- Bisester?
Bihsester?
I'm hoping it's Bisester.
And it's a town full of bisexuals.
(funky swing music)
- Hey, everybody, I'm Kelsey
and Buzzfeed UK has challenged me
to try to pronounce British town names.
- I've been to London a couple of times.
It's honestly one of my favorite places,
like, period, period.
- I studied abroad in London.
I've been to Scotland.
I really love the UK.
However, I make no promises
as to how I will perform in this challenge.
- I avoid giving speeches
just because I think I'm gonna screw up the words
so doing this in general is something
that I am not, not confident with.
I'm really nervous.
Okay, let's get started.
(playful music)
- Okay, so the first word
looks it is pronounced Glouchester,
like that's how I would pronounce it as an American.
- Oh, I should know this one.
Gloushire? (buzzer buzzes)
Gloushtire? (buzzer buzzes)
No.
- I feel like this is a trick.
It's definitely not Glockester.
- Gloukester? (buzzer buzzes)
No.
I'm so mad at me,
I'm already doing bad.
- Glou, Glouchester?
Why am I putting a C-H?
Glou...
(mutters)
Glousester,
Glousester?
- Gloucester?
Oh, Gloucester, I've heard of Gloucester before.
I don't know where it is.
- Pretty sure I actually know how to pronounce
because I went to Shakespeare Camp.
I was a very cool kid
and we did a production of "Richard III"
and Richard III was the Duke or Lord of Gloucester.
- Based on my assumption
of how British people would pronounce it, maybe Glester?
Let's see.
- [Narrator] Gloucester.
- Gloucester!
What?
- Okay, I was close.
Gloucester.
- Gloucester.
- [Narrator] Gloucester.
- Gloucester.
Well, great.
- Gloucester.
Gloucester.
Okay.
- Rooslip?
Rooslip?
- Oh my God.
This is a weird looking word.
(sputters) (buzzer buzzes)
My mouth can't even do it.
Royslip, Royslip.
I think it's pronounced Royslip.
I think I'm correct. (buzzer buzzess)
- Rooslip, Ruislip.
- Royslip, Royslip.
I'm going with Royslip
but it feels so weird saying.
- Rueslip?
Rooslip?
I'm gonna go with Rooslip.
- [Narrator] Ruislip.
- Ruislip.
Okay, huh?
- Why is the U in there?
There's so many other ways to say it
that is U is waste of a letter.
- I feel like the I
is kind of sneaking, you know?
But it wants to be here.
It wants to be present, it wants to be known.
It's sick of being overshadowed by that U
so, go off.
- Chis-wick.
I think I know this one.
Chis-wick.
- Chiss-wick.
Chiss-wick.
I'm not really sure how I can mess that up, chiss-wick,
so I think that's correct.
- Okay, this is either cheese-wick--
(buzzer buzzes) Chy-swick--
(buzzer buzzes) I'm gonna say Chy-swick--
(buzzer buzzes)
- It's pretty straightford, Chis-wick,
it literally can't be anything else
other than Chis-wick.
- [Narrator] Chiswick.
(chuckling)
I really thought it was gonna be Chy-swick.
- [Narrator] Chiswick.
- Chiswick.
So, we're just throwing the W's out the window
at this point?
- I know that people say that Americans dumb things down
and make them easier
like we took out the U for some certain words,
like, whatever, fine
but adding in a W
when it doesn't have anything to do with the word
is just a waste.
- This one literally looks like you head smashed
into a keyboard
and that was the town name.
- I can't even pronounce this.
- Aberis.
I think it's pronounced Aberis.
Aberistith.
I think it's Aberistith.
- Aberystwyth, that sounds like a town.
"Oh where are you from?"
"From Aberystwyth, mate."
I'm going with Aberystwyth.
- [Narrator] Aberystwyth.
- Oh, now y'all wanna bring back the W.
Aberystwyth.
- [Narrator] Aberystwyth.
- I was so close.
Whoa!
You know what?
Maybe I'm just better at the made-up ones.
- Okay, Aberystwyth.
It's a very pretty name.
I would never have guessed that.
- Bisester?
Bihsester?
I'm hoping it's Bi-cester and...
It's a town full of bisexuals.
- It looks like Bichester.
But I just think it's gonna be Byester.
Byester.
- Bikester.
I was bikester for a few years of my life.
Bikester, that's literally, it couldn't be,
Bi, I'm looking for the trick here
because I know there's going to be one.
- [Narrator] Bicester.
- Bis, what?
Bicester?
Bicester, really?
- Bicester?
Why is there the C-E?
More letters that are not necessary.
Waste of letters.
- Why put an I there if it's not gonna make an I sound?
That's all I'm saying
but you know what?
You guys do you.
- Following the C-E-S-T-E-R
that has been in the past,
I'm gonna say that this Worster.
I am not confident in this.
- It looks like Worchester
but I think it's gonna be Worcester, Worcester.
- So I've read this word a lot
because there's a sauce
that has this name in it.
I have never pronounced this out loud
because I have never known how to pronounce it
in America or England.
- Worcester.
Worcester, I don't know.
There's a sauce in America
that sounds like this name.
- It's not Worcestershire (buzzer buzzes)
which is another one I don't know how to say.
Worcestershire, it is the sauce!
This is how you say the sauce
which I don't know how to say.
This is Worcestershire sauce.
- [Narrator] Worcester.
- Worcester.
Oh, so this is not the sauce.
- When people were naming this,
was it like scrabble?
Where you get points for the more letters you use?
- [Narrator] Worcester.
- Worcester.
Okay, I think I pronounced mine a little harder
like Worster.
- High, oh, mm.
Well it looks like comb, like a hair comb.
- The first word is high,
I'm pretty sure that's how you say high
across the board.
The second word
looks like you would say Whycombe, Wycombe,
High Wycombe.
- High Whycombe.
I don't know, I'm just saying it in a British accent now,
maybe that'll give me an edge.
- [Narrator] High Wycombe.
- (gasps) I got it right!
Wycombe, High Wycombe.
I would name my dog that.
- Lowburrow.
Lowburrow? (buzzer buzzes)
Dammit.
- Lowborrow.
Looburrow.
Looburrow?
- Laubra?
Laubra?
- Labara, Labara.
I'm from Labara.
- [Narrator] Loughbourough.
- What?
Lough, what?
- [Narrator] Loughborough.
- Loughborough.
Loughbro.
- See, how, huh, it's not fair
that you take different rules
on the same letters in the same word.
Lough, brough, or low burrow, pick one
and stick with it.
- Loughborough.
I was close with the end though.
- Laubra. (buzzer buzzes)
This is just a game to you all, isn't it?
Just writing these town names.
I will admit there's a lot of American town names
that don't make sense too, so.
- Garoach, Garoach.
It looks like Garyoak, Garrick, I think it's Garrick.
- Garyo, Gary, I'm gonestly getting out of breath.
Geriatch, Geriatch, Geriatch
sounds the most like a town
out the 12 things I just said out loud, so.
- Gorrich, Gorrich.
Gorrich.
- Gareach?
I know I'm screwing this up, Garooch?
- [Narrator] Garioch.
- Garioch?
- No way.
It's not!
Can't be Garioch.
There's no E and there's no Y.
- [Narrator] Garioch.
- Garioch.
- [Narrator] Garioch.
- Garioch, like Gary?
- Kirkabrit.
It looks like Kurkoo, Kurkoobright.
I think pronunciation-wise, it's Kirkabrit.
Kirkabrit.
- I'm reading Kirkadbright, Kirkadbright.
That sounds like it could be a town, Kirkadbright,
Kirschright
Kirsh, Kirshight.
Kirshright, I'm going with Kirschright.
It's gonna be a trick so I'm going with Kirschbright.
- Using the pronunciation I've learned today,
I would go Kirkadbright, Kurkadbright,
Kirkkadbrit, Kirkadbrit.
- Kirk, Kirkudbright?
(chuckles)
- [Narrator] Kurkcudbright.
- Oh, God dammit, Kurkcudbright.
- Kurkcudbright.
Okay, I wasn't that far off.
Kirkcudbright.
I sound out so much, like Kirkudbright.
And it's like Kirkcudbright.
- [Narrator] Kirkcudbright.
- Kirkcudbright.
No, no.
That's not how it's.
I know this is how you pronounce it,
it's not how it should be pronounced.
Pronunciation's supposed to have rules.
- Well that was really difficult.
If I had to rate my performance
in terms of letter grades,
I definitely would have got an F.
- If I'm being generous, a D-.
I had a fun time, I love the UK
and would love to visit any of these places, probably.
- I did horribly.
I knew that there were gonna be some tricks.
I didn't know that they were gonna be making up sounds
and ignoring complete syllables
and adding in letters out of nowhere
and deleting letters
and pretending like they don't exist.
Those letters matter.
They exist, pronounce them.
- So many vowels and consonants
right next to each other with Ys.
- The biggest curve ball
was probably Garioch.
Garioch, Garioch.
What?
I feel like I learned a lot.
But I will say
I feel like there's no real across the board rule.
It's not like there are no Ws, you know?
Everything just kind of varies based on the town name
and I guess its history, so.
I don't know.
Thanks, Buzzfeed UK, that was fun.