Words that you or others struggle to pronounce

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Drago

Legendary Member
It seems Americans have the most trouble with the English language as spoken in the UK. This video will give you a few good laughs:



View: https://youtu.be/cjwUjFc5Qbo



Middlesbrough is Middlesbro and Oldham is Old ham. Hertfordshire is Hurtfordshire. Luton is Lutton.

You may disagree with some of the opinions expressed. :ohmy:

Feel sorry for any Americans (or Nazi spies) tring to ask directions to Slough. Sluff? Slowg? Slow? Sloof?

Indeed, feel sorry for anyone who needs to go there.
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
Slough
John Betjeman

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow
Swarm over, Death!

Come, bombs, and blow to smithereens
Those air-conditioned, bright canteens,
Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans
Tinned minds, tinned breath.

Mess up the mess they call a town -
A house for ninety-seven down
And once a week for half-a-crown
For twenty years,

And get that man with double chin
Who'll always cheat and always win,
Who washes his repulsive skin
In women's tears,

And smash his desk of polished oak
And smash his hands so used to stroke
And stop his boring dirty joke
And make him yell.

But spare the bald young clerks who add
The profits of the stinking cad;
It's not their fault that they are mad,
They've tasted Hell.

It's not their fault they do not know
The birdsong from the radio,
It's not their fault they often go
To Maidenhead

And talk of sports and makes of cars
In various bogus Tudor bars
And daren't look up and see the stars
But belch instead.

In labour-saving homes, with care
Their wives frizz out peroxide hair
And dry it in synthetic air
And paint their nails.

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough
To get it ready for the plough.
The cabbages are coming now;
The earth exhales.
 
I struggle to keep up with modern pronounciation so often get wrong the following:
The letter Haich ( I drop the H, careless me)
Baby. Mine ends in a bee not a bay.
Family. Mine has a silent "b"
Ask. I failed ebonics at school.
Father. Mine sounds nothing like the bean. Fortunately these days a rarely heard word.
However the more commonplace "brother from another mother" I just cant get right.
 

Tribansman

Veteran
 

Mr Celine

Discordian
How many variations?

I'm aware of three:
  1. Emphasis on the Tri as in Trident
  2. Trib-unal emphasis on the first four letters like in the Labour left's Tribune Group
  3. Tribunial, which seems like a straight mispronunciation.
I tend to go for 2. as it correctly reflects the meaning; derived from the Latin Tribune - of the people.

1. tends to give weight to the misconception that a Tribunal should be composed of three members. While some are (Employment, some Social Security) others have a single member and a few have 4+.

@Slick is Scottish but you've missed out the most common Scottish mispronunciation which is tribunural.

See also 'pattren' for 'pattern'. And if you ever visit Leith, Admiralty Street is pronounced Admirallity Street.
 

DaveReading

Don't suffer fools gladly (must try harder!)
Location
Reading, obvs
@Slick is Scottish but you've missed out the most common Scottish mispronunciation which is tribunural.

See also 'pattren' for 'pattern'. And if you ever visit Leith, Admiralty Street is pronounced Admirallity Street.

Not to mention northren, eastren, southren and westren - as often used in the BBC weather forecasts by the lovely Carol Kirkwood.
 

Slick

Guru
@Slick is Scottish but you've missed out the most common Scottish mispronunciation which is tribunural.

See also 'pattren' for 'pattern'. And if you ever visit Leith, Admiralty Street is pronounced Admirallity Street.
That's exactly how I go to say it but as my brain is screaming at me that is wrong, I usually end up with some kind of sawn off version of it. :laugh:
 
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