Posted by Jim Shady at wmgate1.wmintl.co.uk on December 01, 2000 at 11:15:09:
In Reply to: No, THX is right... posted by Bickety-Bam on November 30, 2000 at 22:57:54:
: It's Woosta.
: Whista is like how the British would say it.
No, Brits pronounce it as "Woosta", and it's in the beautiful county of Worcestershire (pronounced "Woostasher").
It's also one of the staple gags when we take the piss out of how Americans pronounce some of our town and county names. I don't have an exhaustive list, but the best examples are:
Worcestershire: Brits say "Woostasher", Americans say "War Kest Er Shyer"
Gloucestershire: Brits say "Glostersher", Americans says "Glow Kest Er Shyer" (Glow rhyming with cow).
My own personal favourite is the town of Slough, where I used to live. It's pronounced to rhyme with Cow, but most foreigners pronounce it as Sluff. Anyway, I was at station with a friend, and this American couple walked up to us and said "Excuse us - we're looking for Slough (rhyming it with cow). My friend said to them "You're in Slough". They said "But the sign says Sluff". We tried to explain the difference in pronounciation, but they wouldn't believe us and actually got back on to their train. They probably ended up in Reading, and it serves them bloody well right, because I've got a very honest face and they didn't believe me.
I do have to say that none of the original spellings are instantly pronounceable unless you've seen them before, so we laugh more for the amusing interpretations than any perceived inability to read...
Jim Shady
"Kansas / Arkansas"