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How do you pronounce Shrewsbury?

(80 Posts)
Ceesnan Fri 04-Dec-15 09:28:04

An elderly aunt insists that it is ShrOWEsbury, but my brother, who lives near the town says it is ShrOOsbury. Interested to hear your opinions.

GranJan60 Sat 05-Dec-15 11:37:42

Was born there and family comes from there. We all say "Shrowsbury" but I have also heard some local people say the alternative.

MamaCaz Sat 05-Dec-15 11:58:43

Fortunately, I've never needed to say it! If I ever do, I think I will be tempted to slur that part of the word in such a way that the listener wouldn't be sure if I'd said shroo or shrow grin

gillybob Sat 05-Dec-15 12:28:02

I can't remember ever having the need to actually say "Shewsbury" but if I did ( I'm practicing now) it would be shoes -berry. hmm

westieyaya Sat 05-Dec-15 13:07:27

Beau champ or Beecham?

SueDoku Sat 05-Dec-15 15:54:48

I live near and say Shroosbury

grannylyn65 Sat 05-Dec-15 16:07:43

Shrow, went to boarding school there.

Fid Sat 05-Dec-15 16:39:33

I was brought up in nearby Bridgnorth and we always used to Shrow.
Nearer to me now, is Happisburgh... and there's only one way to say that....

LullyDully Sat 05-Dec-15 16:55:00

Shrowsbury I say but in midlands they say Shrewsbury....I think. What about scons or scownes?

jueperry Sat 05-Dec-15 17:17:05

I live in Shrewsbury and get annoyed when hearing it pronounced shroosbury or shrowsbury. Shrew shrew shrew! It's how it's spelt.

rosequartz Sat 05-Dec-15 17:56:50

Yes, but if that is the case then Leominster should be Lee-oh-minster
and here are a few more:

www.bbcamerica.com/shows//blog/2014/01/pronounce-deliberately-offputting-british-place-names

grin
Our sat nav always pronounces our home town incorrectly!

Ana Sat 05-Dec-15 17:59:49

jueperry, what's the difference between 'shroosbury' and 'shrewsbury'?

They're both 'oo' sounds to me! confused

Cosafina Sat 05-Dec-15 21:25:10

Oops, I always call it ShrOVEsbury confused

NotTooOld Sat 05-Dec-15 21:35:35

Shrows.

Bellanonna Sat 05-Dec-15 21:49:28

I actually thought it was Shrovesbury. I've always called it that.

Ana Sat 05-Dec-15 21:51:07

Eh? Why would anyone think it was pronounced with a 'v' in it...?

Bellanonna Sat 05-Dec-15 22:05:36

But why would you pronounce Stiffkey in Norfolk without the FFs? I can't remember the exact pronunciation but just that it's not as it looks

Ana Sat 05-Dec-15 22:10:44

But adding a consonant is a bit different. There are lots of UK place names that aren't pronounced as they're spelled but Shrewsbury usually only has two possible pronunciations.

Greyduster Sat 05-Dec-15 22:14:44

bellanonna I think it's pronounced 'Stewkey'. We had lunch in a pub there once, and the landlord told us!

Bellanonna Sat 05-Dec-15 22:15:20

Well, three now ( at least by two of us) smile

Bellanonna Sat 05-Dec-15 22:16:45

Yes, I remember now Greyduster. I learnt this on another thread courtesy of Granjura I believe.

Ana Sat 05-Dec-15 22:16:53

Barminess! tchgrin

Grandma2213 Sun 06-Dec-15 03:07:07

Both my parents were stationed at Shawbury in the RAF during the war and they pronounced it as Shrow ( rhyming with show). It was only later in life I heard it as Shrewsbury (shrew - small mammal). English place names are a pronunciation minefield.

We used to go for a curry in Kharmah in Walsall until I saw it written as Caldmore .

We live near a village called Euxton (only one letter away from Euston) pronounced Exton.confused

thatbags Sun 06-Dec-15 08:39:25

Apparently "Shropshire did not exist until the tenth century, when Alfred the Great and his successors divided the country into administrative shires (a word derived from the Anglo-Saxon scir, meaning sphere of office).... The first mention of the Anglo-Saxon shire of Scrobbescire or Shropshire is in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle when, in the year 1006, King Ethelred the Unready, pursued by the Danes, 'passed over the Thames into Scrobbes-byrig-scire'."

From the book Cadfael Country by Rob Talbot and Robin Whiteman.

smile

janepearce6 Sun 06-Dec-15 11:40:53

Defo - Shrowsbury!

rosequartz Sun 06-Dec-15 12:53:07

Then the most annoying one is Gillingham - this has to be Gill/Jill as in the name, definitely not gill as in a part of a fish
moleswife the train driver must have lost his way, as there is a Gillingham with a hard 'G' like the gill of a fish in Dorset grin
I worked with someone who came from there, and she was most emphatic about how it should be pronounced (with a Dorset accent!)