General Chat

Oh yes! :-D :-D :-D :-D

Hint: Shortened version of Salisbury - Sarum

It's a self -aggrandising limerick :-D :-D :-D

And the other abbreviations.

It can be a bit chilly down south ;-)

:-D :-D :-D

Even better when you shorten Hampshire to Hants! :-D

There was a young fellow from Salisbury,
Whose manners were halisbury scalisbury.
He wandered round Hampshire, without any pampshire.
Until the Bishop of Salisbury said "Walisbury!"

Last time my sister and I went through Frome, my sister pronounced it wrong, but wasn't sure if 'Froom' was right.
As we went along a street, I saw a shop called 'The Frome n' Groom', pointed this out and suggested a 'local' would pronounce it right - it was more likely to be 'The Froom n' Groom', rather than the 'Frome (her pronunciation) n' Groom' :-D :-D :-D

If you visit Gloucester (sorry, Glawster) you may come across the parish of Over and the continual debate about whether it's 'Over' or 'Oover'. Tewkesbury is called 'Chooksbree'. I live near Frome which is pronounced 'Froom'.

Not far from us is a village called Athelstaneford that is pronounced Ailshinford, Strathaven is pronounced Strayven, Fortrose is pronounced Fortress and Milngavie is pronounced Milguy.

Oh come on!

This is Sussex.Do you really think we could cope with anything complicated?

Oh that was too easy. I thought it would be more complicated.

It is 'Hannicker'.

There is a windmill on the hill which we locals like to call 'Winnicker Handmill'. Really, it doesn't take much!

Of course, it is pretty close to Chiddister.

My sister used to live in Easebourne, and pronounced it 'Essborn' - but then, she's probably 'posh' Sussex! :-D

When I lived in Pompey, I pronounced Cosham the way it's spelled, with a 'sh'.

However, when I wanted a bus ticket from the Dockyard, to the nearest stop to my home, which was the Fawcett Inn, 'Fawcett' was pronounced 'Fossett'. :-(
I only made the mispronunciation error once. :-0

Is Halnaker pronounced something like 'Hanker'?

I cheated and tried to look it up - like the idea that it comes from halfnaked :-D

I always pronounce Easebourne as Ezzburn and have been corrected by somebody who bought a house there. My dad was the coalman round there at one time.

Another strange thing, and I am not disagreeing with Gwyn, wouldn't dare, but Fred's cousin who would be something like 120 now, moved there with her family before the first world war and she always pronounced it as Cozzam, the same as Bosham.

Anybody want to hazard a guess as to how you say 'Halnaker'?

My cousin, who was born in the Channel Islands was living in Northumbria when a couple stopped to ask the way to An Wick. Having explained the pronounciation they discovered the couple lived a couple of doors down from where he grew up!

Oh, place names are a minefield...

I grew up near Cosham, pronounced Cosh- em, but just along the coast, with just one letter difference in name, Bosham is pronounced Boz- mm.

Nearer here Lympne is pronounced to rhyme with limb.

Sometimes it's just about emphasis.
North of Cosham is Waterlooville, which locals pronounce with emphasis on the ville part of the name, rather than TV reporters, who tend to favour WaterLOO ville.

..and Easebourne - also just outside Midurst, is pronounced 'Essborn' :-D :-D

On the way from Winchester to Sussex - Alresford is 'Allsford', and Stroud', is 'Strood'.

Weirdly,on travelling West, my sister tends to get Frome wrong (Froom), and I, Fowey (Foy)

This is such an interesting discussion. I am sorry Tawny has to go through such hard time to give us this.

It is really making me think how I pronounce place names.

I live somewhere near where the name is the same spelling as a common word. Catches a lot of people out - especially if you read it out of context ;-)

My eighty year old friend grew up around Midhurst where she still lives.

She was recently corrected by a young lady who had moved into a local village which has always been pronounced (because this is Sussex) Red Ford.

My pronounced it this way to the young woman, who told her it was Redford (like the actor}.

S'pose it must be now then.

Plymouth isn't pronounced Plymuth - it's Plimmuth,

as for Bevois Valley not being in France - (It's an area of Southampton) it's pronounced 'Beevus', but, in reality, should be pronounced 'Bevis' .
I was named after a folk lore hero called Bevis of Hampton. At the time, 'Bevis' was pronounced 'Beevus', however, modern English pronounces it 'Bevis' - or so my mate Chris Bevis told me.