As Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano belches, the world's newscasters struggle to pronounce it (video)

New Zealand just smiles.

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Technically two double Ls, but the question is moot if you can’t pronounce even one pair.

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It’s a proper name pronounced “Smith’

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Amusingly, one of the most commonly mis-pronounced place names in England is “Frome”. At first sight everyone says Froam, but it’s actually Froom.

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Icelandic draws another card…

Vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúrslyklakippuhringurinn

(Okay, not a place name - more of a car crash of an entire sentence into one word)

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Easy-peasy:

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None of this is as difficult as the word “scone.”

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Burgh-by-Sands would be up there too, if anyone knew where it was. It’s where Edward I of England died and an alien visited, if that helps.

It’s pronounced Bruff-by-Sands.

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image

:thinking:

Party Soccer GIF by Coca-Cola

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After pronouncing that I have a need for a refreshing carbonated beverage. :wink:

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The big stone in the chair or the smaller stone-like baked good on the table?

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That’s rock cakes for both, Shirley?

Specifically, the little edible ones with the contentious jam/cream order debate.

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Now settled.

Never!

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I wonder how the world’s newscasters are doing with Gqeberha.

Rating time:
UK: 2/10 Barely even tried. Got to admire the conviction with which it was said though.
Italy: 9/10 Very good. Exactly what it would sound like if I tried to fake an Italian accent.
Japan 8/10 Nice try! Japanese speakers are at a serious disadvantage here especially with that last syllable.
France: 7/10 Fails to stick the landing. Extra points for trying again.

@Mindysan33 posted a good pronunciation video (this one has a different take on the trailing -ll), but maybe I can help break down why the spelling is such an eye-full

Eyjafjallajökull is a compound word, Eyja + fjella + jökull = Island + mountain + glacier. My understanding is that Icelandic always has the emphasis on the first syllable of the word, and on the first syllable of each…subword?..of a compound word. So that’s where the stress pattern of EH-ya-FYEH-tla-JO-kutl comes from.

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