To think that many Mumsnetters despise regional accents and dialects?

Same. Masters in Voice and I’ve still had people patronise me on this thread.

Only on Mumsnet.

@AlcoholicAntibiotic

The pp had already said the problem was the r and that she had a rhotic accent. This was before she gave the example of Ox-ford vs Ox-fud, so it was reasonably clear I think.

I have been shouted down because I pronouncd R in words and told that I'm wrong, however much I defend the fact that it's a regional variation.

I speak with a rhotic accent.

I wasn’t reading it as a rhotic / non rhotic issue. I read it as someone saying Ox-ford (with or without the rhotic r), which isn’t correct, vs the closer pronunciation Ox-furd (with or without the rhotic r)

Is English not your first language @PleasantPedant? Is that why you learnt to pronounce words from dictionaries? That is admirable.

PP said she’d been shouted down for pronouncing the r in words. The example she gave was that she was corrected for saying Ox-ford instead of Ox-fud. It was fairly clear the problem was her rhotic accent and not emphasis in this case (imho). (I probably had an advantage too, as I recognised her username as that of a Scottish poster.)

@Jellyandpeaches , I learnt how to pronounce English words (e.g. miscellaneous : /ˌmɪsəˈɫeɪniəs/ ) from dictionaries. If I couldn't make sense of it, I'd look up words I was already familiar with that might have the same sounds.

For Amalia, I might also look up Amelia and Mali.

With the Oxford example, I couldn't tell if the pp was saying Ox Ford or OX-ford or Ox-furd.

The IPA that link gives you is ( Oxford : /ˈɑksfɝd/ )
The stress is on Ox. The 2nd syllable rhymes with third ( third : /ˈθɝd/ )

Ox Ford would be /ˈɑks/ /ˈfɔɹd/.

I wouldn't quibble about the rhotic R, that's accent.

I can’t read IPA unfortunately.
I’m always meaning to learn, but at the moment I mostly just skip over it rather than look up the sounds unless I’m especially interested in a word.

I think PP’s problem with the place name was that the other person wouldn’t accept that Oxford would sound different when said in a rhotic accent.

I think, when it comes to names, the emphasis in the word should be as the locals say it, but I don’t think you should have to fake a non-rhotic accent if your natural accent is rhotic (or vice versa).
I think the person PP met couldn’t seem to accept that. At least that was my understanding of the issue.

I also pronounce the r in Oxford (and have no plans to stop) so maybe I’m biased 😁

The pronunciation threads are littered with posts like I say Amalia as Am-arl-ee-a but you can't figure out how they say it because it could be Amarl-EE-a or Am-ARL-ee-a, and if you have a rhotic accent you are puzzled by the R.
(see my volley with a pp about a place name)

The IPA is Amalia : /əˈmɑɫjə/ , which is much clearer.

@Jellyandpeaches , it's easily missed.

English to IPA Translator – International Phonetic Spelling Generator

Ah I see. Didn’t notice the difference in spelling in the first post, sorry.

@Jellyandpeaches , West-MORE-land. The former county is WEST-m'r-lund/WEST-muhlund.

They are Westmoreland and Westmorland respectively.

I always thought it was West-MORE-land. There’s a Westmoreland St in Dublin.
Which way does she say it?

@UnctuousUnicorns , ...Cumbernauld is pronounced exactly as it's spelled, ...
I was saying it as CUM-bern-auld not Cumbern-AULD.

cf Cumberland. I know someone with the surname Westmoreland but she doesn't say it like I'd say Westmorland.
West-MOR-land vs WEST-m'r-lund.

Yes

I love different dialects/accents! I find them so fascinating personally 😂
I have never encountered anyone who has given the impression they despise them either but maybe they’re just hiding it?
I grew up with a Scottish (Ayrshire) lodger, my maternal grandparents were from the West Indies, my paternal grandparents were French and our neighbours (we live in the Home Counties) when I was between 5-10 from Hull. I still now remember loving listening to them all speaking - I found it all so curious and wonderful. I suppose I still do.

Benny from Crossroads.

Yes.

My in-laws are all from Yorkshire and that phrase does sound odd when you hear it for the first few times if you're not used to it.

"What do they call her?"

"Her name, presumably."

AgnesMcDoo as pointed out a million times akready. Halloween may be a thing in the uk were you live but certainly not nationally.
As a bonus i have a birmingham accent. The no 1 contender for the most despised. Does anyone know why- the association always seems to be pigs and stupidity.

Sorry to ask, but does it mean ‘what’s her name?’

Every day is a school day. I didn't know that. It was always overshadowed by bonfire night here.

YANBU

Whenever there’s a show about Shannon Matthews going missing and they play the 999 call, any MN discussion has someone’s brain spinning about the dialects

the call handler, in a typical West Yorkshire dialect, asks “What they call her?”cue loads of MNers saying “I don’t understand? What who calls her?”

Its very boring

You really should replace British and UK in this context with English because Halloween is absolute a national event and appreciated in a significant part of Britain and the UK 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

The irony of course is that dropping the 'r' sound began in working-class communities in South East England but was later adopted as a fashionable way of speaking by the upper-class in the late 1700s / early 1800s. Now it's on its way to becoming the norm all across the country as regional accents are in decline, which probably means that the elite will adopt some other linguistic feature in order to continue to distinguish themselves from the rest of us plebs.

You're welcome.

My complaint was about names that they really shouldn't be getting wrong but seemed to consistently get wrong - something a bit like saying Sinn Féin as Sin Fawn. When you hear more than one person get it wrong in the same way, it looks like someone is advising them incorrectly.

Wow I didn't know that. Thanks!

@Arran2024 , @WellHardly , complain to the BBC.
Complaints | Contact the BBC.

Make a note of who said it, exactly when (date and time e.g. 27/02/26 08:10:37) they said it, and what programme (e.g. BBC1 Newsnight) it was on.
Explain why the pronunciation was wrong, give the correct one, and say why it matters.

I have done this a few times, and I didn't get fobbed off the last time.

Yes, it's the wrong emphasis that always annoys me with BBC mispronunciation of Irish placenames. The emphasis is on the last syllable of Donegal.