To remind people about Wales' existence

[BeeInYourBonnet]

Just listening to any questions, and again all I've heard is Scotland, England, Scotland, England. Not one mention of Wales. I know the main focus is the Scotland/UK question, but Wales IS actually part of the UK!!!!! Unless I've missed something.

The whole election campaign has been the same, save for the odd patronising mention of Leanne Wood (normally in voxpops where the 'welsh' reveal they don't know who she is) and the constant mispronunciation of Plaid Cymru.

Yanbu

I live and work in Wales. For the sake of my sanity I will be working back in England as of September, and for the sake of my children's education and my family's health we will be moving back there in future.

I'm Welsh but am deeply concerned about what passes for best practice in Welsh secondary school. My mum has lived here for nearly 40 years but has had to return to England for cancer drugs.

How do you say heddlu? Is it something like hethly? I did think it was pronounced head-loo when I first saw Welsh police officers drafted into London for major public order events. I also didn't realise it was Welsh for police. I thought it was a constabulary in Wales. Sorry about that.

I can manage Plaid Cymru though.

So how do you say it? I'd say "plad come-ru" as I don't speak any more Welsh than hello (which I can't spell so I'm not typing it sorry!

Plaid rhymes with pride
Cymru is sort of like cum ree but the u sound is fuller.

The refusal to make the effort to pronounce Welsh words properly is some kind of ingrained anti Welsh arrogance.

This is a joke, right DuncanQuagmire? I assure you that's not the case with me and I guess that's the same with most English people.

I find it hard to to pronounce Irish words and my dad was Irish, albeit an English speaking one.

I have many feelings about him. Arrogance is not one of them.

Thanks, I'll remember that Giddy

It's hard to pronounce words properly if you don't have any idea about the phonics involved in a language.

There may be prejudice against Welsh people in England but the idea that English people routinely mispronounce Welsh words as a political act is fucking daft.

When people say brooshetta instead of broosketta in Pizza Express they're not being arrogant about Italians.

It's just that bruschetta looks like it should be pronounced like that to English-speakers.

I have Italian friends who cannot pronounce my name and pronounce DH's name, which is a saint's name of Celtic origin, in their way because a close variation is common in Italy.

They're not arrogant. They just can't do it. Just like I can't roll my Rs when I speak to them.

With my name, it's the unfamiliarity and combination of consonant and vowel sounds that they can't get their tongues round. With DH it's habit because a close variation is a common name in Italy.

Welsh people probably wouldn't have any problem with pronouncing either of our names btw. But if they did, I'd let it go.

Wales has had plenty of election coverage for a region with half the population of East Anglia. Leanne Wood's inclusion in the leaders' debates was ridiculous - her party had nothing to say to 95% of the audience.

YANBU but I think the reason is that the SNP were predicted to take many seats (which they did) and 56 bothers the big parties more than 3 seats does

To be fair, I mispronounce English words because I try to say them like they're welsh.

When visiting my ex in Liverpool every weekend I confused people for ages about the motorway services at Sand-barrch until I figured out that you lot say it Sand-batch

Now see, i'd pronounce Sandbach with the soft ch, like in loch

That's pretty much it rat speaker - I'm rubbish at phoenetically spelling Welsh pronunciations! It made sense to me - Bach is little/small so sand Bach - little sands. It sounds quite appealing!

Couldn't agree more OP. Wales and N Ireland no longer exist. We have disappeared. It's all "Scotland blah blah blah, England blah blah blah". The United Kingdom now consists of just England and Scotland apparently.

OP I sometime feel that most of the UK seems centred around London and the South East, they may some time acknowledge other cities lumping them as the North.
Other regions such as Wales, Cornwall, NI and Scotland seem to fall into " there be dragon country" or alright fir a holday or 2nd home but we wouldn't want to live there

Plenty of people have never heard of Plaid Cymru.

I have seen it written down but not heard it pronounced and so would probably pronounce it how it looks even though I'd be aware that there was probably an entirely different pronunciation in Wales.

Scotland,NI and Wales aren't regions though...they're countries.

Cornwal is actually just a region of England.

I was beginning to wonder if Wales had been cut loose and floated off into the Atlantic, and I'm not even Welsh.

I'm East Anglian and we are almost entirely invisible.

Nos dda pawb!

The politics of NI is very different to the rest of the UK. People often just don't understand the different sides, I've tried explaining it to my English DH and it goes in one ear and out the other.

Da even!

Nos da Lolimax :)

Can somebody explain why so many people in Wales are up in arms about the GE result when Labour still are in charge of the Welsh Assembly Government?

I know that WAG can only spend what Westminster gives to Wales, but I'm not convinced that a Labour government would be any more generous to the Welsh funding than the Conservatives.

Or have I got it all wrong?

Because of all the stuff that isn't devolved...also funding is related to spending in England.