Insights agency Perspectus Global recently surveyed 2,000 British people about the mispronunciations they found most irritating.
Top came “pacifically” when they meant “specifically” followed by “probly” instead of “probably”. "Artick" for Arctic and "expresso" for espresso were also hated mispronunciations.
Here’s some local place names people keep saying all wrong.
Magdalen College
Wrong: Mag-duh-lin Right: Maud-lin.
College president Anthony Smith explained to the Oxford Mail in 1999: “In the late Middle Ages when this college was built she was a great saint and more churches and priories were dedicated to her than to Mary the Virgin.
"At that point the 'g in Magdalen' was not pronounced. The colleges were founded at roughly that time at the height of the cult of Mary Magdalen."
Cherwell
Is it CHER-wel or CHAR-wel – this one’s tricky, perhaps you’d like to let us know what the general consensus is.
Wrong: Bi-ses-ter Right: Bis-ter.
Listed as one of the most difficult to pronounce place names in the UK.
Thame
Just TAYM.
Worcester Street
More “sess” issues. Wrong: Wur-ses-ter. Right: Wuss-tah
Begbroke
Beg-BROOK not BROKE
Cogges
COGS
Cropredy
Crop-REDDY
Ewelme
YOU-Elm
Kingston Bagpuize
Kingston Bag-PWEEZ
River Thames
Wrong: The River Tems Right: The River Thaims
Not really. According to legend, the Thames was traditionally pronounced with its ‘h’ sound intact. However, when German-born King George I surveyed the river for the first time, he called it ‘The Tems’, being unable to pronounce his ‘th’ sounds.
As correcting the monarch was completely out of the question, everyone else followed suit, and it stuck.
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