Dear dreh, Dear dreh, Dear dreh

[Toomanythalias]

Following on from the Call the Midwife thread. Jeeze it's not difficult to pronounce Deirdre correctly, but so many English people continue to insult our beautiful old Irish name with that ghastly Coronation Street pronunciation. It's Dear dreh, folks, not DEEER DREEE.

That’s because it’s not a particularly nice name in the first place (and it’s pronounced Dreary) 🤣

But of course, it’s only the English who mispronounce it…

That’s because it’s not a particularly nice name in the first place (and it’s pronounced Dreary) 🤣

But of course, it’s only the English who mispronounce it…

Ah fabulous. Something else The English can beat themselves over.

Go and get the birch twigs immediately English people!
🙄

As a child in the 60s I knew a girl called Deirdre (Dear -dree). This predates the Deirdre on Coronation Street and I didn't know there was any other way of saying it.

I also know a Karen pronounced Care-on. No Irish ancestry that I know of.

Am I the only person that didn't know it was an Irish name?

I didn't know as per my post above. I didn't know until yesterday.

The only Deirdre I know is actually from Ireland (Dublin area but definitely not a strong Dublin accent.')
Anyway, she says her name as Dear-dra. A definite 'ah' sound, with a short 'a' but not quite 'uh'.
Which I like much more than Dear-dree or Deer-dreh. The latter sounds a bit wishy-washy.

Also Scottish people, who all pronounce it Dear-dreich.

That's a good description of how we say it!

I'm one, and have hated my name, no one can spell or pronounce it. I can't work out the difference in how you've typed it OP.

I'm Scottish and note that Irish tend to pronounce it Dur drey, whereas I'm definitely a deer drey.

Found it strange to have my name said last night

My attempt at tracing my family tree hit a dead end with my grandfather who came over from Ireland. His literacy wasn't the best, and he attempted to anglicise his surname to a common first name but spelt it wrong. We were left with a surname that leads to people either correcting it to the normal spelling pr just asking "Are you sure?"
Of course I'm bloody sure, I know my own name!

Deirdre is a massively naff name however you pronounce it 🤷‍♀️.

The Irish don't pronounce it Dur drey at al! Maybe people in the North? But generally no.

Not in Ireland !

I'm Irish had a friend Deirdre at school. Teacher called her Der dra, she used to go mad ...my name is Dear dree !!!! Each to their own. 😆

Obviously most countries 'import' names, which eventually just become normal names in that country. Expecting them to retain the authentic original pronunciation is absurd and unrealistic. All names came from somewhere, usually from somewhere with a different accent than yours.

Maybe not, but everywhere else it's a kind of joke name.

It's a tricksy one if you're not familiar with Welsh pronunciation, a Welsh Ll is a bit like the 'clu' in clutch, very similar tip of the tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth but also saying an aitch at the same time. Expel the air around the tongue rather than from the diaphragm.

If that makes sense...

I'm loving how people are happy to say this name is awful and a joke!

@Chickenkeev ok I'll just tell the Irish people I know who pronounce like that that they must come from the north (and they don't)!
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Well fire ahead if you want, but that's not how it's pronounced 🫤

Lots of Irish people say it like this. But it's a short a as you say, not emphasised. In my Irish accent Dear-dra and Dear-dreh sound very alike, almost the same.

forvo.com/word/deirdre/

Scandinavian names are changed all the time when said in English. Even H.C. Andersen is pronounced similar to Ho. Say. Ana-sen in Danish which he was. It happens all the time. Can't get worked up over it.

To be fair, since the Ll sound doesn’t exist in English, it’s forgivable to not be always pronounce it right. Butchering names like Rhys/Rhiannon/Rhian, not so much. And don’t get me started on Seren…