The place names you're pronouncing incorrectly
American visitors are known to ask for directions to “Lie-cesster Square” but even the best of us can mispronounce place names. Especially when the place in question is Łódź. This city, an industrial behemoth nicknamed “the Manchester of Poland” in the 19th century (but now a trendy settlement of street art and coffee shops) isn’t pronounced “Lods”. Of course not. It’s actually “Wodge”. Work that one out.
To help you avoid embarrassment overseas, Telegraph Travel has compiled a definitive guide to popular place name pronunciations. And some of them might surprise you.
Ely = ee-lee
Islay = eye-la
Wroclaw = Vrot-swaff
Basel = Barl
Reims = Rance
Shrewsbury = Shroo-sbury
Southall (London) = South-all
Southwell (Notts) = Suth-ull
Jerez = Hair-ess
Aarhus = Or-hoos
Holborn = Ho-bn
Phu Quoc = foo kwok
Beaulieu = bew-lee
Alnwick = Annick
Rzeszów = Jeh-shuff
Szczecin = Shcheh-cheen
Belvoir Castle = Beaver
Bury = Berry
Arkansas = Ark-an-saw
Des Moines = Dee Moyn
Stavanger = Stav-ang-yeh
Mahon = May-on
Xi'an = Shee-an
Llanelli = Kla-neth-lee
Mousehole = Mowzel
Lesotho = Luh-soo-too
Auch (France) = Osh
Glamis Castle = Glahms
Scone Palace = Skoon
Sylt (Germany) = Zoolt
Skiddaw = Skidder
Ile-de-Batz = Ill-dur-ba
Ljubljana = Loob-lee-aah-na
Ptuj (Slovenia) = Ptooey
Betws-y-coed = Betoos-a-koyd
Oaxaca = Waa-haa-kuh
Sitges = Seet-chehs
Gstaad = Shtahd
Timisoara = Timmy-shore-ah
Skopje = Skop-e-yay
Bequia = Beck-way
Osijek = Oss-ee-yek
Bydgoszcz = byd-goscht
Beaconsfield = Beck-ons-field
Chiswick = Chizzik
Tbilisi = Tib-lease-e
Plaistow = Plaah-stoh
Olsztyn = Ol-sh-tin
Erddig = Erthig
Debrecen = Deb-re-zen
Woolfardisworthy = Woolsery
Crest (France) = Kray
Do you disagree with any of our pronunciations? Which place names are you fed up with hearing pronounced wrong? Leave your comments below.
