“The English language can be challenging at best. Not only do we have words that are spelled and pronounced the same but have different meanings – read, bank, bat and bear are good examples – to complicate things further, some words contain heaps of letters that just aren’t needed!”
Take a look at the UK towns that are mispronounced the most…
Marylebone (London)
Wrong: Ma-ree-lee-bone
Right: Mar-lee-bone
Teignmouth (Devon)
Wrong: Tane-mouth
Right: Tin-muth
Bicester (Oxfordshire)
Wrong: Bi-ses-ter
Right: Bis-ter
Hunstanton (Norfolk)
Wrong: Hun-stan-ton
Right: Hun-ston
Cholmondeley (Cheshire)
Wrong: Chol-mon-de-lee
Right: Chum-lee
Godmanchester (Cambridgeshire)
Wrong: God-man-ches-ter OR Gum-ster
Right: God-munch-ester
Southwell (Nottinghamshire)
Wrong: South-well
Right: Suth-ul
Magdalen College (Oxford/Cambridge)
Wrong: Mag-de-lain
Right: Maud-lin
Leominister (Herefordshire)
Wrong: Lee-o-min-ster
Right: Lemster
Shrewsbury (Shropshire)
Wrong: Shrews-bury
Right: Shroos-bree
Happisbrugh (Norfolk)
Wrong: Happ-is-bruh
Right: Hays-bruh
Gloucester (Gloucestershire)
Wrong: Glos-es-ter
Right: Glos-ter
Belvoir Castle (Grantham, Leicestershire)
Wrong: Bel-vwar Castle
Right: Beaver Castle
Ruislip (Greater London)
Wrong: Roo-i-slip
Right: Ry-slip
Gateacre (Liverpool)
Wrong: Gate-acre
Right: Gatt-a-ker
Frome (Somerset)
Frome, a town in easter Somerset is thought to have derived from the ancient Brythonic word “ffraw”, meaning fair, fine or brisk, and described the flow of the river that runs through the town! No, it’s not pronounced from, but in fact pronounced froom!
Omagh (Northern Ireland)
Omagh is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland and we can completely understand where people may not know where to begin with this one. Well, we can tell you… it’s Oh-ma – pretty simple!
Ynysybwl (Wales)
Ynysybwl is a village in Cwm Clydach in Wales, and again it’s pretty difficult to spell so we understand why it may be difficult to pronounce! An-is-abull is the correct way to pronounce the village, so if you ever visit please use that pronunciation.
Quernmore (Lancashire)
Quernmore is a village in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire and is home to some unusual pronunciations, with the correct pronunciation being Kwor-mer!
