Pronouncing Local Names On Air

Local radio is made up of a number of different local aspects - stories, views, geographical knowledge, etc. Well, at least that's what it's supposed to be and most stations do it.

However, one issue that comes up from time to time is pronouncing place names. It can make you stick out like a sore thumb if you get a name obviously wrong. However, with a lot of names there's even some disagreement between the locals.

Take the example of Crossford, a village near Dunfermline. Is it crossf-OAR-d or crossf-OR-d? I'm more likely to pronounce it OAR, but that's due to going to school in the Dunfermline area.

My personal point of view is local place names should be pronounced properly if possible (be prepared to see "flem" on pronunciation sheets in Scotland!) otherwise phonetically.

As an exercise - why not try to figure out these Scottish place names that are occasionally mispronounced on air:

Kirkcaldy

East Wemyss

Scone

Falkirk

Broughty Ferry

And the answers (from my personal knowledge, may be wrong, etc.):

Kirkcaldy - Kirk-aw-dy

East Wemyss - East Weems

Auchtermuchty - As spelt but "ch" is as per the Scottish loch

Scone - Skoon

Falkirk - Fall-kirk

Broughty Ferry - Br-aw-ty Ferry

Feel free to add your viewpoint or pronunciations you see wrong all the time in the comments section.

Raisin Weekend

Ah, it's almost upon us - one of the strangest traditions I've ever seen. It maily consists of academic families getting drunk and finishes with  the children having a foam fight in the quad. It's another one of these uni traditions I don't get invloved in. However, the people I live with have academic children this year so I' ve got no choice.

Let's just hope they don't make too much of a mess!