...has been changed yet again. I wasn't aware that that many people made such a mistake. Curiously, I've been seeing Kozue's name being misspelled more times than Worcester's. (On the other hand, I haven't the faintest idea how to pronounce "Worcester." There was an old thread on that topic somewhere in the archives, IIRC...)

--Firefly

Searching for new sig, please wait...

>...has been changed yet again. I wasn't aware that that many people
>made such a mistake. Curiously, I've been seeing Kozue's name being
>misspelled more times than Worcester's. (On the other hand, I haven't
>the faintest idea how to pronounce "Worcester." There was an old
>thread on that topic somewhere in the archives, IIRC...)
>
>--Firefly
>
>Searching for new sig, please wait...

I think it rhymes with "rooster" - although how the it manages that with that spelling, I haven't a clue.

Regards,
Jeanne

http://www.jhedge.com
Anime/Manga Forum: http://go.compuserve.com/Anime

>I think it rhymes with "rooster" - although how the it manages that
>with that spelling, I haven't a clue.

It does. Here's what I found on a quick Google jaunt.

http://www.worcestermass.com/pronounce/index.shtml

Ebony the Black Dragon
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com

(who has more than enough experience on how languages are screwy, thank you very much)

>I think it rhymes with "rooster" - although how the it manages that
>with that spelling, I haven't a clue.

I miss Florida with simple, easy to pronounce cities like Umatilla, Howie-in-the-Hills (my 2nd favorite), Okahumpka, Sopchoppy, and my personal favorite, Yeehaw Junction.

	Chad Collier J. Random Pixel Pusher Digital Domain RCW #1138 A 'Where in the hell is Yeehaw Junction' bumper sticker would certainly confuse the locals...

LAST EDITED ON 01-22-03 AT 06:46 PM (EST)
 
>(On the other hand, I haven't
>the faintest idea how to pronounce "Worcester."

WUSS'ter, first syllable rhymes with... well, "wuss". Second syllable often rendered "tah" in the local dialect, but not always.

I'm not sure how the English city's name is pronounced; I would suspect the "orce" has a longer "oo" sound, as in "rooster", but the US city's name is not pronounced this way, at least not by its own residents.

(Note, however, that there is a city in eastern Massachusetts, Woburn, whose name is pronounced with that sound - "WOO'bun".)

That's a good point about Kozue, though. It's just that the Worcester thing has been going on for a lot longer than Kozue's been one of my players...

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>(On the other hand, I haven't
>>the faintest idea how to pronounce "Worcester."
>
>WUSS'ter, first syllable rhymes with... well, "wuss". Second syllable
>often rendered "tah" in the local dialect, but not always.
>
>I'm not sure how the English city's name is pronounced; I would
>suspect the "orce" has a longer "oo" sound, as in "rooster", but the
>US city's name is not pronounced this way, at least not by its
>own residents.

The English have a long tradition of names that are spelled very differently than how they're pronounced. The Worcester, England is pronounced WUSS'teh. They also have a Leicester, pronounced LESS'teh, Gloucester, pronounced GLUSS'teh, and other such wonders of the English language. Most cities and towns in the New England area (except Vermont) have analogues in England that have a similarly odd pronounciation (real original types, those Pilgrims... much like the Tomodachika :) )

-Z this language brought to you by the letters H and U and the number 5

Rabid Crack Turtle 3.14159
---
Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion.

>The English have a long tradition of names that are spelled very
>differently than how they're pronounced.
> They also have a Leicester, pronounced LESS'teh,

I've heard the British town (or at least the square in London) as LEES-ter.
The town just west of Worcester (aka Wormtown) is Less-ter/teh.

On a side note, it's become a reflexive action for me to correct everyone that calls me on the phone as to the pronunciation of a town in which I've lived for... dear Gods Above and Below, between 25 and 26 years now.

On another side note, happy number 32 to me...

-- pf

>>The English have a long tradition of names that are spelled very
>>differently than how they're pronounced.
>> They also have a Leicester, pronounced LESS'teh,
>
>I've heard the British town (or at least the square in London) as
>LEES-ter.

It's probably just an accent difference... as long as you don't call it LIE'kes'ter or LIE'sess'ter, you're probably close enough :)

>On another side note, happy number 32 to me...

Well happy #32 to you, then... :)

-Z

Rabid Crack Turtle 3.14159
---
Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion.

>WUSS'ter, first syllable rhymes with... well, "wuss". Second syllable
>often rendered "tah" in the local dialect, but not always.

The people born and raised in Worcester and who never learned how to pronounce certain letters call the city WIS-ta, the first part sort of rhyming with piss. They tend to drop their "r"s differently than people from Boston; it's a slightly different accent. No, not all of the people in Massachusetts drop their "r"s, so when I tell you I'm from near Worcester, I say WUS-ter. There's also a place in Ohio? called Wooster, but I think that is also pronounced the same as Worcester. Not completely sure about that though.

Elaine

>(On the other hand, I haven't
>the faintest idea how to pronounce "Worcester." There was an old
>thread on that topic somewhere in the archives, IIRC...)

As Massachussetts is one of the markets I get a lot of calls from at work, here's what I can tell you about Mass city name pronunciations:

Worcester: Woost[er|ah] (depending on how Bostonian the speaker is)
Leicester: Lester
Leominster: Lemonster (as in, the fruit, with a "-ster" on the end)
Quincy: Quinzee
Peabody: Peebiddy
Woburn: Wooban
Haverhill: Havril
Waltham: Walth-ham
Hawthorne: Horthon (that's the best I can do to render how the Boston accent destroys that city name)

Those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.

I could also mention a few of the other interesting place names I know of by way of my job (Florida's got a few doozies, like Thonotosassa and Immokalee, for instance), but nobody mangles pronunciations quite like Massachussetters (and Bostonians in particular). (It's to the point where I've had callers from Mass confused about spelling or city names by their own accents -- sorta like a Southerner having to specify "ink pen," since "pen" and "pin" are pronounced the same in Southern.)

-- Sean --
Rabid Crack Weasel #42
"All tribal myths are true, for a given value of 'true'." -- Terry Pratchett
Drelau Productions
The Broken Link

>Haverhill: Havril

That's because it's Have-rhill, not Haver-hill as you (and I) would expect.

The same kind of syllable-isation (ouch) caught me in trying to pronounce "Hadapasar" (don't bother). I thought it was "HUD-uh PUH-sur", but it's actually "HUD-upsur".

--
Satya.

>Those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
>
My personal favorite - Medford: Mefed

Offsides

I have looked into the abyss, and the abyss looked also back into me.
Neither of us liked what we saw.
EPU RCW #π
#include <stdsig.h>

>>Those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
>>
>My personal favorite - Medford: Mefed
>
>Offsides
>

Also, MED-fuh... sometimes with a final, almost-silent d...

-- pf

>My personal favorite - Medford: Mefed

Also "Meffa". (Says the former resident.)

	Juniper Rampaging Karateka Crypto-Kwavu'b Contributing Editor Eyrie Productions, Unlimited Because why be ordinary in your choice of hobbies?