10 Strange British Place Names

Visiting Britain this year? You may come across some place names and wonder how on earth they are pronounced. Let’s see if we can help, here are ten popular destinations that often cause problems:

1. Reading

This place name doesn’t sound like the verb ‘reading’. Instead, it’s like the past tense of read /red/ with an ‘-ing’ attached:

/ˈredɪŋ/

2. The Thames

The River Thames causes a lot of confusion. It should be pronounced /temz/ not /θeɪmz/!

/ðə temz/

3. Bournemouth

Unlike the body part, the ending ‘mouth’ is weak and therefore uses the schwa sound /ə/! The ‘bourne’ bit sounds just like ‘born’:

/ˈbɔːnməθ/

4. Leicester

Bizarrely, the ‘cester’ part of this word usually sounds like /stə/:

/ˈlestə/

5. Norwich

This East Anglia town does not follow normal ‘or’ rules and the ‘wich’ ending sounds like ‘itch’:

/ˈnɒrɪtʃ/

6. London

One of the most talked about place names in the world. Neither of the ‘o’s is pronounced with rounded lips. The first ‘o’ /ʌ/ is different to the second ‘o’, which is an unstressed schwa sound /ə/:

/ˈlʌndən/

7. Warwick

Near to where Shakespeare was born, the second ‘w’ in this word is silent:

/ˈwɒrɪk/

8. Birmingham

In the USA, this place name has the sound ‘ham’ in it, but in the UK, it doesn’t. It doesn’t have the /r/ or /g/ sounds either!

/ˈbɜ:mɪŋəm/

9. Edinburgh

Most Brits struggle with this place name too! The /n/ assimilates before /b/ to become /m/ and ‘burgh’ is said weakly as /brə/:

/ˈedɪmbrə/

10. Cambridge

This lovely university town is often mispronounced. The ‘cam’ in this word is not /kæm/ but /keɪm/:

/ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒ/

Did we miss any? Post them in comments below and we’ll reply with their pronunciation.[ssba]