Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
I suspect that people are used to hearing the flow of the sounds in the title of the popular UK TV show “Yes Minister”, this seems to have leached into the vocabulary of the station announcers on London Underground’s District Line branch. Several times I have heard the instruction for passangers to alight at “Westminister Station” when we have reached Westminster.
(For our international friends, Westmister is the home of UK central Government and the governing cabinet members often have the title “minister”)
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Oops! I think you typo-ed and meant “Westminster”. Here in the states, the mispronunciation (Westminister) is rampant. I live in Austin,Texas, and we have a street here by that name. Hardy anyone pronounces it right. Same goes with a neighboring street, “Gloucester”. It’s almost unanimously pronounced “GlouCHESTER”. This has been going on at least since I first had knowledge of the streets, wich was 22 years ago. Some of it, I believe, is because of the uniquely British names used. Yes, we all speak english, but that doesn’t preclude Britain from enjoying their own colloquialisms. Combine a longer than average word with a unique pronunciation and presto, lazy innovations! We have a city of Worcester, Mass., which is hard enough for us yanks to deal with, but you should hear what we do to “Worcestershire”, as in the sauce! It’s not pretty. My favorite is “what’s-this-here sauce”. It recognizes, er, recognises, our shortcomings and embraces them.
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Ohhhhh yes! I grew up in Massachusetts, which has lots of English placenames (not least “Boston”). I vividly remember hearing someone recite the nursery rhyme about Dr. Foster, which (in their version) was:
“Doctor Foster Went to Glou-chest-er In a shower of rain….”You’d think that the Foster/”Gloster” rhyme might cue them in, but no…..
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“Westminister” is a common error in Ireland, where we also have ministers, and we don’t have minsters. The Irish Independent’s sub-editor writing the headline for this news agency story [http://www.independent.ie/national-news/elections/adams-resigns-from-westminister-seat-2512403.html] couldn’t even copy-paste the word from the article.
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I don’t know, it could be worse.
BC Homestay ad Below are times for a variety of destinations: To 22nd Skytrain (New Westminutester)
Singles forum, London
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Hotel review
The view from the rooms was excellent. Proximity to Downtown New Westminutester was awesome.
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Then we decided to go to Westminceter and explore a bit. I’m getting better at navigating the Tube, and Westminceter was really beautiful!
Or Worseter:
Through my journey at Douglas College I have become aware of the importance of being a student with a voice that is well heard. This is my third year at the College and it will not be my last as of yet; I know the importance of not having an unbearable amount of course curriculum on one back and I will make sure that the work load is bearable and fair for that of students. I want to take the responsibility of voicing the concerns of students and through the decisions made and educational policies passed by the College Board. As your Newest Minster Campus representative for Education Council I will be sure to fulfill the following:
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Last edited by David Bird (2011-07-01 08:25:19)
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Another common mispronunciation you hear in the States is “Edinburg†(as if it were German) for “Edinburgh†(which should be pronounced “Edinburrowâ€). And we’re never quite certain whether the last syllable of “Glasgow†and “Moscow†should rhyme with “cow†or “go.â€
A lot of places in the US are named after places in Europe, but we often change the pronunciation; for example, Cairo, Illinois is pronounced “kay-ro.â€
I sense we have strayed off the topic of eggcorns, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
(Oops. The original Cairo is in Africa, not Europe.)
Last edited by Jim Dixon (2011-09-17 20:18:39)
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Jim Dixon wrote:
I sense we have strayed off the topic of eggcorns, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
And great eggcorns from little mispronunciations grow.
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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