It just pisses me off that people forced me to learn english grammar in school like it was a set of rules laid out to logically structure language when grammar classes should just have involved taking the class on a group crime trip through language city roughing up words and sticking em good with silent useless letters, switching out the endings of words with ones that clearly don’t fit, climbing up onto road signs over highways and causing chaos by painting over the old sign directions with new ones written in riddles and installing street parking signs everywhere that all contradict each other like the rules of grammar do.
The only way for citizens to live a relatively normal life in this city is to frantically try to keep up with memorizing the arbitrarily changing rules of their universe and just give up all hope in unifying things under a rational even vaguely consistent system.
That’s not even the worst. The one that pisses my off is how “St Johns” is pronounced “Sinjin”. Wtf it’s not hard to pronounce in the first place, why the fuck is it said like that?!
I thought Charles Lutwidge Dodgeson, and Alice Liddell lived in Sunderland. There are monuments to Alice all over the town according to an historical book by Neil Gaiman. Did he just move there as an adult?
“Mar-shuh’ness”. It’s a bit trickier to transliterate how to say the back part. It’s like the perfume company, Chanel - it’s that same “Shuh’ne” sound.
For the international folk who might not know, “Cholmondeley” is pronounced “Chumly”
I honestly can’t tell if this is true or some British chaps having fun at our expense.
I’m leaning towards it being true solely because I know how Worcester is pronounced.
Ha, honest truth!
About 30 minutes away is the similarly-named Cholmondeston (Chum-stn).
These two places are in Cheshire. There’s also the always confusing Wynbunbury (Winbry), and the birthplace of Lewis Carroll, Daresbury (Darsbry).
You have a city named after a venereal disease and it’s pronounced Cum Stain? Get the fuck outta here!
It just pisses me off that people forced me to learn english grammar in school like it was a set of rules laid out to logically structure language when grammar classes should just have involved taking the class on a group crime trip through language city roughing up words and sticking em good with silent useless letters, switching out the endings of words with ones that clearly don’t fit, climbing up onto road signs over highways and causing chaos by painting over the old sign directions with new ones written in riddles and installing street parking signs everywhere that all contradict each other like the rules of grammar do.
The only way for citizens to live a relatively normal life in this city is to frantically try to keep up with memorizing the arbitrarily changing rules of their universe and just give up all hope in unifying things under a rational even vaguely consistent system.
That’s not even the worst. The one that pisses my off is how “St Johns” is pronounced “Sinjin”. Wtf it’s not hard to pronounce in the first place, why the fuck is it said like that?!
Based on absolutely nothing, my guess would be from the French pronunciation with a bit of a vowel-shift.
I thought Charles Lutwidge Dodgeson, and Alice Liddell lived in Sunderland. There are monuments to Alice all over the town according to an historical book by Neil Gaiman. Did he just move there as an adult?
It’s spelled “Worcestershire”.
Worcester is a city in the county of Worcestershire
I hate you with the burning passion of a thousand exploding suns!
i kid
Taking the piss. It rhymes with cardamom Chardonnay.
The Brits saw the French silent letters and said “oi, hold me tea.”
Of course it is…
As a kiwi, that does my head in…
It’s worse even than the new orleans “naahlins” thing
Southerner here, it’s “norlins” but lots of us also call it “Nola”
Nola is an acronym, not a pronunciation thing. New Orleans, Louisiana, or NO LA for short.
Oh I know, really just suggesting it as an alternative so our kiwi friends brain would stop breaking
It makes perfect sense when you realize Americans try to speak by making as few sounds as possible.
What we lack in quantity (or quality!), we make up for in volume
I’m from the UK and I didn’t know that
If you’re getting old like me, you might remember Harry Enfield’s Mr Cholmondley-Warner sketches. (And if you’re not, definitely look them up!)
Yeh I remember those sketches. I think it’s a case of never having seen it written down
And how might we pronounce Marchioness?
Ah, right.
“Mar-shuh’ness”. It’s a bit trickier to transliterate how to say the back part. It’s like the perfume company, Chanel - it’s that same “Shuh’ne” sound.
So like, a lady martian. Got it.