Say Featherstonehaugh

[vcs]

How would you pronounce it? 10 Internet points to whoever gets it right

 

[sledger]

Fan Shaw

innit

 

[vcs]

Yes

Might as well close the thread now.

English is a dumb language lol

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

What's the origin of the word?
And can you please use it in a sentence?

 

[Daemon]

https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-s...-get-its-completely-unintuitive-pronunciation

 

[vcs]

What's the origin of the word?
And can you please use it in a sentence?

Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge is a recurring character in P.G. Wodehouse novels.

It's a place, and apparently the bloke was named after that place.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

It's a place, and apparently the bloke was named after that place.

That is interesting. Must have been quite a character.

 

[BoyBrumby]

English is full of these, especially in place names and (generally) posh people's names.

It doesn't even register because I'm so used to it but if I didn't know "Leicester" is pronounced "Less-ter" or "Worcester" is "wuss-ter" there's small chance I would guess.

Although sometimes I think this is done just to annoy Americans. I once saw one of those ghastly "Americans try to pronounce English place names" videos on YouTube (I'm not proud, but I was bored) and the English bird who was laughing at her seppo chum reckoned "Godmanchester" (a little place about 20 miles from where I live) was pronounced "Gum-ster".

I can confirm it isn't; it's pronounced as it's spelt, "God-man-chester".

Even my home town confuses outsiders. How would non-UK readers say "Ely"?

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

. How would non-UK readers say "Ely"?

Lee?

 

[BoyBrumby]

Lee?

Close. It's (correctly) Ee-lee, but it the local accent it's usually rendered as "ear-lee".

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Close. It's (correctly) Ee-lee, but it the local accent it's usually rendered as "ear-lee".

Oh, how did an 'ear' got into the mix?

 

[Magrat Garlick]

not purely an England thing either, you wouldn't want to live on 12 Garioch Road in Finzean (12 Geary Road in Fingun, in any sensible orthography)

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Well, i have one here...

Over here, they call fish broth as 'fish braff'.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Oh, how did an 'ear' got into the mix?

Buggered if I know!

The fen accent is one of those dialects that lengthens and smooths certain vowel sounds.

Hard "e" and "ah" sounds both come out as something close to "ear". So in broad fen words like "beer" & "bear", and "year" and "yeah" are effectively indistinguishable to outsiders.

 

[fredfertang]

Buggered if I know!

The fen accent is one of those dialects that lengthens and smooths certain vowel sounds.

Hard "e" and "ah" sounds both come out as something close to "ear". So in broad fen words like "beer" & "bear", and "year" and "yeah" are effectively indistinguishable to outsiders.

As a fen dweller Brumbers are you able to confirm whether your kind are prone to deformed noses, or was that another of my Uncle Stan's silly stories?

 

[BoyBrumby]

As a fen dweller Brumbers are you able to confirm whether your kind are prone to deformed noses, or was that another of my Uncle Stan's silly stories?

Never heard that one, to be fair, but I am more than averagely gifted in the probocsis department, so maybe?