Les villes Frenchoise
This has mystified me for years...no, let's be honest...decades. Why do we (i.e. certainly me and I 'm sure a lot of others) pronounce 'Paris' to rhyme with 'Harris' (rather than 'Harry' with the emphasis on the second syll...oh, you know what I mean), when we seem quite able to pronounce nearly all the other French places the same way as the French?
( sponge monkey is knitting himself, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 14:26, 15 replies)

We do
But only in the gay sense
(the_icks has the sweet essence of giraffe, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 14:49, closed)

I think it's done to annoy the French.
Though we English are generally pretty good at making up our own names for places, some based on the native name and others just for historical reasons.
For some reason English people were incapable of saying things like "Munchen", "Dunaw", "Veen" and, oddly, "Doichland" and have to say "Munic", "Danube", Vienna" and "Germany".
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 14:50, closed)

Damn your eyes, sir...
...up until 14:49 today I only had the one place name to torment me!
( sponge monkey is knitting himself, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 14:59, closed)

There are a loads more.
Poland has Warszawa which we call "Warsaw" instead of "Varshava" and Łódź which we pronounce "Lodge" (or something) instead of "Wooch".
Then there are country names which are close like "Spain" for "Espanya" and "Austria" for "Oesterreich".
We do it with historical figures too though I can't think of any at present.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 15:12, closed)

see also:
florence (firenze)
( sleepybinky, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 14:59, closed)

Take David Ginola for instance. Is it 'David Ginola', 'David Ginola', 'David Ginola' or 'David Ginola'?????
(byevad Bored sig:, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 15:06, closed)

Isn't "Florence" closer to the Latin, though,
which is where English derived its pronunciation?

*checks*
Yup. The Romans called it "Florentia".
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 14 Oct 2011, 14:12, closed)

Have you ever heard a Northener prounouce 'Aldeburgh' correctly?
Or, conversely, a Southerner who reads 'Clitheroe' right first time?

We're rubbish with pronouncing place names. End of story. :P
(Sivvus trolley collision in the fruit aisle led to a jam, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 15:20, closed)

I live near 'Newcastle' whereas someone I know in London thinks I live near Noocarsuw.
(byevad Bored sig:, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 15:24, closed)

How do you pronounce "Clitheroe"?

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 19:46, closed)

See also:
Anything Welsh.
(Barry Chuckle's Moustache, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 15:24, closed)

Could be worse...
At least we can pronounce our own places properly - you should see what those Merkins do to "Pittsburgh" - IT'S PRONOUNCED PITTSBORO YOU DAFT CUNTS.
( Hunter Stockton was murdered by a bicycle wielding axolotl,.,.,.,., Thu 13 Oct 2011, 15:26, closed)

For one calling others daft cunts,
you're quite daft yourself. If it were pronounced Pittsboro, it would be spelled borough, or boro. Burgh is analogous to the burgs and bergs of Scandinavia, and would certainly not be pronounced in the way you seem to think it would.

Edit:On further reading seems there's another form of burgh which would explain your pronunciation. I'll choose to blame the Germans for the current pronunciation deviating from the likely original, with their influx into the area.
( Ithyphallophobia, Mon 17 Oct 2011, 1:21, closed)

Why do the French call London "Londres"?

( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 15:35, closed)

Try Reims
And talking of Florence, I met an American who failed to visit it, because he couldn't find it on the destination board at the station. Still managed to get to Venezia though...
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 16:19, closed)