WHY ARE BRITISH PLACE NAMES SO HARD TO PRONOUNCE?

Beaulieu. Yes, that’s the name of a place. No, it’s not in France or another French speaking country, it’s in Britain. Just like the towns of Frome, Rampisham and Alnwick.

It seems as if the British took inspiration from all over the world as well as their own indigenous languages like Welsh, Scottish and Gaelic when it came to name their cities, towns and villages.

Even the Vikings made an impression on the naming of places when they invaded Britain back in the ninth century. You can tell a place was named by the Vikings if it ends in ‘thwaite’, ‘thorp’, ‘kirk’ or ‘by’.

And it’s confusing the hell out of tourists.

You know that sauce that you love but can never pronounce the name of? Yes, it originated from a county in England called Worcestershire. Another English name that’s pretty hard to pronounce.

While the letters might look the same, it doesn’t necessarily mean the words are pronounced the same. Take the city of Berkhamstead in Hertfordshire for example. While ‘Berk’ is pronounced like twerk, ‘Hert’ is pronounced like heart. Confused much?

Watch Jay Foreman’s video below for more hard to pronounce British place names that you’re probably pronouncing wrong anyway.

Image credit: Conde Nast Traveler