Why are British place names so hard to pronounce?

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  • Опубликовано: 13 дек 2020
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    original video: • Blue Gras In Hillbilly...
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Комментарии • 11 тыс.

  • @MTRfundamentalist
    @MTRfundamentalist 3 года назад +2045

    Programmers: Ransomware
    People from England: Rampisham-ware

    • @samgamgee6508
      @samgamgee6508 3 года назад +54

      (slow clap)

    • @MTRfundamentalist
      @MTRfundamentalist 3 года назад +105

      @@samgamgee6508 I have achieved comedy.

    • @hawaiianrobot
      @hawaiianrobot 3 года назад +30

      @@MTRfundamentalist that's a good one hahaha

    • @Azmythometre
      @Azmythometre 3 года назад +14

      @@MTRfundamentalist
      Achievement unlocked!
      Comedy

    • @fyorr
      @fyorr 3 года назад +21

      Programmers and English people, the two genders.

  • @Szaam
    @Szaam 3 года назад +7364

    "Could you mispronounce Frome for me?"
    "Portsmouth."
    "That'll do."
    That joke was made even funnier by Mark deciding to wear a wig very briefly for no reason.

    • @anshitkumar6347
      @anshitkumar6347 3 года назад +84

      Should've said Ports-Mouth xD

    • @daos3300
      @daos3300 3 года назад +19

      yes. the very brief reasonless wig wearer's wig.

    • @Clivestravelandtrains
      @Clivestravelandtrains 3 года назад +49

      It's Pompey, anyway.

    • @alalalala57
      @alalalala57 3 года назад +20

      Had a Fry and Laurie feel to it. Amazing.

    • @brendanroberts4866
      @brendanroberts4866 3 года назад +1

      i come from a place called thisvideoisshit

  • @therealjetlag
    @therealjetlag 9 месяцев назад +313

    I moved to the UK 40 years ago and about 5 years in, I was invited to a party in Toaster. Being without satnav back then, I looked it up in a map but couldn’t find it. I was assured it was easy to find and signposted off of the M1. Just head north.
    I let out an “ohhhhhhh!” when I saw the sign for Towcester.

    • @zimriel
      @zimriel 3 месяца назад +14

      the only solution, of course, is to invite back the Romans.
      your food will get better if nothing else

  • @AaronMichaelLong
    @AaronMichaelLong Год назад +907

    I don't know if it's the double margarita I just had, but "BELGIC OPPIDVM which was sensibly renamed 'Braintree'" has me quite literally in tears of laughter. You guys are geniuses.

    • @manmanman2000
      @manmanman2000 Год назад +34

      There is a village called 'brain creek' in Austria and a town called 'cat's brain' in Germany

    • @mogscugg2639
      @mogscugg2639 Год назад +17

      NOT THE BOPPIDUM

    • @aaron_905
      @aaron_905 7 месяцев назад +5

      ​@@manmanman2000there's a Catbrain in Bristol too, near Cribbs.

    • @ladyserenity5
      @ladyserenity5 6 месяцев назад +4

      We have one in Massachusetts, USA as well. Whatta name.

    • @secretsfullofsaucers
      @secretsfullofsaucers Месяц назад +4

      My favourite thing about Braintree is that there's a 'secret nuclear bunker' which is signposted everywhere on official road signage

  • @mollychristman4866
    @mollychristman4866 3 года назад +3417

    I once saw something that said "English is what happens when Vikings learn Latin and use it to yell at Germans"

    • @psychodrummer1567
      @psychodrummer1567 2 года назад +335

      no, it's when the French hear Vikings shouting Latin at Germans.

    • @Morningstar_37
      @Morningstar_37 2 года назад +106

      @@psychodrummer1567 no, it's when anglo-saxons watch vikings and romans yell at germans

    • @luckiller019
      @luckiller019 2 года назад +214

      my favorite is "English doesnt borrows from other languaga, it drags them to dark alley where it beats them and robs them while heavily breathing in their ears"

    • @RoganGunn
      @RoganGunn 2 года назад +65

      More like, "When Celts learn Latin then German and use Old Norse to yell at French Vikings..." 🤔

    • @there-sis-stanceiscoming8230
      @there-sis-stanceiscoming8230 2 года назад +1

      Modern english is 'spelled' - the ruling caste fiddle with the words - for manipulative cultural disintegration effects.
      Now they tell people that the commoners used to be as nasty as the ruling caste are ... having destroyed the old culture, and schooled everyone, they now control the stories ... and the narrative of today too ...

  • @azunzaia8172
    @azunzaia8172 3 года назад +1486

    "Could you misprounounce Frome for me?"
    "Portsmouth"
    "that'll do"

    • @timh2356
      @timh2356 3 года назад +18

      They actually already did that joke in this video, so you're not being original. Thanks though.

    • @williamg209two
      @williamg209two 3 года назад +85

      @@timh2356 are you stupid or acting dumb?

    • @TonyJapan71
      @TonyJapan71 3 года назад +13

      @@williamg209two normally people like them don't respond as they normally realise (or not) that they just made a r/wooosh

    • @abccanada6248
      @abccanada6248 3 года назад +3

      As a cyclist i thought froome in my heade because that came to my head yet i was still surprised by it

    • @melodycervantes4167
      @melodycervantes4167 3 года назад +10

      @@williamg209two He's not saying "Oh, didn't you realize that comment was from the video?" He's saying "Repeating a joke from the video isn't funny." I don't quite agree (While it's not funny in a "let me tell you a joke" way, it is a shortened way of saying "I liked that line, did you like it too?" which I don't see a problem with.), but I wouldn't say he missed the joke. If anything, you misunderstood him.

  • @jorambannister1624
    @jorambannister1624 Год назад +608

    I once heard a story about an Australian hitchhiker in the UK who was asking for a ride to "Loo-ger-bar-oo-ger"
    After much head scratching from the locals they realised he was wanting to get to Loughborough! (pronounced Luffburuh) 😀

  • @Doviderus
    @Doviderus Год назад +410

    Frama, located in Cantabria, northern Spain is the very same celtic word that turned into Frome in England. In the heart of the Liebana Valley, Frama is visited by hundreds of British tourists who ignore this point altogether.

    • @abrahamdozer6273
      @abrahamdozer6273 10 месяцев назад +12

      Saxons, eh?

    • @elpapa68
      @elpapa68 9 месяцев назад +8

      I mean, how should they know or even guess?

    • @bogi18
      @bogi18 8 месяцев назад +18

      @@elpapa68 By watching Map Men and reading the youtube comments, of course!

    • @heofonfyr6000
      @heofonfyr6000 7 месяцев назад +3

      Didn't you watch the video? We don't have time to acknowledge such things! The tea market doesn't monopolise itself!

  • @nessai00
    @nessai00 3 года назад +2295

    "contain nonsensical phonetic traps that are impossible to predict"
    That should be a warning on English language textbooks.

    • @SupaDanteX
      @SupaDanteX 3 года назад +28

      *May contain
      :D
      And yes. Have a like

    • @zero_gravity5861
      @zero_gravity5861 3 года назад +25

      Not suitable for use as a lawnmower.

    • @hamjohnson2319
      @hamjohnson2319 3 года назад

      No you haven’t now brush ya teeth m.ruclips.net/video/OEuaNorcY1c/видео.html

    • @NicolaW72
      @NicolaW72 3 года назад +1

      :-)

    • @cheesecrackersandpickles2331
      @cheesecrackersandpickles2331 3 года назад +1

      He said British not English , you are so wrong I won't even bother explaining.

  • @lumbagogaming2129
    @lumbagogaming2129 2 года назад +3501

    “Excuse me can you mispronounce Frome for me”
    “Portsmouth”

    • @Chongo_657
      @Chongo_657 2 года назад +82

      Poursmuff I think you'll find thanks very much!

    • @WardyLion
      @WardyLion 2 года назад +74

      That’ll do!

    • @WardyLion
      @WardyLion 2 года назад +13

      @Tyler Yuan Frome!

    • @wintrwunderland
      @wintrwunderland 2 года назад +7

      @Tyler Yuan Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

    • @mrpdofff
      @mrpdofff 2 года назад +11

      I spat my tea out at this one....Hilarious !!!

  • @NovaAge
    @NovaAge Год назад +58

    "Mousehole"
    "Braintree"
    "Speen"
    Gosh I love the UK

    • @tairneanaich
      @tairneanaich 3 месяца назад +2

      My personal favourite is Wye in Kent. Love hearing it come up as though the bus or the news are having an existential crisis

  • @kenlewis2668
    @kenlewis2668 Год назад +186

    Actually, Welsh place names are very easy to pronounce. The spelling is consistent. There are only 15 or so pronunciation rules and almost no exceptions. (Except for Hirwaun, which should be pronounced heer wine but the locals say er-win)

    • @samuel.j.barker
      @samuel.j.barker 11 месяцев назад +7

      I agree, but there's a caveat...
      Many place names contain the same word as others, or are just very similar. Like 'Hirwaun' and 'Hirwaen' for example; but there's loads.
      Not to mention the fact that a lot of the names are also just words for certain things; like 'LLan', which is 'Church.' So it kinda just adds difficulty of another kind, rather than pronunciation

    • @Evan490BC
      @Evan490BC 11 месяцев назад +10

      Oh God... I prefer to use the generic name "That place in Wales" for all Welsh towns.

    • @alganhar1
      @alganhar1 9 месяцев назад +24

      @@Evan490BC Welsh is purely phonetic, unlike English. If you are not interested in what the names MEAN, you can learn how to pronounce them fairly quickly. And unlike English those pronunciation rules stay the same.
      The most important thing people need to remember is that the Welsh Alphabet is very different to the English Alphabet. People often complain Welsh has too few vowels for example, it has 7 compared to 5 for English (Y and W are vowels in Welsh, not consonants).
      Also some sounds are represented by two letters, LL for example, there are others including CH, NG, FF and DD.
      When you realise for example that Llan is not four letters, but three, with the LL having a specific sound it starts to make more sense. I have less trouble with Welsh place names than with English because of the huge number of pronunciation traps in English, which literally do not exist in Welsh....
      Also helps I speak Welsh.... But for pronunciation that does not matter. You can learn how to pronounce Welsh fairly easily without having to learn to understand it.

    • @Evan490BC
      @Evan490BC 9 месяцев назад +2

      @@alganhar1 Thank you very much for your detailed explanation! I must say learning how to pronounce Welsh sounds tempting. I will give it a try!

    • @HS-ig4ly
      @HS-ig4ly 8 месяцев назад

      i agree however, the welsh language is a sin so no

  • @EpicScizor
    @EpicScizor 3 года назад +12241

    Pronouncing english names is easy. Pronounce the word like you think it should be pronounced, then repeat it faster and faster until you've swallowed three syllables. That's the actual pronunciation

    • @joshuarosen6242
      @joshuarosen6242 3 года назад +822

      You can speed up the process by drinking a few pints of bitter.

    • @whoeverest_the_whateverest
      @whoeverest_the_whateverest 3 года назад +110

      Isn't it how pronunciation works in general in most languages?

    • @joshuarosen6242
      @joshuarosen6242 3 года назад +485

      @@whoeverest_the_whateverest No. Lots of languages are fairly regular in their pronunciation. If you know how to spell something in, for example, French, German or Welsh, you can be pretty certain of the pronunciation. That is not true at all of English. There are also languages such as Chinese where you cannot derive any useful information about the pronunciation from the spelling so you don't even have a starting point unless you already know the word.

    • @deservingcomplexionm8111
      @deservingcomplexionm8111 3 года назад +38

      @@joshuarosen6242 yeah no.

    • @neuvilpanindra2581
      @neuvilpanindra2581 3 года назад +158

      @@deservingcomplexionm8111 no yeah.

  • @AlexWJ93
    @AlexWJ93 Год назад +68

    Love how knowing languages can teach you even more things hidden in plain sight. Learning Norwegian made me realise that kirk is church and gate is street. So when I realised there was a street called Kirkgate, I went to google to see if it was literally church street, and it was!

    • @kjh23gk
      @kjh23gk 9 месяцев назад +11

      "Church" is "kirk" in Scots too.

    • @kellydalstok8900
      @kellydalstok8900 8 месяцев назад +6

      In Dutch it’s kerk. Only the vowel is different.

  • @TheSwiftFalcon
    @TheSwiftFalcon Год назад +40

    I remember visiting your fair country and asking for directions to Southwark, pronouncing it like it is written. The guy looked completely confused, like he couldn't comprehend why anyone would say it that way.
    Perhaps we should just invade and give all your places proper Scandinavian names again. :-)

    • @jakefromstatefarm6969
      @jakefromstatefarm6969 Год назад +3

      I'm not sure what you mean by 'like it is written'. I'd probably pronounce it as rhyming with jerk. South werk. Probably based on the city of Newark New Jersey. What about you?

    • @nicholasvinen
      @nicholasvinen 4 месяца назад +1

      It's spelled "throatwarbler mangrove" but pronounced "Raymond luxury yacht"!

  • @JagoHazzard
    @JagoHazzard 3 года назад +900

    Fun fact: Cirencester used to be pronounced "Sissister." Fun lie: if you use the True Pronunciation of Cirencester, you can control anyone from there.

    • @JayForeman
      @JayForeman  3 года назад +289

      Been watching LOTS of your channel lately! Big fan!! :D

    • @JagoHazzard
      @JagoHazzard 3 года назад +203

      @@JayForeman Thanks! I feel like Elvis just complimented my karaoke performance.

    • @RedmarKerkhof
      @RedmarKerkhof 3 года назад +3

      I knew it! :D

    • @ssephi
      @ssephi 3 года назад +15

      Needed more Loughborough

    • @saintinho
      @saintinho 3 года назад +3

      Jago I love you

  • @Yitewewoteli-dQw4w9WgXcQ
    @Yitewewoteli-dQw4w9WgXcQ 3 года назад +2162

    Didn't expect the Liam Dutton nails pronouncing Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch parody, but I'm happy it's there.

    • @ThinWhiteAxe
      @ThinWhiteAxe 3 года назад +16

      Me too

    • @AB-gw6uf
      @AB-gw6uf 3 года назад +91

      Original video for those curious:👌
      ruclips.net/video/fHxO0UdpoxM/видео.html

    • @gui18bif
      @gui18bif 3 года назад +7

      Well, he also was doing sort of a parody.

    • @ChallengeCommander
      @ChallengeCommander 3 года назад +5

      That's the very video I used to learn it

    • @jca111
      @jca111 3 года назад +10

      @@ChallengeCommander He gets the ending slightly wrong.

  • @kenb3552
    @kenb3552 7 месяцев назад +22

    I live in New England in the USA and we have many towns and cities named after those in England - and yes, we use the same English pronunciation which drives those from outside of New England - crazy. But i love it. 😇

    • @cartologist
      @cartologist 3 месяца назад +2

      Usually but not always. Berkeley is not pronounced Barkley. Hartford came from Hertford but spelled with an a.

    • @ptorq
      @ptorq Месяц назад +2

      As a midwesterner who lived in the Boston area for a couple of years, I (quite sensibly) thought "Peabody" was pronounced like "pea body" and "Leominster" was pronounced "leo min ster." My new neighbors found this briefly confusing and then hilarious ("Do you mean 'pee buddy' and 'lemon stir'?").

    • @davidyoung5114
      @davidyoung5114 27 дней назад +2

      I'm from Nova Scotia, and when I mention places like Truro, Weymouth, Dartmouth, Preston, Halifax, Liverpool (my home town!), Chester, Yarmouth, Colchester, Richmond, and others, you'd think I was talking about England. But the British tourists love seeing these places!

    • @kenb3552
      @kenb3552 27 дней назад

      @@davidyoung5114 I love the name, Halifax, for some reason.

    • @davidyoung5114
      @davidyoung5114 27 дней назад

      @@kenb3552 And did you know that a person from Halifax is called a Haligonian?

  • @leocervidae
    @leocervidae Год назад +112

    I got told in school the Normans also changed a lot of Anglo-Saxon place names that they struggled to pronounce, and were responsible for a lot of the shortening. They were also responsible for the very creative name “Newcastle”, named after the new castle they built there 😂.

    • @siarhian10
      @siarhian10 8 месяцев назад +6

      The city I'm from was originally called "Castell Newydd ar y Wysg" which is literally a description of what was there at the time. This got shortened down to "Casnewydd". In English, it's "Newport", for some reason. there are a few explanations (wikipedia suggests the old port was the Roman one in caerleon) but as far as We're concerned it's totally unknown why it's called that. there wasn't even a dock there at the time.

    • @paavobergmann4920
      @paavobergmann4920 7 месяцев назад +7

      Wie have like 200 places called "Neustadt" in germany...("New city"). Founding new cities was all the rage in the 13th century.

    • @yamao4938
      @yamao4938 4 месяца назад

      ​@@siarhian10maybe some medieval humour in there

  • @aknee3042
    @aknee3042 3 года назад +2813

    This is basically adult Horrible Histories and I’m not complaining

  • @thomasoates3003
    @thomasoates3003 3 года назад +3597

    An extra 'map' this time. I see you like to keep us on our toes.

    • @AxxLAfriku
      @AxxLAfriku 3 года назад +12

      HOLY HOLY!!! I can proudly say that I have the two HOTTEST women on this planet as MY GIRLFRIENDS! I am the unprettiest RUclipsr ever, but they love me for what's inside! Thanks for listening thomas

    • @reimarpb
      @reimarpb 3 года назад

      I think this is the third time they've done it

    • @thomasoates3003
      @thomasoates3003 3 года назад +35

      @@reimarpb Really? I thought they usually repeated the word 'men'.

    • @juneguts
      @juneguts 3 года назад +56

      @@AxxLAfriku Axxl really should be blocked from most channels, it's basically just a spambot. @Jay Foreman

    • @redyellowpink01
      @redyellowpink01 3 года назад +3

      Spoilers!

  • @Rishi26007
    @Rishi26007 6 месяцев назад +8

    Both of you radiate a huge amount of stephen fry & hugh laurie energy.

  • @ilmarilah1195
    @ilmarilah1195 Год назад +58

    These guys are the best at getting people to watch sponsorship

    • @jamieisausername
      @jamieisausername Год назад +4

      It's not even a competition, they dominate the field.. like a very assertive rabbit

    • @Muzikman127
      @Muzikman127 Год назад +1

      2nd only to Erik from Internet Comment Etiquette

  • @acathosh
    @acathosh 3 года назад +756

    "Which was sensibly renamed to Braintree"
    I'm in tears 😂

    • @jamm6_514
      @jamm6_514 3 года назад +23

      i still dont get why it was named braintree out of all things

    • @scarletpimpernelagain9124
      @scarletpimpernelagain9124 3 года назад +22

      @@jamm6_514 the name ‘ Braintree’ is just intrinsically funny, like ‘Penge’.

    • @slyrox1183
      @slyrox1183 3 года назад +9

      If you thought that Braintree was a bad name, you ain't heard of one of it's gants names, as the gant near the newsagents in the town centre is called "pig's head in the pottage pot gant". Annoyingly it ain't on Google street view but the sign is located on the red brick wall opposite.

    • @ImranKhan1976
      @ImranKhan1976 3 года назад +4

      @@jamm6_514 seems like a corruption of the original Celtic name for the place after the Roman name was no longer used.

    • @petermaher8633
      @petermaher8633 3 года назад +2

      Having worked in Braintree, they should have changed it to brain death!

  • @joeschmoe9863
    @joeschmoe9863 3 года назад +819

    Tom Scott and Map Men within 20 minutes of each other.

    • @violeteclipse3912
      @violeteclipse3912 3 года назад +9

      Yes

    • @plebjames
      @plebjames 3 года назад +21

      I been getting into some Jago Hazzard recently too (and he's super prolific)

    • @janssenmccormick7824
      @janssenmccormick7824 3 года назад +3

      @@plebjames Jago's Dire Straits video was so good

    • @melissakenfield5012
      @melissakenfield5012 3 года назад

      truly a blessed day

    • @StratosTitan
      @StratosTitan 3 года назад +13

      The 2 map men and Tom Scott: the British holy trinity

  • @zahrazarqaa5210
    @zahrazarqaa5210 Год назад +41

    1:49 "Mousehole" being pronouced "Mou-sel" MUST have been the inspiration for "Not Weaseltown its prounouced 'Weselton'!"

  • @johnpotts8308
    @johnpotts8308 Год назад +11

    When you work in call centres, you can really impress people by learning how to pronounce (and spell!) places like Corstorphine, Launceston and Bleanau Ffestiniog (though since it's been a while, I did have to check the last one).

  • @trickvro
    @trickvro 3 года назад +1629

    Nobody:
    Cars in eastern Somerset: "vrome vrome"

  • @graf
    @graf 3 года назад +8572

    the -cester cities seem pretty manageable when you find out that Cholmondeley is pronounced chumly (/tʃʌmli/)

    • @nevreiha
      @nevreiha 3 года назад +174

      Gumster
      Keith leigh

    • @RealUlrichLeland
      @RealUlrichLeland 3 года назад +232

      Wymondham
      Wind-um

    • @rogerdines6244
      @rogerdines6244 3 года назад +147

      Depends on the family-some call ithemselves Chumley, and others Cholmondeley: same with Featherstonehaugh, which can be pronounced as written, or if from the 'other' family, Fanshaw: ditto Powell which can be as written, or pronounced Pole!

    • @blindleader42
      @blindleader42 3 года назад +51

      Remarkably, Boris Badenov taught me how to pronounce Cholmondeley almost exactly sixty years ago.

    • @ilyamosin3090
      @ilyamosin3090 3 года назад +190

      Chumly?
      C H U M L Y ?!

  • @suntzu3797
    @suntzu3797 Год назад +11

    2:49 the w is silent 😂 underrated joke

  • @richardh6905
    @richardh6905 Год назад +9

    How have I only just discovered this?! Impressively well written, timed and delivered comedy, whilst also being educational! Nice work!

  • @NickRoman
    @NickRoman 3 года назад +679

    "which was sensibly renamed Braintree" why did that make me laugh the most?

    • @jaredwoolgar6434
      @jaredwoolgar6434 3 года назад +4

      Big up the btown massive 😂

    • @LittleDogTobi
      @LittleDogTobi 3 года назад +1

      So many of these names exist in Massachusetts, as you can imagine. There's a Braintree in the Boston area.

    • @livedandletdie
      @livedandletdie 3 года назад +10

      I mean Braintree is way nicer than Skegness(the physical manifestation of the word shit) or many other horrid places in Britain such as Wales or Hell I mean Milton Keynes, or the home of depression... Luton...

    • @electron8262
      @electron8262 3 года назад +2

      I keep imagining a tree with brains growing on it instead of fruits...

    • @jaredwoolgar6434
      @jaredwoolgar6434 3 года назад +7

      @@electron8262 come to the town and you’ll realise no brains grow here 😂

  • @elizabethvanek3164
    @elizabethvanek3164 3 года назад +880

    I'm loving the prediction on the evolution of place names.
    2000 "W'ster"
    2200 "Wrr"
    2400 "Beep Boop Boop"! 🤣

    • @AndrewTJackson
      @AndrewTJackson 3 года назад +7

      If you think that's funny, go watch the movie Idiocracy. :-)

    • @junio0o768
      @junio0o768 3 года назад +6

      @@AndrewTJackson the most passive aggressive insult ever lololol

    • @AndrewTJackson
      @AndrewTJackson 3 года назад +6

      @@junio0o768 I'm not insulting @Lizz, I'm recommending a good movie! :-)

    • @junio0o768
      @junio0o768 3 года назад

      @@AndrewTJackson ok sure

    • @grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic8158
      @grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic8158 2 года назад

      A Homo niewiadomo (a new 2400 species of human) individual: What is the way to Beep Boop Boop?

  • @peterv6343
    @peterv6343 Год назад +2

    Your adverts are just as fun to watch as your shows! I never sit and watch all the advertisements but with your channel, I always do! Great job!

  • @sugarbertie1143
    @sugarbertie1143 Год назад +9

    This is brilliant. My wife has trouble with many places in the UK and she was born here like me! The worst thing is when locals have their own pronunciations like Bolsover which the locals pronounce 'Bo'ser' or Cudworth pronounced 'Cudderth' or Rainworth being 'Rennerth'. It still gets me how Americans say 'Edinborrow' for Edinburgh. They just can't get that it's the same as 'burra' (..borough). Great video guys!!

    • @jakefromstatefarm6969
      @jakefromstatefarm6969 Год назад

      Edinburgh is sneaky for Americans since -burgh and -burg are pronounced /bɝɡ/ like iceberg in General American English. Edinburgh with US spelling would be written as Edinborough, or Edinboro.
      Despite knowing the proper pronunciation, I can't help but read it as Edin berg, in my head.

    • @welcomeback2mychannel
      @welcomeback2mychannel Год назад

      It's pronounced "Eddin-bruh", not "Eddin-burra".

    • @sugarbertie1143
      @sugarbertie1143 Год назад

      @@welcomeback2mychannel 'Burgh' in Scotland is the same as 'Borough' in England hence why it should be pronounced as such. Depending where you come from in the UK you might pronounce it slightly different but its still not pronounced 'borrow' like Americans think. If you listen to railway station announcements they pronounce it 'Edinburra'' or 'Edinbra'. I think they'd have trouble with Hawick , Berwick on Tweed and Kirkcudbright as well.

    • @welcomeback2mychannel
      @welcomeback2mychannel Год назад

      @@sugarbertie1143 ... which is also pronounced "bruh". I don't listen to yanks on anything language related, dw.

    • @EtherealSunset
      @EtherealSunset 29 дней назад

      ​@@sugarbertie1143probably. Kirkcudbright is a place I visited a few times as a child, so I know how to pronounce it, but probably a lot of people I know, if I asked them, they'd get it wrong.

  • @kaollakitten
    @kaollakitten 3 года назад +742

    "Bugger off, u're not from round 'ere" - Frome Resident

    • @Nadekuro
      @Nadekuro 3 года назад +1

      Close enough

    • @hamjohnson2319
      @hamjohnson2319 3 года назад

      Bugger off and brush your teeth m.ruclips.net/video/OEuaNorcY1c/видео.html

    • @cantcheatkarma3493
      @cantcheatkarma3493 3 года назад +3

      Wasson then cocker!

    • @amp2amp800
      @amp2amp800 3 года назад +2

      @Tran Ma bugger orf shurly?

    • @OfficialFFC
      @OfficialFFC 3 года назад +2

      @Tran Ma Frome* :D

  • @NexebNoXV
    @NexebNoXV 3 года назад +1995

    "Could you mispronounce Frome for me?"
    "Portsmouth!"
    "That'll do."
    That bit got me so good I had to pause the video for a couple minutes to finish my laughing fit.

    • @NexebNoXV
      @NexebNoXV 3 года назад +42

      An open letter to Loughborough:
      Dear Loughborough.
      Seriously? The "lough" rhymes with tough? No other place in your country does that as far as we know, so your name feels like a prank. Are you sure? Please check your records just to make sure.
      With love, America

    • @robspiess
      @robspiess 3 года назад +31

      He should have pronounced it "Port's Mouth". Not only because "mispronouncing a completely different city" is funny, but because, American here, that's how I pronounced it for an embarrassing number of years, and it would just make me feel better. ... or worse, come to think of it.

    • @zero_gravity5861
      @zero_gravity5861 3 года назад +7

      @@robspiess I think there are plenty of Portsmouths in America.

    • @Yotanido
      @Yotanido 3 года назад +25

      @@NexebNoXV To be fair, the US has a couple weird ones, as well.
      Arkansas, for example. Especially bad since Kansas is a thing.

    • @wibbliams
      @wibbliams 3 года назад +2

      Llanfairsomething

  • @Enjyu_666
    @Enjyu_666 Год назад +21

    Brilliant! I remember when I first arrived in the UK and got teased on how I'd pronuce Leicester or Gloucester, mind you I already spoke and read fluent English 😂 and as a sensible adult what I did was, of course, tease my visiting English -speaking friends into the same game, except now I have no idea how to pronounce Southwark like a foreigner 😱 but I can still laugh at the botched attempts

  • @luanaestevam1062
    @luanaestevam1062 Год назад +3

    OMG you guys are literally perfect! I'm a brazillian watching it and it is so so fun haha

  • @callistogarnet
    @callistogarnet 3 года назад +1199

    Once heard an American man on a train very patiently saying “no mother it’s pronounced ‘Ip-sich’, they don’t pronounce the W here” when he and his mum were on the way to Ipswich. He would have been right for 99% of the words with a similar ending...

    • @ixlnxs
      @ixlnxs 3 года назад +34

      @Rodolfo Ramos Anker. ;)

    • @joshporter741
      @joshporter741 3 года назад +73

      As someone from Ipswich, I’ve never noticed anyone say it wrong, but now can’t get this out of my head 🤣

    • @millertas
      @millertas 3 года назад +76

      ough can be pronounced many ways so Slough (where my wife's cousins lived) was often pronounced 'Sluff' but the best pronounciation (by an American on the bus) was Slug.

    • @konrad7572
      @konrad7572 3 года назад +9

      @@joshporter741 its pronounced ippy

    • @joshporter741
      @joshporter741 3 года назад +4

      @@konrad7572 Uppa Townnnnn buhhhh

  • @chandanasarkar1173
    @chandanasarkar1173 3 года назад +1090

    Now, the four 'Map's in the beginning is *INTERESTING* .

    • @nitehawk86
      @nitehawk86 3 года назад +2

      *is the best version

    • @niceperson180
      @niceperson180 3 года назад +4

      And there are normally tthree "men"s, right? They only did two this time

    • @BlueGangsta1958
      @BlueGangsta1958 3 года назад +11

      As was Jays pronunciation of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, bet he practiced 40 hours a day for that

    • @trialexol
      @trialexol 3 года назад +4

      @@niceperson180 the three men are actually the variation

    • @chandanasarkar1173
      @chandanasarkar1173 3 года назад +4

      @@BlueGangsta1958 Sacrilegious

  • @kevinarmstrong386
    @kevinarmstrong386 Год назад +1

    This video is absolutely incredible!!!
    THANK YOU!!

  • @jessicamichelle89
    @jessicamichelle89 Год назад +2

    The RUclips algorithm has blessed me. These videos are so terrific, thank you! I’m from New England in the US and used to think that I had a leg up on pronouncing town/city names that don’t make sense when seeing them spelled out (Peabody, Gloucester, Haverhill, etc). But the OG England wins.

  • @christopherdeangelis6383
    @christopherdeangelis6383 3 года назад +2813

    As an american, I was having trouble understanding the video, but after that "yippie kay-ay" I get it now. Thank you Map Men for great translations.

    • @pseudotasuki
      @pseudotasuki 2 года назад +21

      Head up to New England for a little taste. Take a quick drive between Worcester (Woostah) and Leominster (Lemon-stir).

    • @christopherdeangelis6383
      @christopherdeangelis6383 2 года назад +19

      @@pseudotasuki I am a New Englander lol

    • @pseudotasuki
      @pseudotasuki 2 года назад +7

      @@christopherdeangelis6383 Well… okay. Fair enough.

    • @kindauncool
      @kindauncool 2 года назад +8

      +@@pseudotasuki I always got so pissed at Worcester's pronunciation, but 5:33 kinda helped me understand though. I'm finally at peace.

    • @adailydrawingmustache4604
      @adailydrawingmustache4604 2 года назад +2

      @@christopherdeangelis6383 Me, as actual American: 💀

  • @gazoakleychef
    @gazoakleychef 3 года назад +3912

    probably my favourite video you've ever done

    • @srp5230
      @srp5230 3 года назад +5

      @avantgardevegan It's also one of the most vegan videos they've ever done. 😊 Hope you are well, Gaz. 💜

    • @raheemabdul1066
      @raheemabdul1066 3 года назад +2

      Oh, there's at least 5 better mapmen videos than this!

    • @maga6403
      @maga6403 3 года назад

      Ure gae

    • @SW_Sarah
      @SW_Sarah 3 года назад +6

      i mean you're not wrong
      jay went out of his way and spent ages learning how to pronounce llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch though
      that's brilliant

    • @doublenikkel
      @doublenikkel 3 года назад +2

      Favorite*
      Sorry, as an American, I just had to do it

  • @HypocriticalElitist
    @HypocriticalElitist 7 месяцев назад +2

    First video from your channel I've seen. You guys are... intense. I've never seen a RUclips VPN ad that didn't suck before.

  • @Brandon-xp1ob
    @Brandon-xp1ob Год назад +2

    Brilliant video! I was too scared to pronounce places out loud when i visited. We went to the Oxford area to see family. I'm American but my wife is a Spaniard and her sister lives in the UK with ber bf. Also went to bath. Cheers!

  • @lmlmd2714
    @lmlmd2714 3 года назад +422

    This is a 100% accurate depiction of how Brits see Americans.

    • @mikespearwood3914
      @mikespearwood3914 3 года назад +6

      And Australians?

    • @Alkatross
      @Alkatross 3 года назад +20

      I'm an American and your impression impressed me. You pretty much nailed it. Yee haw!

    • @DeusSalis
      @DeusSalis 3 года назад +1

      Brits have eyes between their tooth gaps

    • @CCNYMacGuy
      @CCNYMacGuy 3 года назад +18

      @@Alkatross Ah, but he didn't get to the few exceptions, such as for those of us from New York City who periodically throw in a EYYY I'M WALKIN HEAHHH to our YEEHAWs

    • @butcherofblav1ken874
      @butcherofblav1ken874 3 года назад +2

      @@DeusSalis but do either of them have tooth gaps, also every child in England that has wonky teeth get braces free, completely free. About 30 percent of brits get braces

  • @mistertwister2000
    @mistertwister2000 3 года назад +441

    “Yipikaywee, buckaroo!”
    Someone please, PLEASE make a t-shirt of this

    • @Andrew-yl7lm
      @Andrew-yl7lm 3 года назад +2

      @The smore emperor just visit Braintree and get one lol

    • @nightwind1989
      @nightwind1989 3 года назад +3

      Darn tootin indeed

  • @irynakalychak6821
    @irynakalychak6821 Год назад +2

    This is hilarious! Can't how much time and effort went into recording this. Glad I came across this channel!

  • @ButacuPpucatuB
    @ButacuPpucatuB Год назад

    Excellent material!! Thank you both 🧡🧡🧡🧡

  • @iammrbeat
    @iammrbeat 3 года назад +11434

    The only channel where the AD VERTs are just as good as the rest of the video.

    • @joshuaduplaa9033
      @joshuaduplaa9033 3 года назад +227

      If you enjoy funny ads, you should check out internet comment etiquette with Erik. Btw i love your videos mr. Beat, you're my favorite social studies teacher.

    • @badbadbadkarma12
      @badbadbadkarma12 3 года назад +291

      Second to internet historian I'd say.

    • @evy2031
      @evy2031 3 года назад +46

      I see that you too are a man of culture, Mr. Beat.

    • @variousthings6470
      @variousthings6470 3 года назад +113

      Ad-verts, ad-verts
      Ad-ad-ad-verts verts
      (Verts)

    • @TheKewlPerson
      @TheKewlPerson 3 года назад +36

      Also Drew Gooden does really funny adverts

  • @pirouette5212
    @pirouette5212 3 года назад +896

    Can't wait in 2200 people will just say, "can you hand me that Wrrrrr sauce?"

    • @Bacopa68
      @Bacopa68 3 года назад +34

      I have some Wrrr sauce in my kitchen cabinet.

    • @donatist59
      @donatist59 3 года назад +65

      Thanks to a grandson's mispronunciation we now call it "Shoosher sauce" in my family.

    • @hecatium4473
      @hecatium4473 2 года назад +36

      Cyu hn m’tht wrr sos

    • @zeldadinosaur
      @zeldadinosaur 2 года назад +7

      @@hecatium4473 Sos!

    • @francesatty7022
      @francesatty7022 2 года назад +7

      Americans already do that

  • @vairexxx
    @vairexxx 9 месяцев назад

    Excellent video. Loved it

  • @hoid9407
    @hoid9407 Год назад +3

    Oh wow I'd never heard of this channel, but between being a hopeless linguistics nerd and your dry humor, I'm DYING! You two are phenomenal, keep it up

  • @aidanm5849
    @aidanm5849 3 года назад +916

    Judgement day has come. Jay is uploading semi regularly.

    • @AxxLAfriku
      @AxxLAfriku 3 года назад +1

      I have two hot RUclipsr girlfriends and I am the best RUclipsr ever and YOUR savior. Good bye dear aidna

    • @TrimutiusToo
      @TrimutiusToo 3 года назад +11

      Judgement day is 2200-2400 accordingt to this video... when it changes from Wrr to "Beep Boop Boop"

    • @renzo00
      @renzo00 3 года назад +14

      Two map men episodes within one month??? The end is nigh

    • @martinlehtonen
      @martinlehtonen 3 года назад +1

      Coincidentally I am also semi regular

    • @user-fq4hj8yv2z
      @user-fq4hj8yv2z 3 года назад +2

      At least the end will be a bit sweeter

  • @MattColbo
    @MattColbo 3 года назад +1637

    had a really good laugh at 1:25 hahahahaha

    • @iaw7406
      @iaw7406 3 года назад +14

      I loved your tom scott video, who is next ?

    • @AVeryRandomPerson
      @AVeryRandomPerson 3 года назад +33

      What's next? Basically A Jay Foreman Video?

    • @mickey4125
      @mickey4125 3 года назад +7

      Oh hi, Matt!

    • @Jojozilla426
      @Jojozilla426 3 года назад +1

      @@AVeryRandomPerson hopefully

    • @sallybradshaw4576
      @sallybradshaw4576 3 года назад +13

      The fact that Matt watches MapMen is one of the least surprising things I've ever heard

  • @EdwardYang-rd6zi
    @EdwardYang-rd6zi 18 дней назад

    I really appreciate you all. You guys are so helpful and interesting.

  • @thomasschmitz3765
    @thomasschmitz3765 8 месяцев назад +3

    I. Am. Stunned.
    As hilarious and funny as it is informative and helpful - never seen this blend being served so well and spot-on. This is how an infotainment RUclips channel should be set up. Absolutely great stuff. Liked and subscirbed, for sure 👍👍👌👌✌✌

  • @Sceadusawol
    @Sceadusawol 3 года назад +436

    "Try this one: Frome."
    *lives about 10 miles away*

    • @louiisez3563
      @louiisez3563 3 года назад +8

      init i was surprised thats the most mispronounced

    • @YTPEXPERT
      @YTPEXPERT 3 года назад +12

      Somerset is number one!

    • @Sceadusawol
      @Sceadusawol 3 года назад +10

      @@YTPEXPERT I'm actually across the border in Wiltshire.

    • @pd4165
      @pd4165 3 года назад +5

      I'm from Manchester yet I knew how to pronounce Frome. I just like knowing stuff, but I draw the line at Celtic names.
      There's always an exception to any rule (not necessarily, but it's a good get out).

    • @YTPEXPERT
      @YTPEXPERT 3 года назад +4

      @@Sceadusawol I did suspect this. Still... Somerset is number one!

  • @miketacos9034
    @miketacos9034 3 года назад +393

    “Wrr” is if you’re feeling posh. Most locals just make a low guttural grunt.

  • @rebeccarendle3706
    @rebeccarendle3706 Год назад

    Thanks guys. Another fun and informative video.

  • @willobendorf9671
    @willobendorf9671 5 дней назад

    I was hitching in Wales in 1978 and was at some crossroads trying to find my way to Dolgellau. So I pronounced it the way I read it when asking which way to go, "Pardon me, sir (or madam), which road do I take to Doll-gel-ow?" and no one seemed to know! I remember thinking, "for crying out loud, it can't be five miles away, how have you people never heard of this place?!" Finally, I showed the map to someone and he said, "Oh! You mean Doll-geshly!" So I learned that a double LL in welsh is kind of a "Schl" sound. Later on in Fishguard waiting for the overnight ferry to Ireland, my travelling companion and I were seated at a table with a very welcoming and fun Welsh couple. She ordered waffles for her dinner. I said that, in the States, we have waffles for breakfast. She turned to her husband and said, "I told you they do everything backwards over there!"🤣

  • @dmacarthur5356
    @dmacarthur5356 3 года назад +2601

    I was kindly corrected by a nice old lady at the York train station "love, Birming-ham is in Ahlah-bahma, Birming'um is in England" I grinned and said "And Birming-ham is in Ala-bama" She called me cheeky lol. She was alone so joined me and my family for a coffee and we talked for an hour. Good memory of England.

    • @BunchaFrames
      @BunchaFrames 3 года назад +56

      Aw :)

    • @the_once-and-future_king.
      @the_once-and-future_king. 2 года назад +90

      Us Yorkies are nice folks. Glad you had a lovely experience.

    • @LovelyAngel.
      @LovelyAngel. 2 года назад +43

      Nah, I think American English is weirder (despite being more mainstream nowadays), I would never notice that a person saying Ahlah-bahma is saying anything wrong.

    • @dmacarthur5356
      @dmacarthur5356 2 года назад +45

      @@LovelyAngel. You would be deemed quite a fancy if you pronounced it that way. The truer southern pronounceation would be closer to owl-la-bama.

    • @lurategh
      @lurategh 2 года назад +28

      @@LovelyAngel. Eh, pronunciations all over the world are weird in some way. There are definitely non-phonetic ones in the US that only a native or someone who’s been here long enough would immediately know, but I think some of these British pronunciations are bonkers and hella non-intuitive, so like they say in the video, you can’t blame a non-native for assuming it’s pronounced one way when really it’s said a completely different way that doesn’t align with basic English spelling/pronunciation rules.
      The way I see it, and this goes for everyone, is that if one is so insistent on a visitor pronouncing something the local way, I’d hope they’re polite enough to make an effort to pronounce it the _other_ local way if they ever find themselves in that other part of the world, rather than claiming their one pronunciation is the “right” one.

  • @bens4044
    @bens4044 3 года назад +465

    Subscribed after "Could you mispronounce Frome for me?" "Portsmouth."

    • @kralik394
      @kralik394 3 года назад +1

      Me too

    • @user-rx9ny4yo2e
      @user-rx9ny4yo2e 3 года назад +1

      Liar

    • @harroldyoungling1481
      @harroldyoungling1481 3 года назад +2

      imagine listing to imagine but being covered by imagine dragons and this is left on for no good reason //ruclips.net/video/fVJKfsRXUiw/видео.html

    • @effie1349
      @effie1349 3 года назад +1

      @@harroldyoungling1481 why would I listen to Imagine Dragons

  • @awesomealbertt1150
    @awesomealbertt1150 9 месяцев назад +4

    YOU! DON’T PRONOUNCE KEIGHLEY WRONG OR THERE WILL BE *CONSEQUENCES*

  • @cedric7049
    @cedric7049 Год назад

    It's the video I didn't know I wanted the most. Both for form and content. Thanks !

  • @bridgecross
    @bridgecross 3 года назад +192

    It is true, every morning I wake up here in America and yell "ZIPPITY DOO DA!!"

    • @MsZsc
      @MsZsc 3 года назад +9

      i wake up to the smell of maple syrup in canada

    • @randomnobody660
      @randomnobody660 3 года назад +2

      @@MsZsc freshly delivered by your mail moose i assume?

    • @evedaser24
      @evedaser24 3 года назад +4

      And it is true here in Australia that we wake up and shout 'Wooloomooloo', as we all do.

    • @bridgecross
      @bridgecross 3 года назад +1

      @@evedaser24 Fairilee dinkabum, matey!

  • @Well_Earned_Siesta
    @Well_Earned_Siesta 3 года назад +633

    “Tourists who get it wrong risk being imprisoned, or killed”
    😅😂😂😂

    • @AdamTheMan1993
      @AdamTheMan1993 3 года назад +29

      If that law became official then every American visiting Britain will be in prison by now

    • @bwiebertram
      @bwiebertram 3 года назад

      @Gizio the Jackal al'n w'k

    • @arwahsapi
      @arwahsapi 3 года назад +19

      Or sent to Australia

    • @spg1126
      @spg1126 3 года назад +1

      Sad. Many such cases.

    • @ukevo
      @ukevo 3 года назад +4

      @@AdamTheMan1993 Not a place name, but every history podcast by Americans pronounce Geoffrey as Joffrey.

  • @Spyder_._GRFIT
    @Spyder_._GRFIT 4 месяца назад +4

    7:48 the Australians would never say, "shrimp on the barbie" they would say prawn instead. Aside from that, this video is very GROUSE

  • @Hand-in-Shot_Productions
    @Hand-in-Shot_Productions Год назад

    I just watched this again, and I found it quite informative! Thanks for the video!
    Also, nice "English language", and (as an American) nice American accents in the ad!

  • @johnson941
    @johnson941 2 года назад +2004

    As a danish person, I have a hard time taking Grimsby serious.
    Yes, Grim was a name, but in danish today, we use the word "Grim" when talking about something ugly (an ugly house = et grimt hus).
    With "by" meaning Village, Grimsby basically translates to "Ugly Village".

    • @barbaralloyd7993
      @barbaralloyd7993 2 года назад +501

      If you go there you would understand!!!

    • @Afreon
      @Afreon 2 года назад +465

      That's pretty much what it means in modern English too. Grim could be used in "grim tidings" (bad news) or "mate, that's grim!" (that is disgusting) etc.

    • @Inkyminkyzizwoz
      @Inkyminkyzizwoz Год назад +96

      @@Afreon Just like Grimmauld Place in the Harry Potter stories is supposed to sound like 'Grim Old Place'

    • @chri15-.-
      @chri15-.- Год назад +3

      Hard to take your comment seriously when the place isn't called Grimtsby

    • @chri15-.-
      @chri15-.- Год назад +4

      @@barbaralloyd7993 I strongly suspect you never have.

  • @malcolmdale
    @malcolmdale 3 года назад +500

    The lady Matilda de Belvoir
    was such a persistent decelvoir
    that the Bishop of Leicester,
    although he confeicester,
    would seldom, if ever, belelvoir.

    • @kittycatcrunchie
      @kittycatcrunchie 3 года назад +4

      Why is this place called Beve...

    • @2760ade
      @2760ade 3 года назад +10

      I live in Leicester, and have found that even some people born here, get that one wrong😀

    • @Tuck-Shop
      @Tuck-Shop 3 года назад +7

      That is the most crazy poem I've ever read.
      Doesn't look like it should work but it does amongst other things

    • @MrJoeshipley
      @MrJoeshipley 3 года назад

      @@2760ade I live in Leicester and I've never seen this poem before but it's brilliant 🤣

    • @davidguthary8147
      @davidguthary8147 3 года назад +3

      For those finding this difficult to read:
      The lady Matilda de Belvoir
      Was such a persistent deceiver
      That the Bishop of Leicester,
      Although he confessed her,
      Would seldom, if ever, believe her.

  • @prospektarty1513
    @prospektarty1513 Год назад +24

    I didn’t realise there were that many Scandinavian place names in a England. I checked the map of Eastern England with that of the Danish peninsula and I cou”d see dozens of places in England with similar sounding place names in Denmark or vice versa

  • @andrewparsons1041
    @andrewparsons1041 Год назад +1

    I just moved to Boston and this helps me greatly.

  • @corruptedminds5679
    @corruptedminds5679 3 года назад +286

    What's worse is when those Welsh place names transplanted over to America where they somehow manage to get even *more* mispronounced

    • @dropit7694
      @dropit7694 3 года назад +22

      Whats worse is that places that sound exactly how you say it and mispronounced anyway e.g. Bangor. Despite what southern english think its not "Ban-ger" from Bangers and mash.

    • @rosiefay7283
      @rosiefay7283 3 года назад +16

      I've just been exploring New England in Google Maps and came across Swanzey. I mean, seriously? Still, if it gets people to pronounce it right, that's one thing, I suppose.

    • @qwertyTRiG
      @qwertyTRiG 3 года назад +12

      @@dropit7694 Bangor in Wales or Bangor in Northern Ireland? Similarly, there are Newcastles in England, Ireland, and Northern Ireland.

    • @jackroutledge352
      @jackroutledge352 3 года назад +18

      Bangor? I hardly even know 'or.

    • @maffleet
      @maffleet 3 года назад +2

      @@qwertyTRiG There's also a Bangor Maine.

  • @whycantiremainanonymous8091
    @whycantiremainanonymous8091 2 года назад +2552

    "Frome" would have been pronounced correctly by any English speaker around Shakespeare's time. The /oυ/ diphtong the letter o makes when followed by a consonant and a silent e is quite recent, and was pronounced /u/ in Early Modern English. That includes the name "Rome", which was pronounced identically to the word "room". Shakespeare has a pun on that in one of his historical plays: "here we are in Rome, and room enough".

    • @nialltracey2599
      @nialltracey2599 2 года назад +53

      Ah, really? I was assuming that Frome was one of those examples where "u" got closed over to distinguish it from the vertical lines of the adjacent m (similar to "sun"->"son", "wunder"->"wonder" etc)

    • @XaliberDeathlock
      @XaliberDeathlock 2 года назад +91

      Oh crap that's interesting. In Arabic Rome is pronounced as 'room'. Wonder if it's related.

    • @major7thsharp11
      @major7thsharp11 2 года назад +54

      For 'Rome' this is likely true, but other words would not typically have been pronounced as /u:/. /oʊ/ was pronounced /ɔ:/ before the Great Vowel Shift, so /u:/ would not have been on its normal trajectory (we have some direct evidence for this; Shakespeare rhymes "alone" with "gone," which wouldn't have been homophonous with "goon").
      was different, because the Old English variant already existed.

    • @XaliberDeathlock
      @XaliberDeathlock 2 года назад +13

      @@major7thsharp11 you telling me Old English wrote Rome as Rūm? How did they get there? I mean that's also how the Arabs wrote it.

    • @major7thsharp11
      @major7thsharp11 2 года назад +40

      @@XaliberDeathlock The Arabs wrote it like that because Classical Arabic didn't have an /o:/ vowel, so they used the closest vowel they had. The similarity to Rūm in Old English dialects is just cosmetic, I'm afraid.

  • @JASFMXL
    @JASFMXL Год назад +3

    I love this channel and his british humour

  • @emilyjaneex
    @emilyjaneex Год назад +2

    Being from Grimsby was happy to see it appear twice in your video 😅 and we have a village in Grimsby called scartho which always gives away non-locals as we pronounce it ‘scatha’, always wondered why 🤷🏻‍♀️

    • @asuspicioustype12classfrig80
      @asuspicioustype12classfrig80 Год назад +1

      Now now, being from Grimsby you should know that none of the villages matter and are just part of Grimsby. Great Coates? Grimsby. Laceby? Grimsby. It's all Grimsby

    • @emilyjaneex
      @emilyjaneex Год назад

      @@asuspicioustype12classfrig80 it’s we’re people move to pretend they don’t live in Grimsby 😅 but true grimberians know

  • @YouTube
    @YouTube 3 года назад +1174

    SO many phonetic boobytraps 🤨

  • @morganolai8926
    @morganolai8926 3 года назад +679

    For those frustrated that the pronunciation of "Godmanchester" was not explained in the video, it's "Gumster".

    • @tito_zz9217
      @tito_zz9217 3 года назад +180

      W H A T

    • @Jojozilla426
      @Jojozilla426 3 года назад +17

      @@tito_zz9217 indeed

    • @jasonlee3247
      @jasonlee3247 3 года назад +43

      The name comes from football fans’ exasperation:- “god Manchester United are on tele again!”

    • @timpattenden8915
      @timpattenden8915 3 года назад +70

      I live next to Godmanchester and trust me no one has ever pronounced it Gumster. It’s either pronounced “God Manchester’ or ‘Goodman-Chester” by locals

    • @garycalvert2195
      @garycalvert2195 3 года назад +16

      Having worked there most people call it God -Manchester not gumster did you know there is a stately home on the Main Street through!

  • @BreninyGeifr
    @BreninyGeifr Год назад +1

    Strictly speaking, Aberystwyth these days is at the estuary of the Rheidol, not the Ystwyth. The castle is Aberystwyth but the modern town is slightly north of there, around the mouth of the Rheidol

  • @brunabcloss9469
    @brunabcloss9469 Год назад

    Amazing content!

  • @hunnyboi67
    @hunnyboi67 3 года назад +957

    Looks like Jay's just started his fourth year at Hogwarts

    • @ala0284
      @ala0284 3 года назад +107

      “Harry potter and the year no-one got a haircut”

    • @iaw7406
      @iaw7406 3 года назад +3

      I wonder if he is related to daniel radcliffe.

    • @AlecWindmiller
      @AlecWindmiller 3 года назад +1

      @@iaw7406 no

    • @iaw7406
      @iaw7406 3 года назад +2

      @@AlecWindmiller they have a similar ethnic background and they do look similar so its unlikely but still possible that they are related.

    • @MephLeo
      @MephLeo 3 года назад +10

      @@iaw7406 Everyone is related to everyone else if you go back long enough.

  • @zommy5re77
    @zommy5re77 3 года назад +317

    2:35 , sandwich is a town near me, and fun fact there is also a place called ham nearby. there is coincidentally a sign half way between the 2 that says 'ham sandwich' on it, and is also the most stolen sign in england

    • @Ravenesque
      @Ravenesque 3 года назад +29

      I thought that honour belonged to the village of Penistone? (penn-is-ton) t
      the sign is now a literal piece of granite

    • @4oursword
      @4oursword 3 года назад +8

      @@Ravenesque There's loads of Penistone signs and most don't get stolen - basically because there's fuck all there, aside from the name to laugh at! Source: used to live there, still find it funny.

    • @millomweb
      @millomweb 3 года назад +4

      Is 'Lost' in Scotland ? I believe hat was/is famous for losing signs.

    • @nicholasalexander4743
      @nicholasalexander4743 3 года назад +4

      @@millomweb ...As is 'Fanny Street', in Saltaire.

    • @millomweb
      @millomweb 3 года назад

      @@nicholasalexander4743 Titus' daughter ?

  • @danyael777
    @danyael777 4 месяца назад

    One of the videos of all time.
    Street survey/Portsmouth had me rolling on the floor.^^

  • @christinashelby6083
    @christinashelby6083 Год назад

    We live near Washington D.C., and I have aways gotten a kick out of some of the stops on the Metro--Taneytown is pronounced Tawneytown, and Grosvenor is Groves-ner.

  • @hueynsoe7586
    @hueynsoe7586 3 года назад +596

    The city of Gotham is so corrupt, only goatman could save them all.

    • @shredcycles2003
      @shredcycles2003 3 года назад +23

      I live 5 mins from there, it’s in Nottingham, and btw we see goatman on a daily basis I honestly don’t know what we would do without him

    • @Randomizer903
      @Randomizer903 3 года назад +11

      Did-- did you just make a HermitCraft reference?

    • @k4four615
      @k4four615 3 года назад +4

      Doc.

    • @azuredragonofnether5433
      @azuredragonofnether5433 3 года назад +1

      You goatme. XD

    • @sian2513
      @sian2513 3 года назад +3

      The buses there have the batman symbol on them, just to add to the confusion 😂

  • @nathancreek6086
    @nathancreek6086 3 года назад +740

    I feel like the people who conducted that Frome survey weren't asking people to pronounce Trottiscliffe (Troz-ley) because that has got to be the most confusing nonsensical one there is

    • @Forestgravy90
      @Forestgravy90 3 года назад +44

      That simply needs to change

    • @millomweb
      @millomweb 3 года назад +33

      Happisburgh, anyone ?

    • @HeidiLandRover
      @HeidiLandRover 3 года назад +4

      @@millomweb Yes, one of my fovourites too :-D

    • @vincentmoon9187
      @vincentmoon9187 3 года назад +45

      Sitting here cackling at how ridiculous that is. I thought Milngavie was bad ("Mill-guy")

    • @millomweb
      @millomweb 3 года назад +7

      @@vincentmoon9187 Not 'mull guy' ?

  • @SonikkuTheMetal
    @SonikkuTheMetal 8 месяцев назад +2

    "Mispronounce Frome for me" "Portsmouth" "That'll do!"
    "Er this is disgusting! Oh sorry, Berkhamsted."
    very funny

  • @kevinbell6601
    @kevinbell6601 5 месяцев назад

    Brilliant vid! Thank you. If you do a follow-up, have a go at Ulgham, near Morpeth, Northumberland. I have no idea of the logic or reasoning, but it is pronounced Uffam, meaning (apparantly) the place of the cuckoos.
    I also heard of a tourist in Hexham, Northumberland, asking for directions to a nearby village called Anick - pronounced locally as Ay-nick, but he asked for directions to 'Annic' and was sent to Alnwick, 20 miles away!

  • @tjhc2397
    @tjhc2397 3 года назад +74

    "Which was sensibly renamed Braintree" is the perfect explanation for a perfect name.

  • @Saber_Lover
    @Saber_Lover 3 года назад +156

    I swear they added another "map" in the intro.

    • @harleyokeefe5193
      @harleyokeefe5193 3 года назад +18

      The do it a lot, watch season 1 of map men and they do little variations on the intro all the time

    • @phelpysan
      @phelpysan 3 года назад

      And removed a man

  • @mariacreager7117
    @mariacreager7117 Год назад

    Yes, I remember Alnwick! I lived there for half a year! Here in Australia where I am now similar situation with names…. 😀😀😀

  • @unneccry2222
    @unneccry2222 Год назад +2

    6:51 only Jay Foreman can break the fourth wall to make the story more believable

  • @gohanssj48
    @gohanssj48 3 года назад +388

    "But contains nonsensical phonetic traps that is impossible to predict." Wait, doesn't this applies to ALL the english language?!

    • @gotioify
      @gotioify 3 года назад +11

      Yes

    • @pauliedoodle1939
      @pauliedoodle1939 3 года назад +9

      Unless it’s US English. They altered the written English language to get rid of all the historical letters that are their for no reason and changed spellings so they are more phonetic. The only smart thing the Yanks ever did. Lol

    • @siratshi455
      @siratshi455 3 года назад +41

      Anles it's US Inglish. Dhey altered the riten Inglish længwaj tü get rid of ol dhe historical lettas that ar dher for now rizon end cheynjәd spelings sow they ar mor fonetic. Dhe onli smart thing dhe Yanks ever did. Lol.
      So, remind me, wæt Americans did?

    • @_blank-_
      @_blank-_ 3 года назад +35

      @@pauliedoodle1939 No, they just turned -ise into -ize, colour into color, centre into center. The rest of the language is still a confusing mess.

    • @stuckupcurlyguy
      @stuckupcurlyguy 3 года назад +27

      @@pauliedoodle1939 lol they changed like five things and kept the rest ridiculous. All that was achieved is that there are now TWO standard versions of written English to memorise.

  • @SportyMabamba
    @SportyMabamba 3 года назад +244

    In MK (Milton Keynes for Americans and other Aliens) we have Woughton, Loughton and Broughton.
    Pronounced “Woof-ton”, “L-ow-ton” and “B-roar-ton”
    The town is only 50-ish years old but the villages who donated their names to districts range from Domesday Book onwards.

    • @danpreston564
      @danpreston564 3 года назад +10

      Famously (to us in MK, at least) all the standard ways of saying those words. Weirdly, I couldn’t imagine any of those being said differently. Woughton is obviously Woofton. Loughton is obviously Lowton.

    • @gurrrn1102
      @gurrrn1102 3 года назад +7

      /ˈləʊtən/ or /ˈlaʊtən/ though?

    • @danpreston564
      @danpreston564 3 года назад +5

      @@gurrrn1102 its ow! Like you’ve been punched in the nose.

    • @torspedia
      @torspedia 3 года назад +9

      Just to confuse it even more, with Loughton, as a Cockney speaker I'd pronounce it... Lau'en, lol.

    • @TheMajorpickle01
      @TheMajorpickle01 3 года назад +4

      Fellow MK'er, Everyone I know hates how we say buckinghamshire, or phonetically, buckunamsher

  • @gerardsiasat4299
    @gerardsiasat4299 Год назад

    Love your humor!

  • @AshleyxVlogs
    @AshleyxVlogs 11 месяцев назад +1

    So glad RUclips recommended this to me, you guys are so funny.

  • @richardsmith2370
    @richardsmith2370 3 года назад +620

    Just to add extra confusion. Aberystwyth is actually located at the mouth of the River Rheidol and the mouth of the Ystwyth is located just outside of the town in a place called Tan-y-Bwlch.

    • @richardsmith2370
      @richardsmith2370 3 года назад +17

      @@thatotherted3555 when I first moved to Aberystwyth I thought it meant Pass of Fire and thought “wow that’s exciting.” One place around there I’ve never understood the meaning of is “Cnwch Coch” pronounced “CNOOCK CORK” with rhaspy Ks like in scouse. I know Coch is Welsh for Red, but never got to the bottom of what a Cnwch was, even after speaking to local fluent welsh speakers.

    • @eleanorcawte532
      @eleanorcawte532 3 года назад +18

      @@richardsmith2370 interesting! I don't know any Welsh at all, but I just looked up cnwch as it reminded me of the Irish/Gaeilge word for hill, cnoc. According to wiktionary both descend from the proto-celtic 'knokkos' (hill). Cnocc in old Irish also would mean lump/swelling apparently, and a 'Wales Online' article says cnwch is a word for swell. So cnwch coch means red hill/swell/mound? :) all the best!

    • @richardsmith2370
      @richardsmith2370 3 года назад +6

      @@eleanorcawte532 thanks for the info. That kind of makes sense, thinking of where the village is located.

    • @IndigoJo
      @IndigoJo 3 года назад +9

      @@richardsmith2370 There's a part of Aberystwyth called Buarth Mawr (I lived there for my second year at uni, it's basically between the railway line and the A44) and I was told that it meant big hill. When I mentioned that the dictionary said 'buarth' meant yard, they told me, "no, that's a Northwalian thing".

    • @richardsmith2370
      @richardsmith2370 3 года назад +8

      @@IndigoJo yes the difference between northwalian and southwalian dialects can be very confusing. I speak southwalian but I would say hill is “Bryn” in southwalian and Buarth is a enclosed space like a courtyard, walled garden or school yard. However Aberystwyth, being where it is, on the north-south divide does through out some welsh curveballs. I know a Farm near there called Troedrhiwlwba. Troed and Rhiw would come together to mean “foot of the hill” so I guessed the hill was called “Lwba hill” but the farmer who’s family has farmed there since the year dot said, “No! Lwba means middle-sized” so it means “Foot of the middle sized hill”. However, to this day I’ve never come across the word anywhere else.