American Reacts to Why British Place Names are so Hard to Pronounce

[@DeeDeeLowryLegs]

Dickens first published “ A tale of two cities “ in two local newspapers- it was the Bicester Times, it was the Worcester Times 😁 It’s ok I’ll see myself out 🙊👋🏼

[@BlueTexel]

😂😂

[@brigidsingleton1596]

❤😊❤😅❤😂❤

[@margaretnicol3423]

🤣👍

[@Jawa1604]

My favourite comment of the day by far! 🤣🤣

[@grahamtruckel]

Brilliant!

[@XMan-tu4iu]

There is a suburb of Glasgow called Milngavie. Pronounced Mull-guy in Scotland.

[@Grumpy-Goblin]

I'm always fascinated by the way American's tend to pronounce the Shire in UK place names as Shy-er and yet they pronounce their own New Hampshire in a very similar way to the way we pronounce shire as Shure. I have no idea why they seem to have such difficulty when they come across the same word in the UK that always seems odd.

[@wobaguk]

I wonder if fewer did before Lord of the Rings took off.

[@tamielizabethallaway2413]

But, The Shire is pronounced SHYER which is correct in English, just like we have Shire horses. It's only when adding shire at the end of a word it becomes SHEER.

[@andrews6341]

In Scotland it is pronounced "Shyer " as well.

[@sjbict]

They forget there are two sounds to the letters

[@WonderfulTulips-hj3lz]

I used to live near Grimsby 😂😂😂

[@vickywitton1008]

I LOVE Map Men! Sometimes even us Brits mispronounce place names if we don't come from there!

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

You are correct. We even often make errors in our own grammar, as in "us Brits" as opposed to the more grammatically correct "we Brits". 😅 (Don't take me seriously. I'm only extracting the urine!)

[@faithpearlgenied-a5517]

I didn't even realise a place near where I live was spelt the way it was until I was in my early 20s. I knew of a nearby town pronounced 'Karma' although I'd never seen it written down. Then one day I saw a place name 'Caldmore' and my sister had to tell me THAT was 'Karma'. I was disgusted with myself 😅

[@libradragon934]

Yeah, but you can tell Steve has no idea of the humour!

[@alexritchie4586]

I got Towcester wrong for a long time. I said it 'Tau-stuh', not 'Toe-stuh'.

[@ratowey]

I wouldn’t worry too much about mispronouncing our towns Steve, we also do it. We’re all learning together. Please watch more Mapmen videos, they are great helping people understand all manner of interesting topics.

[@saxon-mt5by]

Sometimes even the locals can't agree on a pronunciation; I used to live in a village with less than 2,000 inhabitants, and those in the north pronounced it very differently to those in the south and east - all of half-a-mile apart!

[@reactingtomyroots]

haha, thanks! I enjoyed this one so I'm sure I'll look at more of their videos in the future :)

[@MissSJ4429]

Yay they mentioned my town! Towcester 🎉

[@GalacticAtom]

It's interesting that while Americans tend to say "shire" with a long i in English county names, you pronounce "New Hampshire" properly!

[@utha2665]

I know Americans have a rhotic R in their accent, so it comes out as Hamp-sure instead more like Hamp-sha.

[@alisonrodger3360]

I've realised I learnt how to say Gloucester from the nursery rhyme "Dr Foster went to Gloucester... " The rest I've kind of picked up, but even after 50 odd years there are still some I get wrong. I think the only one you get consistently a bit wrong is Wales. It always sounds like you're saying Wells, Lindsay gets it right though 😁

[@alexmckee4683]

Good old Dr. Foster. He never did come to Gloucester again, went to Frocester instead ;-) With Steve's pronunciation of Wales, it's just an accent thing isn't it? Doesn't bother me particularly. His accent just has weak differentiation between /eɪ/ and /ɛ/. There's a difference between mispronunciation and differences in accent, as the French particularly need to learn.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

Yes, we've told Steve about his constant mispronouncuation of 'Wales' to "Wells" _umpteen_ times but he _still_ can't seem to say WALES correctly...😢 Which is a shame, because what will he then call 'Tunbridge Wells'?! (...or 'Tonbridge', which is a different spelling, but similar pronunciation of a different town, might be in a - maybe? - different county

[@utha2665]

@@brigidsingleton1596 while we're on a spelling/pronunciation path, it's umpteen and shame. I know, it's probably a typo, but I couldn't help myself 🤭

[@brigidsingleton1596]

@@utha2665 Thank you ... I missed those. They were changed by my Tablet (again) sorry about that. I've edited them now. 😏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿♥️🙂🖖

[@TimeyWimeyLimey]

The quickest way to learn British place names is to watch and listen to the Classified football results, 5pm every Saturday. You'll hear over a hundred towns and cities pronounced in minutes. There are old versions of these on YT if you want to try.

[@enspropheticministry6786]

Here in Norfolk UK we have a few. Try Postwick ( pronounced possik) or Costessey (pronounced Cossy) or my favourite, Wymondham (pronounced Windum) 😂😁👍😉

[@Hirotoro4692]

I get my first house in wymondham this year! Hype

[@PLuMUK54]

I live in Beormingasham, the home (ham) of the people/tribe (ingas) of Beorm/Beorma. It became Beormingham, and eventually, Birmingham. Today, an area of central Birmingham is called the Beorma Quarter.

[@surfaceten510n]

My favourite American mispronunciation of English is Buoy ( Booie,)

[@claregale9011]

Some pronounce thames as its spelt instead of tems how it's actually pronounced . 😊

[@tightropewalkergirl6485]

Oh that cracks me up completely 🤪

[@utha2665]

One that really gets my goat and not many realise is solder, they pronounce it sodder. Now you will never un-hear it.

[@surfaceten510n]

​@@utha2665 One of the biggest culprits for that is John Parks over at Adafruit he really winds me up because he knows he is saying it wrong admits to saying it wrong does not correct himself and he is instructing people in electronics people like him are what is wrong in all types of education, you would not get a mechanic refer to a cam wheel as a sprocket doda.

[@utha2665]

@@surfaceten510n Haha sprocket doda, I get what you mean though. I can understand other pronunciations, even the 'erb one, but there is no rhyme or reason for sodder. And it seems a large proportion of Americans say it like this as well.

[@mattlm64]

We have some wonderful place names in the UK. Places like Shitterton, Cockermouth, Fingringhoe and Twatt.

[@geoff1201]

Not to mention Pratt's Bottom.

[@libradragon934]

And six Mile Bottom!@@geoff1201

[@diane64yorks]

We've got The Land of Nod, and Wetwang, Blubberhouses, plus lots of other weird names in Yorkshire, even some of the street names are strange like Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate in York, there's the Tickle Cock bridge underpass in Castleford and Geese and Green Peas Yard in Pontefract, etc etc

[@markj66]

You've got a state in the US called New Hampshire and nobody pronounces it "shyer" so you have no excuse for getting "shire" wrong...

[@dataterminal]

You can blame lord of the rings for that haha :)

[@claredouglas6067]

Also in Scotland, we pronounce shire - shir, as in shirt or shire without the e at the end of the word. Have you tried Scottish name places? How do you pronounce Anstruther or Taynuilt? Or Edinburgh?

[@williamprince8262]

Don't be too harsh - he's trying

[@tonygreenfield7820]

Should be prounonced more like "Sheer"

[@michaeleddison6765]

Most of the place names in this video are place names in the USA. My guess it's no different than over here where if your not from a place or ever been there then it's likely you won't know how to pronounce it properly. USA place names in video: Grimsby Leominster Loughborough Keighley Beaulieu Gotham Newcastle Leicester Worcester Gloucester Norwich Berwick Southwark Berkshire Cirencester Sandwich Berkhamsted Hertfordshire Aberystwyth Buckingham I wouldn't be surprised if all them places are pronounced correctly in the USA by the people that live in the places or near by

[@chrisellis3797]

Map Men is an awesome rabbit hole to fall into. Funny and informative every time

[@stuartmcivor2276]

Learning how to pronounce LlanfairPG is a common party trick - I learned it when I was young.

[@faithpearlgenied-a5517]

I was bet £20 I couldn't learn it in one day, I did and got that cash.

[@heulwenhughes4110]

It's not difficult once you know how to pronounce welsh letters. Our alphabet is different to the English alphabet x

[@31Blaize]

In my primary school we used to race to say it the fastest 😂

[@MoominJude]

Yep, me too. It came in handy when I was teaching and we had an assembly with Welsh guests. They put the name on a projector and asked if anyone could pronounce it. I was the only one.

[@WildSeven19]

The only hard part is the LL sound. But that just takes a little practise @@heulwenhughes4110

[@GrumpyOldGit-zk1kw]

Americans 'We pronounce words as they're spelt. Also Americans 'Erb'. 🙂

[@audiocoffee]

they do tend to drop the wrong H's sometimes. surprised they don't call large-scale medical centres 'Ospitals' for the sake of that level of continuity.

[@101steel4]

Mirror - meer Orange - onje Boot - trunk 😁

[@utha2665]

@@101steel4 Bonnet - hood squirrel - squirl solder - sodder etc etc

[@tempromental]

@@audiocoffeeI’m from south east london with I suppose a mostly cockney accent and I say ospital lol I didn’t notice my accent to much until I moved to Kent! I though they spoke the same as me, they do for the most part, but certain words are pronounced differently. E.g round here they pronounce out properly but I would say it like ahht

[@alexritchie4586]

I've never understood how America has a state of Oregon with the stress on the first and last phoneme, but in 'Oregano' put all the stress on the second phoneme 🤷‍♂️

[@rufus1346]

In the mid 80’s I moved to Long Island and many places were named after Native American places. They were not the easiest things to pronounce.

[@kristoferfoster4378]

You got it right, I'm from Grimsby Town

[@dianeknight4839]

I have noticed that the US tends to say words phonetically. Even letters of the alphabet, I alway chuckle when you pronounce the letter Z as Zee, whereas in the UK we say Zed. You asked about Bicester, it is pronounced Bista, like sister. When a place ends in shire it is pronounced Sha. Like Worcestershire - Wusta-sha. Now you will never struggle again with Worcestershire sauce.

[@Grez6232]

We Brits are often flummoxed by how to pronounce place names. There can even be disagreements among the residents of a town over how to say its name.

[@felixhenson9926]

Honestly even by seemingly simple ones. A common gripe of the people from where I live, Bury, is that ppl from outside for some reason seem to call it buh-ree instead of berry

[@Rachel_M_]

Solihull and Shrewsbury spring to mind

[@terryhunt2659]

Some place-name pronunciations vary not just by the speaker's location, but by social class. For example, Shrewsbury has traditionally been pronounced to rhyme with, well, "threw" by most of its inhabitents and by working-class people, but to rhyme with 'throw' by many middle-class and most upper-class people.

[@Rachel_M_]

@@terryhunt2659 just to confuse you more I pronounce Shrewsbury "Amwythig", Chester as "Caer" (rhymes with Tyre) and Snowdon as Eryri

[@BassBanj0]

I refuse to call Gotham anything but like Gotham from Batman You have a cool ass name like that and you decide to pronounce it Goatam.. like really?

[@ristusnotta1653]

You got similar thing in US tho but not as extreme since its such a new country. Many town/state/city names are from foreign languages like Spanish, French and some native american languages

[@GoldenKaos]

Growing up as a Welsh kid, that long place name is basically like the type of tongue twister you'd practice and memorise on the playground when you're around eight or nine years old. The main difficulty for English speakers is that Welsh uses different phonetics in its alphabet, but since Welsh phonetics are much more straightforwards once you've learned them (the letter "a" will *always* sound like the "a" in "cat" for example, and never like the "a" in "case") it's actually pretty straightforwards to read Welsh words and pronounce them right first time. This is likely because Welsh is much less of a linguistic mixing pot than English is, since the main glut of the language is derived from Celtic + Latin, with some Germanic influence seeping through over the border over a thousand and a half years.

[@pabmusic1]

Absolutely. The long version was a publicity stunt from about 1870. The original name was Pwllgwyngyll or Llanfair y Pwllgwyngyll.

[@AutomaticDuck300]

I heard you can get a train to the end of the name and back.

[@kalvindeane1]

There are still inconsistencies in Welsh pronunciation. E.g. "Yn", "Yr", "Aberystwyth" the Y varies. Or the A in "Blenau" vs "Da"

[@GoldenKaos]

@@kalvindeane1 The "a" in Blenau (Blaenau?) and Da would be the same noise. Some vowels have minor variations in duration, and accent/dialect muddles things beyond the standard pronunciation as it does in all languages, but to my recollection "Y" is the only letter that can be anunciated in two completely distinct ways, such as in "ynys". Much more managable than the 6+ ways of pronouncing "-ough" in English.

[@kalvindeane1]

They are not the same noise at all. The 'au' in Blenau sounds like 'i' in English. The 'a' in Da sounds like the A in 'Arm' in English. That is not consistent.

[@Graham-p9p]

I live in a small (ish) town in the UK (Stalybridge - pop. just under 27,000). However, the original village was called Staley, and is actually located about 1/2 mile upriver from the current town centre. The river (River Tame) runs through both, but long ago, the best place to build a bridge across this river was downstream from the original village - hence Staley Bridge. Over time, the 'e' got lost and the two words became one, to become Stalybridge. The area around this river crossing prospered because of the bridge, and grew into the current town. Staley is now an 'area' within Stalybridge, a bit like 'Queens' or 'Manhatten' are areas of New York, although, of course, everthing is on a much smaller scale. 🙂

[@jessicamotion4564]

I was born close to an area in England called the Vale of Belvoir. A beautiful french origin word meaning beautiful view. Not so beautifully pronounced as Beaver locally 😂

[@geoff1201]

There's nothing wrong with a beautiful view of a beaver 😊

[@alexritchie4586]

Same with Beaulieu; en française 'Bow-lee-uh', but in English 'Bew-lee'.

[@saintlyknight3186]

I see he didn't flinch or recognise the joke when Jay said who were the complete "ankers" who did this.

[@vaudevillian7]

JJLA is the only reactor I’ve seen that got it

[@utha2665]

I heard it, but I thought it was just to get around the YT police. Of course, the silent 'w'. Gotta love Map Men, very engaging.

[@davonuk1]

There is a degree of familiarity, especially with names of cities that we hear regularly. We also understand a few common rules which will suggest how many place names should be pronounced. There are always exceptions, and in some cases, even we get it wrong. It is a good rule of thumb to hear how the locals pronounce the names in their own area if you are unsure.

[@UnknownUser-rb9pd]

The same thing applies to the US. There are place names of Spanish/Mexican origin in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Germanic or Scandinavian names in states like Wisconsin and Minnesota, French names in Louisana and so forth.

[@reactingtomyroots]

Yeah, very true! :)

[@qwertysds]

New York a small village and Boston a town are about 10 miles apart in Lincolnshire

[@alexgill2455]

Fun fact, because of the influence of so many languages many of our rivers are called River River when translated.

[@stevieinselby]

There are some aspects of pronunciation that Brits are used to and do without thinking, such as swallowing the '-ham' suffix so we would automatically say Notting'm instead of pronouncing it as a pig product from Notting like Americans are wont to do ... and some that we just learn early on because they are non-standard but also well-known ... and plenty more that are shibboleths that nobody from outside the local area gets right!

[@janetagbugblah8127]

Arkansas!

[@KSmeaton1]

When I see arkansas I would say ar-kan-sas. Not ar-kun-sar lol.

[@shaunpierce4174]

There is a list of places in the UK with funny (re rude) names eg Twatt, Fingringhoe to name a couple.

[@cazfloss1990]

There is a village near me called Bozeat. That’s always a good.

[@kookycat9663]

Now someone needs to make a video with places names in North & South Ireland, some more in Wales & Scotland! Lol! 😅😂

[@terrytartu]

As an expat Brit I was born in Birmingham, (Bir-ming um or Brummi jum) lived in Smethwick (Smeth ik) friends from Caldmore (Karma), worked in Wednesbury (wens bree) lived in Scotland before leaving the UK first in Hawick (hoik) then Alford (affed or afferd). I miss those wonderful names that you learn how to pronounce by living in that place

[@reactingtomyroots]

Wow, those are some names that I would definitely get wrong 😂

[@giuliamorrell4466]

Milngavie in Scotland is pronounced mulguy

[@davidporter499]

Local to me is Trottiscliffe Country Park (pronounced Trosley). Latest signing uses Trosley to simplify, but the village it takes it’s name from is the former. Moving to a town near Wymondham, pronounced Windum.

[@lizsherwood3351]

As a kid i lived there, we got stopped by someone looking for Trosley ( days before sat nav and only road map were used) we sent them the wrong way whilst standing right next to the road sign 🤣

[@Hirotoro4692]

I'm moving to one of the new estates in wymondham in summer. You will be not far xD

[@lindaprickett48]

Hi Steve Bicester is pronounced (Bister) I used to live about 20 minutes away in a place called Aylesbury

[@The2010designer]

I've always wondered about 'Kansas' and 'Arkansas' in the US. A lot of pronunciations in Britain are historical dating back to Tudor times......

[@reactingtomyroots]

Yeah, the Kansas and Arkansas one doesn't even make sense to us :)

[@gallowglass2630]

Those are native american names so they could be thousands of years old

[@The2010designer]

native american indians had no written language - so pronunciations only recorded post 1492!! @@gallowglass2630

[@lailachopperchops9290]

Grew up in West Bromwich (said BROMitch) and Wednesbury (said Wenzberi) and went to a high school called Wodensborough ("Woden's borough") is one of the few places in England to be named after a pre-Christian deity Odin . All in a area called the Black Country and The Black Country dialect is spoken by many people in the Black Country, The traditional dialect preserves many archaic traits of Early Modern English and even Middle English and may be unintelligible for outsiders. A road sign containing local dialect was placed at the A461/A459/A4037 junction in 1997 before the construction of a traffic island on the site. The sign read, If yowm saft enuff ter cum dahn 'ere agooin wum, yowr tay ull be spile't!!, which means, "If you're soft (stupid) enough to come down here on your way home, your tea will be spoilt"

[@lailachopperchops9290]

WE have our own flag , The flag features a chain to represent the manufacturing heritage of the area whilst the upright triangular shape in the background recalls the iconic glass cones and iron furnaces that featured in the architectural landscape of the area. The red and black colours recall the famous description of the Black Country by Elihu Burritt that it was "black by day and red by night" owing to the smoke and fires of industry., Black country very intresting place ,

[@matsand4719]

Eisenhower went to the theatre (British spelling) in London after the end of the war in Europe, and getting applause from others in the audience he said "Thankyou. It is good to be back in a land where I can almost speak the Language."

[@timnewman7591]

We also get places where there's a place named after something in one of the languages with a "generic" name (river, mountain, waterfall) that then got treated as the Name of a specific feature with the new foreign name on top. Hence the River Avon, or River River if we translate; and then there's Waterfall Waterfall Waterfall, because there's water falling off a cliff there and all three names mean waterfall in different languages tthat were in use in the area at some point (Eas Fors Falls on the Isle of Mull, with Scots Gaelic, Old Norse and English words that all mean waterfall).

[@Thomashorsman]

You almost pronounced Bicester correctly which is better than m most brits so well done! its pronounced biss-tuh Also I live here

[@Randi-Rabbit]

Aww, you didn't show the beginning where he knocks his head off and it regrows instantly, was hilarious! Love The Map Men.

[@paulguise698]

Hiya Steve, I was born in a small city called Carlisle, Carlisle is pronounced Car (like the thing you drive) the Lisle is a little trickier that's pronounced (Lyle, like the country singer Lyle Lovett or the British golfer Sandy Lyle) so its Carlyle, I know there's a Carlisle in Pennsylvania, I moved to Whitehaven and the ripe age of 6 months, If I were you I would look at the English football (aka soccer) results there's 20 premier league teams and 72 football league teams and most of the towns and cities have a football (aka Soccer) teams, like Liverpool they have 2 premier league teams, (Liverpool and Everton), this is Choppy in Whitehaven, CUMBRIA, England

[@XRos28]

You got to this video at last, Steve! Great one, thanks. Check out more of Jay Forman's videos, each one of them is a GEM! The part where they say "who were the complete (w)ankers that..." cracks me up every time! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@trevorgrimes7273]

Hi Steve I live in Ware ,where Ware where. WARE. Both words sound the same it’s 20 miles north of London in Hertfordshire.

[@utha2665]

Where are you from? It's near Hurt ford shire? Never heard of it. 😂

[@tightropewalkergirl6485]

Quay pronounced as Qway cracks me up too

[@ftumschk]

I remember our English teachers would get us to read to our class in English lessons. In my first year at secondary school, my classmate Brian was chosen to read a chapter from the book we were studying. One line is forever etched on my memory: "Down at the quay was a small jetty"... which, thanks to Brian, became "Down at the qway was a small yeti".

[@Coolcarting]

Cracks me up how the English pronounce Cay when it should be pronounced 'Key".

[@cooljune5081]

This may be an urban legend but I remember hearing somewhere that certain place names were used during WW2 when interviewing suspected spies as only a native of Britain would know how to say them correctly. I grew up near Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumley). I'm now about an hour from Leicestershire (Lester-sher), not far from Belvoir (Beaver). I used to live in Wales, which is a different kettle of pysgodyn (Welsh for fish) entirely! It's normal but I also recognise it's weird 😂

[@carolineskipper6976]

I'm sure it's true about the 'How to spot a German' because there were films about it for the general public. The one that sticks in my mind was if they try and order a coffee in a pub. These days that would be normal- but not in the 1940's!

[@tonygreenfield7820]

So basically a Shibboleth....

[@CollieDog24]

I live in Crewe,and I've always pronounced it Chumley, I wonder if Steve has heard of local names like why are people from Nantwich called Dabbers and so on.

[@cooljune5081]

@@CollieDog24 I doubt it! Could be a good thing for him to look into!

[@cazfloss1990]

Apparently the English and French word for squirrel was also used to detect a spy. Both difficult to pronounce if your not from that country.

[@cloverite]

Hi watching this from Grimsby and you pronounced it perfectly

[@TheTwoFingeredBullDog]

I'm from Worcestershire and find it hilarious how Americans struggle to pronounce it 😂

[@MattMcQueen1]

Be thankful that you don't live in Milngavie, or even Edinburgh or Glasgow. See also Culzean and Kirkcudbright.

[@jennigee51]

A lot of Americans have problems with Worcestershire sauce, one lady has worked a way round it, by calling it the Dub (as in W) very clever!

[@Ruthy-F]

Grimsby!!! My home town 🖤🤍🐠

[@simonmcnicholas]

I enjoyed this one 👍🏻 love your channel mate

[@reactingtomyroots]

Thanks! Appreciate you :)

[@alisoncauser2955]

My Dads family were from a small rural village called Anglosarke, the spelling has changed several times over the centuries but it was viking in origin, meaning Anlafs hill shieling ( pasture) my family were sheep farmers documented from ( so far that I've found) from the 1540s.

[@johnbelcher7955]

Hiya Steve, there are quite a few words of Viking origin that we use in the common language, such as Wednesday, Thursday, Window, and Egg! and many more that have their origins in the Norse language!

[@timstradling7764]

You’ve got to try some villages from my area of Somerset (UK) Huish Episcopi, Hatch Beauchamp, Othery, Muchelney, Middlezoy, Westonzoyland, Lytes Cary, and the all time mispronounced Glastonbury (no berries in it !) So -Hewish Epis~copi, Hatch Bee~Cham, O~there, Much~l~nee, Middle~zee, We~sson~zoy~land, Lites Cary, Glaston~Brie. There are many other strange and confusing names to catch you out.

[@Coolcarting]

The village of Ham in Kent is only 2.7 miles from the City of Sandwich. There is a signpost nearby which points to both the hamlet and the town, thus appearing to read "Ham Sandwich".

[@stevetheduck1425]

Near to Zeal, there must be another place that suggests excitement...

[@geoffos42]

I was in Sandwich today, so that was nice. Also, nearby(ish) is Wickhambreaux, where Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac used to live - try pronouncing that one, Steve! 😊

[@geekexmachina]

If I remember correctly the USA went through a process of simplifying the spellings and language. And they correctly stated that in the UK and Europe most people could not read or write so spelling didnt matter. In fact in the UK pubs by law had to have a picture because they were used to locate where you were and most people could recognise pictures ( there is a video on this)

[@andreaconroy3623]

Thanks Steve - I'm a 66 year old English woman and I learnt a lot about how our place names came about.

[@robertlonsdale5326]

I live in Great Harwood locally known as Snuffy Arrod!

[@lottie2525]

Funny ones near to where I live are Wymondham - Win-d-m. Happisburgh - Hays-bru and Norwich - Narij.

[@timberwolf5211]

An old name for a deer in the UK was a Hart. In Dutch, another Germanic language as English is, the word for a deer is Hert pronounced Heart. Which is possibly why Hertfordshire is pronounced Hartfordshire. Basically, the place where deer (hert/hart) crosses the river. (ford). Where I live, Gillingham in Kent, Gillingham is pronounced as Jillingham. Yet there is also another town in Dorset and a village in Norfolk that pronounces the G as it as it looks, so it's Gill-ingham as in a fish's gills. Same spelling different pronunciation. A part of my town is the surrounded village of Twydall, which is pronounced Twiddle.

[@lisanelson9979]

Enjoyed this.

[@rainyh-jay2414]

It makes me smile every time someone pronounces Joe Scarborough (USA news host) surname. I'm like, noooooo it's not said like that. I hope you get where I'm coming from on that.

[@utha2665]

He pronounces it more like Scarboro. I'm Australian and I live just inland from Scarborough Beach in WA. We have some different slang ways for that, but officially it's the same way you guys say it.

[@alisonramsay5091]

Haha, I live in Frome. Its only a very small market town, but we seem quite famous now 😀

[@RRaZoreDD]

As somebody who lives in Grimsby, i've never seen that town sign... or better yet, a hill where that, or any sign is placed lol

[@mrfill9999]

I live in East Anglia (the bit that pokes out on the right hand side) and there are some real howlers like Wymondham (Win-dum), Happisburgh (Hays-bra), Alburgh (Ar-bra), Costessey (Cossey), Shotesham (Shot-sum), Potter Heigham (Potter Ham) and Cley (Cly) to name a few. Makes it easier to spot the visitors.....

[@geoffpoole483]

Fellow East Anglian here. What most of these places have in common is the silent syllable. Garboldisham is another one.

[@jonathanpringle8238]

in scotland there is a place called Strathaven but its pronounced Stray-ven, and then there is small village called "Ae", even I have no idea how its pronounced

[@RollerbazAndCoasterDad]

You always do some good videos but this is the best in a while.

[@bsb11kat25]

Good job on Grimsby Steve! Dont worry, a lot of Brits dont know how to pronounce place names if not local. A local area in my home town (Lincoln) is called Boultham, non locals ask for Bool-tham, but to locals its Boot-ham! Another good one is Belvoir Castle (google it, stunning place) its pronounced "Beaver"......dont ask why lol.

[@GazNeon]

I think my personal favourite is Slaithwaite, a little suburb of Huddersfield which the locals absolutely insist is pronounced - Sla-wit

[@Jawa1604]

One thing that baffles me, is that I've heard many Americans pronounce New Hampshire the same way we would but they struggle with other shire place names. I used to work in a couple of Tourist Information Centres so I have heard a lot of miss-pronunciations in my time. I worked in the town of Devizes, which many struggled with. Oddly, I've encountered many Americans who've tried to insert letters into place names too. However my favourite name was Lacock (pronounced Laycock); you can imagine how that got said! I was friends with a lady who worked in the Frome Tourist Information. They were definitely on a uphill battle with that place name! It always surprises me how many Americans struggle to pronounce the River Thames correctly when reading it out loud too.

[@Coolcarting]

The differences in pronunciation between American English and British English can be attributed to historical and linguistic factors. American English has evolved separately from British English since the colonization of North America, leading to differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. In the case of place names, the pronunciation reflects the local dialect and historical linguistic influences. For example, the pronunciation of "New Hampshire" follows American English phonetic patterns, while "Yorkshire" and "Worcestershire" adhere to British English phonetics. The pronunciation of these British place names reflects the regional accents and historical linguistic developments in the UK. Additionally, the spelling of place names often does not correspond directly to their pronunciation in English, leading to differences in how they are pronounced in different dialects. This can contribute to the variations in pronunciation between American English and British English. Overall, the differences in pronunciation between American English and British English place names can be attributed to the historical development of each dialect and the influence of regional accents and dialects within each country.

[@JohnJoannou-xq5rq]

Hi Steve. I used to live in a city in London called Ruislip. It was spoken not as seemed but this way: Ryeslip. Yeah, I know. Try the first name as I spelled it. Then as it's pronounced is the second name I gave you. But all correspondance that was mailed was Ruislip

[@emilyjayne77]

This was very interesting!! Thanks Steve 😂

[@diane64yorks]

We've got The Land of Nod, and Wetwang, Blubberhouses, plus lots of other weird names in Yorkshire, even some of the street names are strange like Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate in York, there's the Tickle Cock bridge underpass in Castleford and Geese and Green Peas Yard in Pontefract, etc etc

[@Kari_B61ex]

Where I live in Exeter used to be called Isca Dumnoniorum by the Romans - Isca means water/river, and Dumnoniorum I believe meant 'full of fish'.

[@sddsddean]

Try these ones near me...Cogenhoe, Walgrave, Rothwell, Eydon. Should be pronounced Cook no, War grave, Row ell (Row as in 'having an argument), Eden.

[@tonyparkinson7224]

Try this one - Barnoldswick (in Lancashire) . . . . pronounced Barlick

[@what-uc]

Wicks and wiches in England are very likely to be Saxon meaning farm, but wicks near the sea in Scotland are probably of Norse origin, meaning inlet or bay.

[@tonibaker3823]

i live in Chedzoy and newcomers pronounce it that way .been here 20 years its Chedzee been here all your life Chidgee

[@davesimpson5702]

Tiverton in Somerset is a classic example of time and accents changing things. Tiverton is the modern version of Tworiverstown.... as it is built across the junction of 2 rivers.

[@Micro0666]

Heya Steve, I live in Bicester!!! Great to see that as one of the first places names lol It's pronounced "Bis" "Ter" by the way, as the video didn't tell you how to pronounce it. British place names are sometimes hard, and the true way to learn them unfortunately is to just live here, and learn the tricky ones, one by one. Before I moved to Bicester, I lived in Oxford, and my wife and I used to pronounce Bicester as "Bi" "Cester" lol. It was only when locals laughed at us, we found out the correct way to pronounce it.

[@stevencrouch6036]

I live near Bicester & say it the same way you do, drives me crazy when people say it any other way.

[@supernovaleftover1812]

I live in the North Pennines, Mytholmroyd to be precise, which has a mixture of all the cultures we've evolved from as it's on the Danelaw border and also has a scattering of Celtic. The mix of cultures is also the reason behind places only 20 or so miles away from each other having different accents and dialects. The sad thing is most people don't think or care about their history but it's good to see you taking an interest.

[@JonathanLittlemore]

I knew you'd get to this video one day. Also, can you make sure you flip your video around, seeing the map in the background backwards is a bit off putting 😄

[@chrissouthgate4554]

The fun part is naming the same feature in different languages; There are several River Avon's, which is River River. Or Tor Mount Hill = Hill Hill Hill!

[@0KiteEatingTree0]

I have to admit even I didn’t get Frome/from. And we used to take a classic care there to be serviced for years

[@SiKay3000]

Im 46, born in Grimsby and grew up in Mablethorpe and never knew the history behind the place names. 👍🏻

[@chrisaris8756]

Try these Kentish and Sussex places! Trottisliffe (Trosley!) Wrotham (Root-ham) Herstmonceux (Hurst mon sew) Ightam (Eyetam) Boughton Aluph (Borton Alup!) Eynsford (Ainsford) And that’s just for starters!!!!

[@Martinpacker]

My paternal grandmother came from a village in Dorset called Puncknowle but the locals pronounce it Punnel.

[@johnhewett9483]

There is college which is part of oxford university named " Magdalen college" It is actually pronounced Maud ling

[@greamepenney5947]

Steve have a good look at the map of the London underground system here in the UK, many of the places with stations do not make sense as they are not in are or the place named. I.E . Bank station on the northern line. There is no place called bank. And some stations are named after buildings or times and places from history. It's a interesting topic and the underground has so much history.

[@JamieMcCarthy-z4q]

I lived in a place called Stivichall. Which is also called (on road signs) Styvechale. We call it 'Sty-chall'. This country is a linguistic minefield.

[@johncrwarner]

I lived in Bicester for twenty years most folks know how to pronounce it my favourite parcel I ever received was from someone who took my address over the phone and sent the parcel to "BISTA" Though because our postcode system locates addresses within a few house or at most a street it got to me. I wonder if there is a video about our postcode system which is surprisingly efficient.

[@TanyaRando]

I only know how to pronounce Frome because I met someone who lived there, and they corrected me “politely” when I mispronounced it!

[@waynestevens1654]

11.55 was brilliant lol

[@izzpop781]

I'm from UK and although I can pronounce the majority of place names (in England anyway), I've never heard of 'Map Men' & found the history in their video really interesting....wow, they're quick though aren't they?! 😂😂

[@Believer3_]

7:45 there is a Berkshire in Massachusetts

[@carolineskipper6976]

Love a Map Men video! Lots of the place names that give foreigners trouble fit spelling patterns we understand in the Uk (like what to do with 'cester' at the end of the name) and so we can easily 'know' how to pronounce them. Others are just well known places, and so we grow up hearing them before seeing them written down. But there are a great number that are subject to local quirks (like Frome) where you need to know specifically how it is pronounced, or you would be bound to get it wrong. As well as the remnants of invading peoples' languages, there is also the factor that for the longest time the locals would be mainly illiterate, and so would be *saying* the placename without reference to the written form. The written form, however, stayed pretty much the same from the Middle Ages onwards. Some of my favourite are: Loughborough (Luff-bruh) Wymondham ( Windham) (though only the one in Norfolk- there's at least one other which is pronounced as it's spelled.) Happisburgh (Haze-bruh) Cosstessy (Cossy) Garboldisham (Garbuh-shum) Leominster (Lem-stuh) The US has its fair share of difficult place names. One of the most well known is the difference between Kansas and Arkansas.....makes no sense! And it took me a long time to kow how 'Potomac' should be said, as I'd only ever seen it written down.

[@reactingtomyroots]

Thanks for the breakdown, Caroline! :) And yeah...Kansas and Arkansas don't make ANY sense whatsoever--even to us. haha

[@luciferbeelzebubmoloch8724]

Illinois Arkansas mobile i could keep going 😂😂😂😂