Worcestershire isn't that hard to pronounce, amirite?

Sure once you know the right pronunciation. Most people only see it in writing and don't know how Worcester is pronounced.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I, a person who goes to college in Worcester, MA, went to Worcester, Worcestershire, UK, and some of my classmates still couldn't pronounce Worcestershire correctly after a month.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Lmao. Sorry to hear you live in Worcester. I was tricked into moving there too!

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Disagree, Worcester is great!

by rigoberto96 9 months ago

Maybe it's more fun if you're on one of the campuses. I couldn't stand the place.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Or you could go off campus too? I lived there even after school, shocker! Lots of things to love about the city. Probably more difficult if you never leave the uni bubble.

by rigoberto96 9 months ago

I don't know how to help you then. I lived and worked in Springfield too, and Worcester is much better imo. Missed the small city vibe when I was in Boston. Maybe it's Mass in general you don't like. There are a ton of parks in Worcester, a great food scene not to mention all the diners, and a vibrant community with a ton of events.

by rigoberto96 9 months ago

Wooster, Ohio just spelling it like it is said. Nothing fancy.

by Educational-Scar4851 9 months ago

There are 4 notable things about Worcester: 1. It's proximity to Boston. 2. Conan was born there. 3. the drivers being so aggressive and unobservant that it feels like driving into a city triple its size. 4. The honest to God worst intersection I've seen in my entire life. I'm legitimately impressed by Kelley square. It should be viewed as America's leaning tower of Pisa.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

You actually forgot the sauce? Or do you not like it. Because I almost couldn't live without it. Sure there's other fish sauces and comparable stuff but nothing's quite as good.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I don't think there is one pronunciation. Like there are clearly wrong ones, but with accents it can sound fairly different and be right.

by connellyagustin 9 months ago

Obviously it's worchester🤣🤣

by Anonymous 9 months ago

It's not that it's hard to pronounce, it's that its pronunciation is ridiculous given its spelling.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Loogabaroog! Well that's how someone said it on the train. I just say luffburrow.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Loogabaroog That's hilarious luffburrow Is correct

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Almost, it's closer to ‘Luff-burra'. It's definitely not the ‘ow' sound in ‘burrow'

by Professional_Sir9264 9 months ago

I say luff burra but I'm from London and not posh.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

How do you say it? Is it luff bruh or luff burrah like in England?

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Mercedes. 3 e, none pronounced the same

by Jarroddibbert 9 months ago

Maybe, but almost every place with a ‘-cester' suffix in the UK is pronounced ‘-ster', and ‘shire' is either pronounced as it's spelled or ‘shur'. Once you've learned the convention you'll have the correct pronunciation in practically every case, whether you're in Worcester, Gloucester, Towcester, or Leicester. Cirencester is the only exception that I know of, where ‘cester' is pronounced as it's spelled.

by Professional_Sir9264 9 months ago

I know people who live in Gloucester County, Virginia who can pronounce the county name perfectly (with a twang admittedly) but yet cannot pronounce Worcestershire Admittedly, neither of them make sense. The "correct" pronunciation skips over entire segments of the word (like Wednesday) probably because of the British pronunciation slowly deviating from the actual word over the last thousand years

by Flimsy_Mortgage1179 9 months ago

Is it though? People just break the syllables in the wrong place. Worce-ster-shire.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

People break these syllables in the wrong place because that not how English spelling works in any context other than British town names. You also don't pronounce the r or the c. If it were spelled how it's actually pronounced, it would be Whustersure.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Worcestershire sauce is a great example of why English spelling is fundamentally dysfunctional

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Around here we call it wor-ces-ter-shire sauce which makes it a five syllable condiment.

by Eryn15 9 months ago

This is correct Wor-ses-ter-shire

by bmclaughlin 9 months ago

It really isn't.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Look, when you have Worcester, Manchester you can easily get confused.

by murphyzoie 9 months ago

Well, you do not pronounce it Worses-stir-shyre

by Janniemorissett 9 months ago

Pretty much, athough no s on the end of worce.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

In America it is pronounced wuh-ster-shur

by Janniemorissett 9 months ago

In my experience most Americans pronounce it wor-sester-shur. Your way is correct.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Saying it once you know how to say it isn't hard. Trying to read it phonetically when you don't know how it's pronounced is what's hard. It's one of those "trust me bro" words that does not sound the way you'd think it should. Wor-ces-ter-shire does not easily become War-stuh-sure (at least that's how we Australians pronounce it).

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Same with plaid: looks like it should be pronounced as "played".

by nicolasdaphnee 9 months ago

In Assassin's Creed Valhalla there is a side quest to help a man from ledecesterscire make his ledecesterscire sauce. The main character says something about that being a mouth full of a name. When he fails because it's gross he says something about heading to Worcester to try making it there.

by nienowsamara 9 months ago

It's pronounced wash your sister

by Rodriguezchrist 9 months ago

People from Worcester UK call it wus-ter-sher or just wus-ter sauce or Lee & Perrins.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

A coworker asked me how to pronounce Gloucestershire. He stared at me in disbelief when I pronounced it for him.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Glou stir

by Educational-Scar4851 9 months ago

Actually pronounced Glawstrr by Severn locals

by Anonymous 9 months ago

The way it's written is classic english not sounding like how it's spelt, it's practically a meme at this point

by Anonymous 9 months ago

It isn't though? Worce-ster-shire is how it's pronounced. (Shire becomes Shur in some British accents, admittedly).

by Anonymous 9 months ago

the rce: "are we a joke to you"

by Zboncaklyda 9 months ago

If you sound it out it's were-kes-ter-shire. That's very different from wus-ter-shur.

by Correct-Repeat 9 months ago

Laughs in Massachusetts

by corrinemarks 9 months ago

It's just fun to say geez guy

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I couldn't pronounce it because I've genuinely never heard anyone say it correctly thanks. I can say it now

by Mean_Regret_3820 9 months ago

Once you know, and practice it, sure, but most people I know who struggle (myself included most of my life), never heard a consistent pronunciation. And it isn't close to phonetic, so everyone seemed to say it differently.

by karson09 9 months ago

I say War-chester-shire as pronunciation has never been my forte. Plus it sounds cool.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Wash-your-sister-sauce has always been my go to intentional mispronunciation.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Were-chester-shi-ray

by rowenajerde 9 months ago

I say war-stir-shire. I think you have an extra syllable.

by Leuschkejoseph 9 months ago

Try adding a "chest" between War and Stir...you may like it! Gives the tongue an extra work out!

by Anonymous 9 months ago

It's wurrstehshurrshire

by HotGoose 9 months ago

Who tf doesn't know how to say Louisville?

by No-Spring5421 9 months ago

Me. Brit married to a Kentuckian. I would have pronounced it ‘Loo-ee-vil' as the French, not ‘Low-vul' as he does.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Kentuckians.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Lulvole

by Anonymous 9 months ago

As a native of Louisville, the way people pronounce it kill me.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Arkansas too

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Mizourah

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I'm partial to "wash your sister" sauce

by Anonymous 9 months ago

If thats how you pronounce it properly then Im extra confused.For me it always was war-tsester-shay-er (shire like the hobbit land) or something like that

by Rhianna02 9 months ago

The English language and the way it butchers words versus how they're written is pretty wild. Read literally, its something like "wor-sest-er-shire" but the UK influenced pronunciation is "wu-stuh-sure" which just skips over entire written components of the word. It reminds me of the word Wednesday, which at one point was Woden's Day, but is now spelled "wed-dnes-day", but pronounced "winds-day".

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Wen's day.

by No-Economy 9 months ago

When's dey?

by Anonymous 9 months ago

DAY-O ME SAY DAY-O (DAYLIGHT COME AND ME WANNA GO HOME!)

by No-Economy 9 months ago

WAR-CHESTER-SHIRE

by Anonymous 9 months ago

That's what I'm saying. I don't pronounce "croissant" like the French. Why would I pronounce this like the English?

by No-Economy 9 months ago

I don't think the popular opinion is that it's hard to pronounce. It's hard to know how it's pronounced because of the spelling. I only learned it because of Shrek the Third.

by rosalia54 9 months ago

I definitely feel like a lot of people purposely mispronounce it trying to be funny but it's so over done it just gets dull at this point.

by irwin68 9 months ago

Yea, it's pretty easy to pronounce Wor-chester-shire sauce

by Radiant_Roll_3031 9 months ago

I call it "that dub sauce"

by gabrielle93 9 months ago

It's because phonics, or sounding it out, doesn't work well with the word. It's an outlier. Now, if you don't read or never read, it's easy, right? You just hear it said and repeat it.

by Effective_Oil 9 months ago

Eh, not really an outlier. Bicester (bister), Leicester (lester) all follow the same sound rule.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

but I really don't think it's even something worth talking about ............

by One_Cry 9 months ago

Yeah, I've heard some people trying too hard to annunciate it. I once heard someone say, "Wash your sister sauce" damn near.

by mae16 9 months ago

There's a cooking channel that calls it "wash your sister sauce" and I love it

by Life_Tooth_5820 9 months ago

I only know the pronounciation because of Shrek 3. that movie was good for something after all

by Audrakessler 9 months ago

Also their sauce is delicious

by Cleobraun 9 months ago

It wasn't until I recently started watching peaky blinders with captions on that I realized 60% of the letters are silent.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

War-sest-er-shire

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Yes! It is so easy for my american ass to say. I don't get how it's difficult

by GuideHaunting668 9 months ago

It's not that it's not easy to pronounce. It's just fun to say it incorrectly.

by InitiativeContent 9 months ago

I just call it Lea & Perrins but I suppose that's a brand name

by deshawnkohler 9 months ago

War-chister-shire

by fernekoss 9 months ago

Woah woah, I'm seeing no Midwest Americans here. It's worse-tuh-sheer to us.

by Better-Investment 9 months ago

Worce-ster-shire

by Ornery-General845 9 months ago

My favourite British place name is Cholmondeley, pronounced.... Chum-lee Cholmondeley (/ˈtʃʌmli/ CHUM-lee)[1] is a civil parish in Cheshire, England,

by bodesabryna 9 months ago

Call-mon-del-ay. Idgaf how the Brits say it.

by No-Economy 9 months ago

I think part of it is that it doesn't like the way it sounds.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I had a friend in college who was from rural Alabama. He would pronounce it Wooster shester shire sauce with a thick country accent.

by Successful-Oven 9 months ago

WASH-YOUR-SISTER-SAUCE Ez.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

It's salsa inglesa and that's it

by Lorna68 9 months ago

Wuss ter shire

by Balistrerimarle 9 months ago

Happy British sauce.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I know how it's pronounced. I'm having fun. Life is short, mispronounce worsh-shish-shishter

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Once you can grasp it yeah. But just looking at it you're not gonna get it right the first time.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I actually figured this out on a recent trip to the UK. It's the same with Leicester (pronounced less-ster )or Gloucester (glau-ster).... the "ster" is kind of a suffix and then "shire" like the hobbit. So Worce is the root... I think back in olden times these words had more syllables but language evolving and slurring gives us what we got.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Shhre is pronounced hobbit-style on its own, but at the end of Gloucester or York it's definitely pronounced "sheer" or "shurr"

by Anonymous 9 months ago

We just call it wo-wo sauce.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Its pronunciation is unintuitive compared to spelling, so there's no reasonable expectation that those who have never heard it said correctly out loud should know how to pronounce it. Coupled with how many different ways people say it, with varying degrees of sarcasm, there's also not much reasonable expectation that one hearing the correct pronunciation immediately take it on faith that that is in fact the correct pronunciation. This is entirely a matter of exposure and consistency.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Woostershire is easier to remember for me

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Trying to properly pronounce this word is just, the worst.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

How do you see "shire" and say "Shr"

by adrianhartmann 9 months ago

"Wistuhshire" is how I've always said it, not too sure if it's correct though

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I don't give a. I'm gonna keep calling it: "wore-chest-er-shire." If you want me to pronounce is as "wuh-stuh-shure," remove some of those letters.

by No-Economy 9 months ago

Wooster-cester-shister-shyster-schuster-shuster-shister-shire... shire.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

War - Chester - Shire

by Golda68 9 months ago

Your pronunciation is wrong to me as well. I dont pronounce the R in shire, its just shuh Ultimately english has a large variance in pronunciation between dialects, as long as its three syllables imma be happy lmao

by Payton22 9 months ago

The only reason I know how to pronounce it properly is because of Shrek the Third

by pleuschke 9 months ago

If only everyone had the same accents...

by Character-Village 9 months ago

Worst ah shire

by Carmelokon 9 months ago

It's all logical. The "cester" comes from Roman as these were all old fort towns. Or named after British fort towns if not in the UK. It's a suffix added to another word, which leads to sibilancy in some cases, which is discordant and hard to say. So it's a pretty standard rule to drop the "ce" when there is a vowel beforehand to avoid the silibancy. So Gloucester (Glawster rather than Glawsester) Leicester (Lester rather than Lesester), Bicester (Bister rather than Bisister). It's the same reason why Hunstanton is pronounced Hunston: the two similar sounds become one. When there's an H involved (Manchester, Rochester) it's sounded because then you have two different sounds ch and s. And when there is a consonant involved rather than a vowel, eg Cirencester, it's also sounded because it breaks the word into two parts, Siren-cester (although to be fair, locals in Glos just call it "Ziren"). Far weirder pronunciations such as, eg, Beaulieu is Byewley, Cholmondley is Chumley, Slaithwaite is Slahwit, Aike is Yak... Most of these come from dialects or other languages which have been reinterpreted by locals. And Shire? I have no idea, except it's always "sheer" or "shur" at the end of a word (depending on your UK accent) and "Shiyr" on its own, as in "The Shire", or "Shire horse". My guess is most Shire counties have original accents that have an element of 'ooh-arr' to them, which fits the "shur" sound.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I haven't memorized how it's spelled (it's a ridiculous word), so how could I possibly say it?

by simonisdorris 9 months ago

Now do Edinburgh or Leicester or Louisville or Arkansas

by Anonymous 9 months ago

War chester shire

by Anonymous 9 months ago

lies.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

No it's not, once you're heard it. But why is it spelled like that? And don't tell me « because that's where it comes from » because, well, same question really. There is no reason to have all this extra letters in there.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I lived near a town in the US called Leicester. It's pronounced "les-ter" but it wasn't that uncommon to hear it pronounces "LEE-ces-ter". Utterly due to English being a terrible language to learn how to spell.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I assume with any British town name that all the consonants between the first letter and -st are silent.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Hard to pronounce after many drinks.

by brandizulauf 9 months ago

To make life easier for myself I pronounce it as "HP sauce"

by reese72 9 months ago

It's pronouncable, yea. It just isn't pronounced in a way that has ANYTHING to do with the spelling of it!

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Except the silent e is supposed to go at the end of the word. Not in the middle. There are exceptions, but it doesn't follow the rule. In most exceptions, you are adding a suffix that starts with a vowel (ex: manageable) so it still makes sense.

by Kitchen-Maize2173 9 months ago

At least in the US, the pronunciation is not phonetic. It would be broken up into these syllables: wor-cest-er-shire. It would be pronounced were-sest-er-shire. Four syllables instead of 3. The word makes zero phonetic sense. I say this as someone who has studied and has a basic understanding of phonics.

by Kitchen-Maize2173 9 months ago

War-Chester-Shur-shire-sure-rur-rir-rir sauce

by Anonymous 9 months ago

I will always pronounce it how it's spelled. War-sester-shire. Not a hard word to say tbh

by chasedaugherty 9 months ago

Worse-te-chester-shester-shire is the only acceptable pronunciation in my book.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Um no. It's pronounced "war-chester-shire" duh.

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Worcester should not be pronounced "wuh-stur" when it looks like "war-chester"

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Its a "funny" meme my friend

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Wash ur sister sauce- got it

by Anonymous 9 months ago

Mispronouncing Worcestershire on purpose is probably the least funny joke that almost everybody makes

by No-Spring5421 9 months ago

It's not the worst? er... sure.

by Acceptable-Delay 9 months ago

No, I'm pretty sure it's war-chester.

by New_Employment 8 months ago

Of course its wash-your-sister- sauce

by hueljoyce 8 months ago

8s that even the pronunciation? English people don't pronounce it that way at all.

by Sea_Youth 8 months ago