The 20 UK place names that are hardest to pronounce – and how to say them

A common complaint from students learning English is that baffling spellings often have little to do with the word's pronunciation. And there are many words that even fluent English speakers struggle to get their tongue around – including towns, cities and landmarks across the country.

From Bicester in Oxfordshire and Ruislip in London to Rampisham in Dorset and Godmanchester in Cambridgeshire, the UK is a "veritable minefield of mispronunciation", says the Daily Mail.

"Thanks to foreign invasions throughout history, these settlers have left their mark on the language by giving and amending place names up and down the country," says the newspaper.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Sean Sutherland, a senior lecturer in English language and linguistics at the University of Westminster, notes that there are silent letters "sprinkled throughout English words" and one letter can have multiple pronunciations depending on where it is placed and in which word.

Reading the names of places in Wales can be equally confusing, with the "Ll" sound one of the language's famous eccentricities.

Luckily, Citybase Apartments has a handy infographic that lists all 20 of the UK's most commonly mispronounced names to help avoid embarrassment when travelling around the country.

Have You Been Pronouncing These 20 British Place Names Incorrectly? – An infographic by the team at Citybase Apartments