To pronounce this street correctly

[wherethestreetshaveasillyname]

I just moved into small business premises locally and people have been asking for the address.

Now the street shares the name with a North American location that’s semi well-known in the UK - to avoid outing myself, let’s call it Illinois Street (it’s similar).

But every time I pronounce it (ill-ih-NOY street), I get blank looks. Then, when I describe the location, I get “ah you mean ill-ih-nwahh street!” and a raised ‘are you a bit stupid’ eyebrow.

What should I do?

A)keep saying it correctly

B) say it like everyone else seems to- but then look weird when I encounter someone who says it correctly

C) do as I am currently and long-windedly doing and say “oh it’s on Illinois Street, or, ill-i-nwa street as people seem to pronounce it round here.

(this is life-and-death and not at all lighthearted btw)

I've got in-laws who live a few miles from Wrotham, and they pronounce it "Root'um".

And they take the piss out of me because I don't pronounce Chislehurst like Chizzlerst. Two syllables, and the H is silent apparently.

I don't know actually. Most people seem to say 'Wer-berg'. How should it be pronounced?

I believe it is Wer-buh - like Herbert but without the "T" on the end.
Not wer-berg
Or wer-borough

I grew up near Chester and I've always said 'Saint Werburg' - but that's just my guess!

I think in Tewkesbury Abbey there's a chapel or a tomb of St Sexburgha. Now that's a memorable name! 😂

IKEA was always Ick-ay-ah. It’s only in the UK, and now the US, where it’s Eye-key-uh.

And of course then there is..................

PRIMARK!

I live in Reading in Berkshire, can you imagine what would happen OP if you moved here and started saying you have moved to Reeding in Burkshire?

Use the local pronunciation!

It's like that in a town near where I live. Beaumont crescent.
I say bow mont.
Locals say byew mont.

Chiddingly follows that pattern, and I now wonder if Ansty does, too. I've always managed to avoid saying it aloud, as I've never been sure.

I've lived in Sussex for 34 years and only found out recently that I've been mispronouncing Horsted Keynes. It's Canes, apparently, not Keynes, as in that well-known economist, Milton.

I always snigger at Hugh Sexey and Robert Grosseteste - both of whom have schools named after them.

I don't know which would be worse for a name: Sexy Hugh or Bobby Big Balls

The latter has a university now.

My Mum moved to a small town in her county after living in the city. They pronounced Grosvenor Road phonetically and laughed at her without the s pronunciation

🤣

My mother in law's maiden name was Beaumont and she always pronounced it Byew-mont.

Lewes in Sussex has a road that is called "School Hill" by everyone who lives there, but it's shown on all maps as "High Street". Confuses the life out of non-residents.

And American visitors always pronounce Lewes as "Loos", but it's Lewis.

I used to go to school on a street universally known by a different name to the one on the map. Confuses everyone.

I always called Prudhoe prud-hoe. Laughed at by locals, still can't call it prudda cause my accent is different and sounds ridiculous.... id say try call it as the locals unless saying it you sound like you're taking the mick

@MNersSufferFromContextomy , Alnick in Northumberland is Annick.

If you mean Bishop Grosseteste it has just changed its name to Lincoln Bishop which seems a shame.

If it shares its name with a place in the US then it would have probably originated in the UK so the English way is correct.

Re. mispronouncing Welsh place names, there are layers and layers to this.

I live in an area that had few Welsh speakers for most of the 20th century, leading to many local placenames becoming somewhat morphed into anglicised pronunciation and spelling.

More recently there are a fair few Welsh-speakers in the area again, and they try to pronounce the written local placenames using Welsh language pronunciation rules, but sometimes the letters they're trying to read are monoglot anglophones' attempts to represent the original Welsh name, and the Welsh speakers' efforts just move the sounds even further from anything that makes sense.

Sometimes there are letter combinations in the written names, reflecting established local pronunciation of the names, that just don't exist in Welsh, like the -ine ending (pronounced the English way, ʌɪn as in pine), then all bets are off!!

I think you have to go with local convention otherwise you just sound off to other locals.

As a kid we briefly lived in a place where the sports centre was called Tryst.
To my Grandad's regular annoyance it was pronounced by everyone locally as Try-Est. Rather than tryst.

Solihull used to be pronounced Soh-li-HULL by natives and SOLLY-hull by everyone else. The old pronunciation has completely disappeared, even my 90 yr old great aunt who has lived there all her life calls it SOLLY-hull now.

Gotcha! I live and learn! Thank you.

Ironically, someone working in the area explicitly told me it was pronounced "Anook", but I guess they only occasionly worked there and were not a local. It's a bit like Chinese whispers isn't it?

There's a lot of disinformation out there, lol!

Strictly speaking they are both correct pronunciations. Nevertheless you should be pronouncing it as the locals pronounce it. @wherethestreetshaveasillyname you are definitively not the only correct person. What on earth makes you think you are???