Charing Cross Glasgow - how to pronounce?

[glasgowstations]

Help decide a bet…is it charr-ing or chair-ing cross?
Thanks!

@alexdgr8

These sorts of thread always descend into chaos because trying to accurately write down how something is spoken is a disaster unless you use the International Phonetic Alphabet. So everyone writes down an approximation of how something sounds, relative to how they pronounce it, then others can't hear the difference in the examples they gave 🤦🏼‍♀️

It's really a discussion to be had in person!

If you pronounce "for" and "four"/"fore" the same way you won't hear the difference. Some people pronounce The Forge shopping centre as in "four"/"fore" and some as in "for". The difference is the "o" sound. For some it's a short, sharp "oh" and for some it's a long sound almost like "ower". And then again an English person may well have a very subtle, if not non-existent "r" sound as well, depending on where they are from. See: fɔːʤ

I find these kinds of threads interesting and utterly infuriating in equal measure. They always end up the same way.

Precisely. Saying "they really don't" on a thread about regional pronunciation is People a mile down the road from each other barely sound the same across the UK. There is a huge variation.

😂😂😂

This is actually probably the best written approximation

Im Scottish, in Scotland.

are you saying Harrogate with a hah so bar is like bah?

as I say bar like b (like kids say it) r (like adults says it) and often it gets an extra ruh on the end.

ive never heard anyone rhyme bar with Harrogate, at least that i can remember. Hence the confusion.

are you saying Harrogate with a hah so bar is like bah?

as I say bar like b (like kids say it) r (like adults says it) and often it gets an extra ruh on the end.

I can't make head nor tail of this tbh.

If you're not local just say Char-ing. As in the London one.

I only said they really don’t. As others were using similar phrasing, so I was just matching it, plus I think it was quite late so I’m not gonna be bloody reviewing my words and going oh that phrasing is a wee bit too absolute, I should change it to something less absolute. It’s not really high on my list of things to do at more reasonable hours tbh.

Like Carl and girl. But without the L on the end.

It makes sense to me, and tbf I can’t really make head nor tail of how you are pronouncing it 😂

Like Carl and girl. But without the L on the end.

Car & Gir? How does that relate to Charing Cross, Harrogate, or the how a child/adult says something (that bit I really don't understand)

It makes sense to me, and tbf I can’t really make head nor tail of how you are pronouncing it 😂

Well Car and Har sound the same.

The London one is Cha (as in chat) - ring, not Char (as in car)

Love this thread!

This thread is wild because people who are not from Glasgow or not Scottish pop in with wee gems like "The London one is Cha (as in chat) - ring, not Char (as in car)" and everyone in Scotland is scratching their heads thinking that the "a" sound in chat and car are exactly the same. Because we say "car" not "caaaaaaaaaahr".

I can't understand why anyone would pronounce Charing and Charing differently, it makes no sense to me. I get that someone with a different accent might pronounce it differently to me, but for someone to say the one in London sounds different to the one in Glasgow, really is wild

Sounds the same though 🙄

🤣

Born and living in Scotland and I really don’t think that the a in chat and car sound the same.
Cha-ring sounds like chat (what I would say)
Charr-ing Cross would be like car.

However, I do now, as others have mentioned it, having some vague recollection the first time I was in Glasgow of Charing Cross not being pronounced the same as in London and finding that very strange. Could have been chair-ing cross but I don’t remember now.

I always say Charring cross but my mum who was born and bred in Glasgow always said Chairing and she wasn't posh.

They're the same

@JackJarvisEsq
The Clansman would be aghast at all these Chair - ing and chaaar types 🤣

Chair-ing makes me think of my old grandma (glaswegian).
I've always said Char-ing!
Has it changed over time?

It’s not that wild- names and pronunciations change over time.

Birmingham used to be pronounced Brumigen ( possibly spelt differently too)

Marylebone is another one where the pronunciation has changed over time