Class800
Established Member
Asked some locals and apparently both OK actually
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Trivia: Mispronounced station names
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D6130
Established Member
.....and Corrour as Corr-ooer!
The one in Bradford is pronounced "Ollerton", as in the market town in Nottinghamshire.
It's the anglicised spelling of the Gaelic "Taigh an Druim", meaning "house on the ridge"....and that is pronounced "Tyne drum".
Ashley Hill
Established Member
Or just Tinmuff
fgwrich
Established Member
Appropriate for the place!
Another very miss pronounced place is both St Budeaux in Plymouth (our control room in Birmingham had a lot of trouble pronouncing that one!) and Lostwithiel over in Cornwall. GWR's "ATOS Anne" had various issues in pronouncing that one, which I believe had to be re-recorded.
[Meols] There used to be a porter at Liverpool Central (the old one) who made announcements, and was unsure of the pronunciation, despite having an obvious Scouser accent, and would always shout "... Moreton ... Mells - Meals ... Manor Road ...".
miklcct
On Moderation
How about Gillingham?
Caboose Class
Member
Back in the mid-60's the station master at Frizinghall was a resplendently dressed Indian gentleman, complete with huge white turban and a jacket full of railway pin badges. Every time a train pulled up at his station, he would proudly announce it as Fray-zhing-hal despite numerous attempts by us kids (our school was just up the road) that the correct pronunciation of his station was Fry-zing-hall.
alxndr
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How is St Denys near Southampton supposed to be pronounced? Is it Den-ies or Denis like the name?
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
I'd always assumed it was neither- and that it was pronounced as if it were French, like the location of the Stade de France.
Mention of Barkisland brings to mind Burntisland in Scotland... I've always wondered if the S is silent in that case.
daodao
Established Member
Many place names beginning with "Al-" should be pronounced "Ol-", but often aren't by non-locals. Examples with railway stations include Altrincham, Alsager and Alderley Edge, all in Cheshire, but historically part of West Mercia, from where this pronunciation originates.
Class800
Established Member
Historically it should be TYNE DRUM yes. Regarding Corrour, It is COR OUR. But in some Scottish accents OUR becomes OOR, like HOUSE becomes HOOSE, so the other way to say Corrour isn't wrong.
Springs Branch
Established Member
Not just Americans - Australians can be guilty too. There's a town named Derby in Western Australia pronounced locally as Durby, and this seems to cause some complications when it comes to Aussies referring to the English city of Darby (or their soccer team).
It's not unknown for Americans to make a fatal error with British -burgh settlements (saying Burg as in Burger King) - "Gee, you're a Brit? I once had a great vacation in Edin-burg, England".
I've never quite understood why so many people seem to have trouble with Besses, and the other not-so-far-away station Hall i' th' Wood.
Both seem quite straightforward to me if you just say them as they're written - especially if you bear in mind the letters the apostrophes replace.
I've made a few mental mispronunciations, based on studying maps of the rail network, which luckily I never needed to speak out loud (e.g. at a booking office window):-
- Burntisland in Fife - for some reason I thought was pronounced Burn-tis-land, until one of Portillo's trips took him to Burnt-island.
- Mytholmroyd on the Calder Valley line - I imagined was Myth-olm-royd (as in Greek myths and legends), until my lightbulb moment while on a Northern Sprinter where the guard was announcing the train's stops.
Class800
Established Member
St Denise effectively - not Denis the menace
weepingwillowb
Member
I once heard a BR employee I knew pronounce it Myth-holm-royd. I've always known it as My-thuhm-royd.
Second?
D6130
Established Member
It's Loch-MAY-ben....and it used to have a railway station.
alxndr
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Ah thank you. I'd always thought it was Dennis as I had a friend called Denys growing up who pronounced it that way.
Western Sunset
Established Member
I thought it was Dennies, rather than Denise...
Spamcan81
Member
In the past I've heard Thameslink announcers pronounce Flitwick (Flitick) as Flit-wick.
Already mentioned around the Liverpool area is Fazakerly (fa-ZAK-er-lee), and I think even the PIS systems on Merseyrail had the wrong pronunciation of "Maghull" and "Maghull North" recorded for a while (often said as "MAG-hull" for those unfamiliar, but is pronounced as "ma-GULL").
Spamcan81
Member
And nearby Lie-ces-ter
317666
Established Member
Not a station, but I did once hear a guard's announcement welcoming passengers on board a 'Greater Angular' service!
Western Lord
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What a pity that there are no stations called Cholmondeley or Featherstonehaugh (Chumley and Fanshaw respectively). We do have the previously mentioned Wymondham (Windum with first syllable the same as the meteorological term and Leominster (Lemster).
I suppose many pronunciations are just the word being spoken in a local accent, such as one of my childhood holiday haunts, Mousehole in Cornwall. Also in Cornwall is Launceston, which my mum and dad pronounced lawn-cess-ton, but is actually lawn-ston (although the one in Tasmania is lawn-cess-ton).
I suppose many pronunciations are just the word being spoken in a local accent, such as one of my childhood holiday haunts, Mousehole in Cornwall. Also in Cornwall is Launceston, which my mum and dad pronounced lawn-cess-ton, but is actually lawn-ston (although the one in Tasmania is lawn-cess-ton).
Fenchurch SP
Member
Merstham was pronounced Mers-tham by the Class 700s when they were first introduced. The local Metrobuses used to call it Merstooom.
BluePenguin
On Moderation
It is probably wrong although I have always pronounced this as Ellie
adrock1976
Established Member
Shroosbury and Shrowsbury are both correct for Shrewsbury.
Also, (and probably depending upon whether before or after 1974 anyone was born) Portmadoc/Porthmadog.
Also, (and probably depending upon whether before or after 1974 anyone was born) Portmadoc/Porthmadog.
Class800
Established Member
also heard East Anglian Main Line said as East Anglican Main Line!
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