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)

When I was a young adult I remember saying Arr-kan-zas until someone said “it’s Arr-Ken-saw!
god I felt stupid 😀

In Durham there’s Tudhoe and Coxhoe. Pronounced Tuda and Coxa, imagine the scenes when I unexpectedly landed in a secondary school there to teach having never heard of the place 2 hours earlier.

It would have to be 'A' for me!
How annoying! 🤷🏼‍♀️

This reminds me of a street in Paulsgrove, Bredenbury Crescent. I've worked in Herefordshire where it's a village and so say it breedun-brie, but in Paulsgrove they say Bread-n-berry.
I refused to mispronounce it but it sparked many a conversation!

😂😂😂, Chest-o-draws.

kim catteral from sex in the city went to Tudhoe as part of ‘who do you think you are’ as she had a bigamist relative who left a family there before nicking off to north america. not only was it amusing to see her try and make sense of this off shot of Spennymoor (or Spenny to locals) but her pronunciation of Tud - hoe was hilarious!

It's because the 'z' was not originally a 'z' but a squiggly letter like a cursive z, now lost, called a 'yoch' as in Loch. Maudlin and Keys are a mystery to me. Probably some undergrad ritual from the 15th century lol.

I caught the bus through Tudhoe, today 😂
Amazingly, it's pronounced correctly on the next stop announcements. Unlike my own street. And "Sea-ham" .

Eglwyswrw? 😁

Hi Dad!

Haha yes you’re right. In Dundee and we pronounce it BlackNESS road or avenue.
we also have a Dura Street, pronounced as Durie Street (or more like Jury street actually).
then there’s Menzieshill. Not Menzies Hill but pronounced Mean-is-hill. Which is confusing as the well known high street shop John Menzies was Men-zay, not Mean-is.
and don’t get me started on ‘eh’ll hae ah peah, a bridie, oh and an ingin ane an naw’ 😂

Many years ago there was a pub in Barnes called The Boileau Arms, locally known as the Boiler. The nearby bus stop was known by the same name, and in the days of variable bus fares where you had to say where you were going to you would have to ask for the Boiler - even further back, in the happy days of bus conductors, they would announce the stop as Boiler. However, as Barnes became more genteel, more and more people pronounced it "Bwahlow". It caused endless confusion.

that must have been a bus that went through Tudah Colliery past the school rather Tud - hoe village which can pass as quaite naice round The Green Tree and the cricket club 😉
Seaham has a language of its own being neither Durham or Sunderland.
its a lovely place though and we often go sea glass hunting and to the ice cream parlour on the front

Actually, we pronounce our Magdalene (with the extra E) College in Cambridge the same as you do in Oxford. Just sayin.

Nope but we do have a village with Eglwys in locally. It's Machynlleth. That CH sound in Welsh is tough, along with the LL. We locals just call it Mach (pronounced Mac).

Of “the Loop” fame. :)

I didn’t see that! I must have sounded exactly the same, just not half as glamorous. I only lived about about 10 mile away at the time, totally oblivious.

I am now imagining you being flown into school by helicopter in a supply teacher emergency.

I was actually pretty close but lived a shelter life in what must be classed as ‘over the border’. I actually flew there in a little citroen c2 that had broken electrics 😂

🤣

There’s a road in Cambridge called “Gwydir Street” - I’m Welsh (it’s a Welsh word) and so pronounce it gwid-eer.

The locals pronounce it Gwy-der or even worse Gwar-dia. I get funny looks, I’ve lived in Cambridge for 25 years but I’m still sticking to my guns 😂😂

Oh I don't know. Walter de la Mare once encountered a child who had written a story called A Bqlir Chesterdrores (A Peculiar Chest of Drawers) and called this, approvingly, spelling in the grand manner.

Pontefract, Daventry, Cirencester: once Pomfret, Daintree and Sissiter; now they are pronounced as they are spelt.

As an American, I can verify it's pronounced St. Lewis. Pronounce it the way the people who live there pronounce it as that is respectful, and if they ever visit here they will know. Or, if you prefer, we could pronounce it Great Britane, as that is how this word would be pronounced here if we didn't know better.
Kansas = can sess. Arkansas = r can saw

Not everybody in Daventry got the memo, about the spelling or pronunciation.