The correct pronunciation of some London place names are totally unguessable. They may be obvious to Brits but can be baffling to everyone else. Certain well-known London addresses can be famously difficult for foreign visitors to articulate properly. Leicester and Grosvenor Squares are classic instances. Here’s a list to ensure you are going to the place you actually mean:
- Arnos Grove: AR-noss grove
- Berkeley Square: BARK-lee square
- Bermondsey: BER-mən-(d)zee
- Beauchamp Place: BEE-chəm place
- Borough: BURRa
- Bow: To rhyme with go
- Brondesbury: BRONDZ- bəry
- Buckingham Palace: Like almost every place name ending in ‘ham’, the ‘h’ is silent
- Chiswick: CHIZ- ik
- Clapham: CLAP- əm
- Clerkenwell: CLARK- ən- well
- Cockfosters: yes, exactly as it looks
- Dalston: DAWL- stən
- Deptford: DEPT- fəd
- Dulwich: DULL- itch
- Euston: YOO- stən
- Feltham: FEL- təm
- Fulham: FULL- əm
- Greenwich: GREN- itch or GREN- idge
- Grosvenor Square: GRO- vənə square
- Holborn: Usually HO- bən, though some articulate the ‘l’
- Islington: IZ- ling- tən
- Leicester Square: LESS- tə square
- Lewisham: LUI- shəm
- Leyton: LAY- tən
- Maida Hill and Maida Vale: ‘made a hill’ and ‘made a vale’
- Marylebone: MA- ree- li-bən (Marrylibun) or MAR- lee- bən
- Ruislip: RICE- lip
- St Pancras: sənt PANK- rəss
- Savile Row: SAV- əll row
- Southwark: SUTH- ək
- Streatham: STRET- əm
- Spitalfields: Originally ‘hospital fields’. Easy now?
- Surrey Quays: SURR- ee keys
- Thames: temz
- Theobalds Road: Apparently, TIB- aulds is strictly correct, but everyone pronounces it as it looks
- Tottenham: TOT- ənəm (the same applies to Tottenham Court Road)
- Twickenham: TWIK- ənəm
- Vauxhall: VOX- hall
- Walthamstow: WALL- thəm- stoh
- Warwick Avenue: WORR- ick AV- in- nyu
- Woolwich: WOOL- itch
Stressed syllables are capitalised
A rotated ‘e’ (ə) indicates a schwa – the indeterminate vowel sound
With a little help from Hidden London http://hidden-london.com/miscellany/pronunciation/
photo credit: London 2013 Underground Piccadilly Circus Wembley Waterloo Station Tower Bridge Eye Bakerstreet Sherlock Holmes via photopin (license)
