell from the Necronomicon. In my head, I could see a POV camera shot racing through an eerie forest.

[@MayJay1812]

"Just with different emphasis on the different syll-a-ble" cracked me up

[@lazaruslong1960]

I was born in east London. An area that is spelled Plaistow is pronounced "Plarstow". There is a town in Kent that is also Plaistow but is pronounced "Playstow"

[@iankingsleys2818]

The prefix Aber is common throughout Scotland, England and Wales. Its Brythonic Celtic. The suffix "kirk" like "Llan" means "Church", while in Cornwall you forgot "Fowey" pronounced "Foy"

[@bigdaddigaming]

Yes I'm from Grimsby and it was a viking settlement by Grim

[@maxwellturnbull1903]

How's this for an example of English eccentricity? I live in a village called Creswell. Nothing particularly weird about that you may think, but wait. Creswell only became the place that it now is because of discovery of extensive coal measures. Before that it had been a small settlement at the side of the newly made turnpike road. It consisted mainly of farms and associated housing along with a few houses accomodating members of the clergy. The main settlement or village was Elmton. This place is about a mile west of Creswell and consists of a couple of farms along with other buildings, such as a church ( which although small is strangely attractive in its construction) For some reason Elmton was regarded as having greater importance. The area became known as Elmton Cum Creswell. This name persisted until very recently when the local parish council grew weary of all the 'knowing' looks that the name tended to attract that they changed it to " Elmton With Creswell ". Now all they need to do is persuade the people of Sutton Cum Duckmanton to change the name of that settlement to something else closer to decency for the sake of moral decency, if you like that kind of crap.

[@malcolmsleight9334]

I'm from a town called Huddersfield, in Yorkshire. Nearby there is a town called Slaithewaite, which is of viking descent. However, the locals pronounce it as slow-it.

[@BaddaBigBoom]

Here in the UK, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that thinks that we are often seen as a laughing stock to other English speaking nations. It is a rare to find people like you that actually read between the lines and appreciate the details, I've just started to peruse your videos and there is LOADS there that are both appreciated by me and subscribed to by me. I LOVE the quick witted presentations of "Map Men" and Jay Foreman. Subbed ...it would be rude not to!

[@michaelt2939]

I live in Alnwick. Not many people know that there's a village nearby called, and spelled 'Annick'.

[@UltraMegaSandwich]

In Devon there's a town called Woolfardisworthy, pronounced 'woolsery'.

[@barnowl.]

That l-o-n-g Welsh town name is really a SENTENCE. The town added on some more to the first part (the real name) to attract tourists.

[@teresab7575]

There is a town in the UK called Cockermouth, affectionately known as gobblesville and also a town called fingerighoe

[@robertfarrow5853]

In Kent there's the village of Pratt's Bottom. Nobody mispronounces that , except the shy or hysterically laughing

[@colingregory7464]

The derivation and history of the city of Nottingham's name is fun and strange at times

[@Knappa22]

Yes that’s a good one. Snottingham lost its ‘S’ Good job that didn’t happen at Scunthorpe!

[@chocoholic832]

​@@Knappa22 😂😂😂

[@Subsbench]

I'm a big fan of Map Men so was worth watching if only to watch this episode again for the 60th time

[@jaccilowe3842]

You picked it right at the start! Pronunciation simplifying over centuries but illiteracy means the spellings do not change. Well done.

[@helenwood8482]

In Cumbria there is Ravenstonedale, pronounced Rissendale.

[@liamowen]

Loughborough naitive here most foreign students at our university call us Lou ga ba roo ga where it’s luffbra

[@mcswordfish]

The thing about Frome is it's not quite "Froom" but this is the closest we can represent how the local accent pronounces that syllable. They'll pronounce "Roam" a lot like "Room" too. Think Danny Butrerman (Nick Frost in Hot Fuzz) as his accent is similar (although not exactly same the same because there's more than ten miles between them)

[@BaileyClips]

Grim is also another name for Odin.

[@jackie6343]

So interesting ❤

[@barrygower6733]

Dunkirk is the English spelling of Dunkerque, a port on the Channel coast in France.

[@robertfarrow5853]

Dunkirk is also an ancient village in Kent

[@Velshland]

There is a place in Walsall written “Caldmore” but pronounced “Karma” and I honestly couldn’t tell you why.

[@janus1363]

I give you Trottiscliffe (pronounced Trozly) situated near Wrotham (Rootam) and Meopham (Mepam) all in Kent.

[@OiiRobbi3x]

I just subbed then reloaded the page and your at 7k congratz! would be cool if it was me 😁but i love your reactions your so chill much love!

[@roowyrm9576]

I live in Frome, we have great fun with strangers mispronouncing us 😂 But the river is much nicer than the photo, we even have otters living in it.

[@lakesandfells]

They should have mentioned Torpenhow in Cumbria which is pronounced Tre-pen-a. Torpenhow consists of Norse names for hill or mountain, Tor, Pen and How. So effectively the name of the village is Hill Hill Hill.

[@janesmith8168]

I’m British and after watching this hilarious and equally informative video all the ridiculous pronunciation/grammar rules, etc suddenly makes sense. Is it too late to change the spelling of these places? I guess it’s easier to keep the old spellings than to change ALL the phonetic rules in a single language!

[@perrycox08]

The map men are fantastic!

[@Karandra1]

Try visiting Norfolk where you have Wymondham (Windam) and , my fav, Happisburg (Hayesbruh)

[@TerryD15]

The UK second city is Birmingham (yes I know there's also one in Albama!) which comes from the Anglo Saxon name of the village Chief in the low lying land (Ham). His name was Beormund so the village became Beormundsham evolving to Birmingham over around 1000 years.

[@nightw4tchman]

2:55 don't worry about Quernmore, I lived most my life near there and never knew it was pronounced that way. Even had a road near me with that name and everyone pronounced it wrong. My own village was pronounced wrong by people in the next one.

[@adaddinsane]

Near us is a town called Slaithwaite (notice the Viking thwaite), it's usually pronounced "slough-it" (where "ough" as in "ow" not "uff") except when it's pronounced "Slithik". Did you know "ough" has up to thirteen different pronunciations? (The variability is due to pedantry.)

[@stuartgrier5605]

There is a famous town in Scotland, whos name is spelled "Milngavie", but it us pronounced "Mull-guy"