Having commented yesterday on the people of Norfolk setting little traps for the unwary tourist (which I witnessed being set off today on the bus as a passenger asked for a ticket to Hunstanton and was told "do you mean Husten",) I was reminded that the same thing happens down in Cornwall.
The sleepy fishing harbour should be spelt Mouzell if it were written as it’s pronounced. So how it became Mousehole (other than a particularly spectacular bet) is a mystery.
Showing posts with label Placenames. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Placenames. Show all posts
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
And how are you spelling that...
The people of Norfolk have a trick up their sleeves.
They’ve kept their powder dry whilst the Welsh have gone all out to advertise it.
The trick - that their place names are spelt nothing like they are pronounced.
With Welsh, you know you’re not going to be able to pronounce it correctly. With Norfolk you walk straight into the trap without realising.
Lets face it, Hunstanton looks like it should be Hun-stan-ton. Wymondham looks like it should by Wy-mond-ham.
So how the hell do you get Hunsten from Hunstanton and Windem from Wymondham?
They’ve kept their powder dry whilst the Welsh have gone all out to advertise it.
The trick - that their place names are spelt nothing like they are pronounced.
With Welsh, you know you’re not going to be able to pronounce it correctly. With Norfolk you walk straight into the trap without realising.
Lets face it, Hunstanton looks like it should be Hun-stan-ton. Wymondham looks like it should by Wy-mond-ham.
So how the hell do you get Hunsten from Hunstanton and Windem from Wymondham?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)