I got into a discussion with my long-time friend Michael Hutchinson, in the UK, via Skype – if you don’t know Skype, you’ve missed the boat – and we exchanged strange pronunciations of words. You might know that the place name Leicester is pronounced – by the English – as “Lester,” and Worcester becomes Wooster” when spoken. Michael provided these:
Family names:
Cholmondley – "Chumley"
Featherstonehaulgh – "Fanshaw"
Colquhoon – "Cahoon"
Beauchamp – "Beecham"
Place names:
Leominster – "Lemster"
Milngavie – "Mulguy"
Gateacre – "Gattacka"
Kirkcudbright – “Kirkoobrey”
Strathaven – “Straven”
Mousehole – “Mowzel”
Fowey – “Foy”
Colleges in Cambridge:
Caius and Magdelene – "Keys" and "Maudlin"
And both a place and a family name:
Beaulieu – "Bewley"
The best part is that Michael headed his list: “Here is a list of names and how they are pronced” and signed it, “Mial.”
These English...