Words I Don't Know How To Pronounce..

Nelliemoser, my very first day in the UK, I had to get to Gloucester Road- it took me at least 5 minutes to buy a tube ticket! In the end I had to write it down- and oh they laughed, including the queue that had built up behind me.

Worst is Worcester (Wooster) especially with 'shire' at the end (which on its own is shire as in shire horse!) and even worst when you add 'sauce'. An exercise my English students love, Worcestershire sauce' ...

And of course I lived for 3 decades + in Lesta.

In my childhood it was known as the Ti-volley cinema and Tirronie Power. (Tivoli and Tyrone). Loved DMiL's dinnersaw. (Dinosaur). My Scottish grandmother said scons, but Kindle's auto correct wanted it to be scones!.

Lichen. Until a couple of years ago I said it as it's spelt. Only recently I learned it was pronounced Liken.

English names can cause confusion in pronunciation, Featherstonehaugh (Fanshaw), Cholmondelay (Chumley) come to mind, my own particular difficulties are awry, still read that first as or-ry and anchovy always comes first as ankovy as in anchor. I do know how to pronounce them just seem to have a bit of a block when I see it written down.

I've always understood that lichen can be pronounced either way, but I've just checked on a pronunciation website which gives the UK pronunciation as 'litchen' and the US pronunciation as 'liken' I've recently been diagnosed with lichen sclerosus and all the medics I've spoken to pronounce it as 'liken sclerosus'. They're not American

We're sliding into some of my personal pet hates, here. So many folks say 'deteriate' when the word is 'deteriorate'.

And why do all TV designers, garden designers and presenters now pronounce 'create' as 'crate' (listen out for Dan Cruickshank, Chris Beardshaw in particular.)

Suddenly, all TV interviewers and interviewees begin their pieces to camera with the word 'so'. Who started that fad?

Getting on to personal bugbears, why do we use the word hot as a verb now, it used to be heat up, now it seems to be hot up....

granjura I think I know where Elrel is coming from with lingerie. Most British people pronounce it 'lonjeray' where the French pronunciation is something like 'lanjree'.

Possibly the 'hot up' usage is to differentiate spicing something up from increasing the temperature.
But this is nothing to do with pronunciation...

It's all very confusing isn't it. Indi i do agree with your "aspirational" comment about scones. I'm not even sure it's an area thing. I used to say shiropodist but then heard everyone call it kiropodist. Guess it's to do with a word's origin, and the Greeks say kiro. As I said earlier I think we make our own pronunciation of a word when we see it written.
gj i think eirel may have meant some people call lingerie longerie, and she used the letter a to try and approximate how it should sound. Reading through some posts it is very difficult to understand what is meant when a letter of the alphabet is used to say what something sounds like. Someone said bus, for example, but my way of pronouncing it is probably different from someone else's. We need a "live" discussion to make any sense.
By the way I'm sure Eirel will be along to answer for herself, but I think that's what she meant.
Good examples gj about putting up and putting down.

X posts indinana

Nina - I think short o scones came from flat mate from Tring!
Meet you at Leeds Castle sometime for tea and long o scones?! ? and cake ...

Now that's a nice proposition. I love that place, and your entry ticket lasts for a year. Good maze too.

I know Indinana just got a bit sidetracked by Bucksfizz's post, Hotting up was triggered by the recent use in an Argos ad on the tv. Note to self 'Must try not to get irritated by the continued development and change in our language and accept we no longer speak as they did in Shakespears's time'

Shakespeare!!!!!!!!

Jalima - shall we get a buzz into town and a sc oh n at a cafe?! I was brought up in WM saying the long o then picked up the long o from Home Counties and Baaaathonian flat mates in London. Did I get it all the wrong way around??

Gj. Yes. 'Lin' in lingerie as in French for bread 'pain'. 'Lan' as in Alan was the nearest I could get to saying what I meant.
I think I would pronounce Alan Ladd and Alain Delon differently but can't convey the subtlety here!!
How about the many versions of van Gogh?!

Jalima. I meant, of course, that I picked up the short o in scon from my flat mates.

I liked to get the young Bristolian who drove the paper recycling truck to collect from the charity shop I helped in to say 'caarrdboarrd' each week. Sadly we changed to another firm.

Miss deke. Someone recently said that in the West Midlands we do still speak as Shakespeare did. I think it was a Shakespearean scholar rather than a random remark.

My mum was a Bristolian who moved to Kent in her teens strangers could still detect her childhood accent when she was in her 80's. I never could

My pet hate is contraversy instead of controversy

If we Grans don't know now mostly all of these, we never will - language is a living thing as pronunciation seems to be - I just don't cave in to that sort of thing!

Yes, lingerie as in Alain Delon (both of them together is quite a sexy picture, hey)...

Portacabin....... Por tak abin! Also my mother said she always read the word misled as "misled".

"Miss led"