I thought it was 'Meals Cop'Which, I understand, is correct.
I thought it was 'Meals Cop'Which, I understand, is correct.
I thought it was 'Me-uls' rather than 'Meals'I thought it was 'Meals Cop'
Could be Me-uls, Meals, Meels are they the same?I thought it was 'Me-uls' rather than 'Meals'
When I moved to Taunton in 2002 and became aware of that village, I assumed that was how it was pronounced based solely on the former Oxford United winger Joey Beauchamp... nice to have that confirmed finally!First station from Taunton down the old Chard branch (closed 1960s), Hatch Beauchamp, is "Hatch Beecham" if posh, or "'Aaaach Beeshum" if local. First word like you are about to sneeze, second word for the medicine to deal with it.
There is an awful lot of knowledge snobbery on this subject ( You don't know some random placename pronunciation that I do, you are inferior...despite never having previously known of the place's existence, let alone needed to know how to pronounce it*!), including on this thread where there are examples of people laughing at a place being mispronounced without actually saying how it should be pronounced (because every clever person knows right!). Which is especially unfair when the place is either spelt or pronounced "wrong" - eg Wymondham
Also a lot of the "wrong" pronunciations are arguably a matter of accents and "lazy" (for want of a more technical word) speaking - ie is Slaithwaite being pronounced wrongly or just more "properly", same for Hackney v Acne. I guess the question would be 'is the "correct" way really the way the locals say it, or are they using the equivalent of slang'.
That leads on to whether it is correct for an outsider to pronounce it more 'properly' or in the colloquial manner of the locals. Is a Londoner pronouncing northern names in a local accent being better, or are they doing the equivalent of speaking in English and using Pa-ree, Muenchen, or Kobenhavn? I wince a bit when a southerner pronounces Newcastle or Glasgow like a local - it doesn't sound right, almost like they are trying too hard. Same as a northerner saying Bath like a southerner sounds a bit like they are taking the mick.
*also, like a lot of technical language, place names can be one of those awkward things where you have read them a thousand times, you know what they mean/where they are, yet you have never heard them spoken and are unsure whether the pronunciation you have in your head is correct or just something you invented when you first read the word/placename. This is even more of an issue now so much communication and information comes via screens.
The Topper comic (frae Dundee) didn't help with its King Gussie strip when I were a wee lad. "Everybody laughs to see the antics of His Majesty".My favourite must be Kingussie, often at least in the past, pronounced by LNER as KING GUSSIE
The Topper comic (frae Dundee) didn't help with its King Gussie strip when I were a wee lad. "Everybody laughs to see the antics of His Majesty".
A short wordless humour strip, featuring a young girl. It usually appeared at the bottom of a text story and was 3 panels long. Appeared in Bunty (another DC Thomson comic).the comic-strip character Little Miss Moffat; though I remember only the name -- no idea whether whatever she got up to was anything to do with tuffets, curds, whey, or spiders.
On a similar note "Fort Bill". I'm pretty sure that Fort William residents don't call it that! I think it is known locally as "The Fort".Not so much a mispronunciation, but one that grates on me is "The Junction" for Llandudno Junction. To add to the grating, it seems to be used by people assuming that's what locals say. We don't!
Not so much a mispronunciation but everyone local refers to Watford Junction as the "The Junction" .Not so much a mispronunciation, but one that grates on me is "The Junction" for Llandudno Junction. To add to the grating, it seems to be used by people assuming that's what locals say. We don't!
There was also Little Plum (from Plumpton), Roger the Dodger (from Rogerstone) and Biffo the Bear (from Bare Lane).Thanks ! And I promise you, I didn't take Bunty -- not that there would have been anything wrong with that ...
....not to mention Pansy Potter (from Potters Bar), Lord Snooty (from Noo Street), Dennis the Menace (from Ennis) and the Bash Street Kids (from several different places on the Bootle branch!)There was also Little Plum (from Plumpton), Roger the Dodger (from Rogerstone) and Biffo the Bear (from Bare Lane).
....not to mention Pansy Potter (from Potters Bar), Lord Snooty (from Noo Street), Dennis the Menace (from Ennis) and the Bash Street Kids (from several different places on the Bootle branch!)
Rye-slip.One I don't know myself is 'Ruislip' in Greater London, I've heard it pronounced so many ways, even by some locals, I just do not know the correct official way due to all the differing ways i hear.
How is is the second placename in Elstree & Borehamwood pronounced?
Is it all one word, or two words like the local football team Boreham Wood?
I would say rye-zlip but places with large numbers of incomers do have shifts in their accepted pronunciationRye-slip.
No they certainly don’t call it ‘Fort Bill’! I’d never heard it (or even considered it) until I moved away.On a similar note "Fort Bill". I'm pretty sure that Fort William residents don't call it that! I think it is known locally as "The Fort".