Speaking 'properly'

[Ali]

Mary Ann wrote:

> The (North) American way of pronouncing all the letters as you 
> mentioned, Karen, is a great way for me to drive my British ex 
> insane when he comes to visit the kids.  I can make him cringe 
> simply by pronouncing the local sidestreet Berkshire Lane "Burk-
> shire" instead of "Bark-sheer".  Ah, revenge is sweet. :D

Funnily enough, "Burkshire" used to be the local pronunciation of 
Berkshire. An elderly neighbour of mine used to pronounce it as "Burk" 
(or I would spell it as Berk)rather than "Bark" and always believed 
that "Bark" was the "posh" way of pronouncing it. In fact our slang 
word "berk" is derived from that old pronunciation when part of the 
phrase "Berkshire Hunt" - one of our rudest pieces of rhyming slang.

Now I would also look at people twice if they pronounced "Berkshire" 
as anything other than Barkshire. But then I also live in a town 
called "Reading" which is pronounced as "Redding" - apparently after 
people with Red hair invaded the area centuries and centuries ago. The 
current spelling makes no sense at all - unless you want to use it as 
a play on words with the verb "to read".

Ali

Summoning everyone to Accio in Reading, Berkshire, UK in July 2005 
http://www.accio.org.uk