Anyone live in Bicester?

[schmunk]

Why?

Because Bicester ≠ Byyyy-sester

(also, Birmingham ≠ Birming-Hayyyum)

[smtkr]

Because Bicester ≠ Byyyy-sester

(also, Birmingham ≠ Birming-Hayyyum)

You must be thinking of the South.

[schmunk]

You must be thinking of the South.

It's all the same, isn't it?

[Stoo]

Happisburgh owns everyone that's never been there or at least lived in the general area too..

[Konan555]

Happisburgh = Hays-bro

Wymondham = win-dum

Costessey = cossy

Biscter was a bit of a nasty place when I walked through it a few years ago on a Saturday night. Had an air of Slough depression about it. Although things picked up when I got a free burger. They also have the fastest taxi driver in the universe working there.

I'd be more informative, but I wasn't very lucid.

[Kaine (AoD)]

It's all the same, isn't it?

lmao, i use to think that.. but scarily enough if you listed very closely just about every state talks differently, it may only be a small difference but its still there ^ ^ and to all Americans is a massive different

Its like saying I talk with a Scottish accent (i dont btw )

[shelley bda]

Happisburgh = Hays-bro

Wymondham = win-dum

Costessey = cossy.

I used to live in Norwich and it took me ages to get to grips with the place names around that area

[Lee H]

Happisburgh = Hays-bro

Wymondham = win-dum

Costessey = cossy

... Is that how they are pronounced ?

Crazy how names of towns are spelt in relation to their spelling. I bet the only places you folks have issues saying is welsh town names

[Konan555]

Loughborough anyone?

I do wonder if an australian would make that Looga-Barooga

[shelley bda]

Crazy how names of towns are spelt in relation to their spelling. I bet the only places you folks have issues saying is welsh town names

Try this Welsh name

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a Village in North Wales, on Anglesey, i used to go there when i was little with my Dad, he liked to to go Sea fishing in Anglesey

I can pronounce most Welsh names... not that one, that's just Llanfairpwll - Lan-fair-fwil to me

[schmunk]

Try this Welsh name

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a Village in North Wales, on Anglesey, i used to go there when i was little with my Dad, he liked to to go Sea fishing in Anglesey

I can pronounce most Welsh names... not that one, that's just Llanfairpwll - Lan-fair-fwil to me

Chlanfair Pee Gee - that's how the postal name is pronounced...

[Lee H]

Try this Welsh name

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a Village in North Wales, on Anglesey, i used to go there when i was little with my Dad, he liked to to go Sea fishing in Anglesey

I can pronounce most Welsh names... not that one, that's just Llanfairpwll - Lan-fair-fwil to me

*makes a noise akin to clearing his throat*.....

Nah... not even gonna try

[Deevo]

Thought I would chip in my 2 cents on the Bicester thing, as it seems quite interesting and people keep mentioning it.

Officially it seems to be "bista" this is how the people who live there say it, and this is what is considered as the English way to say it.

What I find interesting is that with research, it appears it should technically be pronounced "bi-sester", and I will explain why.

The reason for why the town has this name is that it means "2 forts", in almost all other town names the "cester" part means near a fort or a fort, as on Wikipedia and other sources, it says it as " from Latin Bi-cester to mean "The 2 forts". ".

Now the "Bi" part is referring to the fact there were "2 forts" in this area, and as it is Latin, should be pronounced as Bye, as in the BI in bicycle, or bipolar, or binoculars, BI meaning 2.
Still with me?

So the obvious question is this - why the town was called this, and you get the question when was it built, and are there 2 forts nearby, and there were 2 forts near it according to official sources, and it was built in Saxon times near a Roman settlement so it seems likely that the name has Latin origins.

Now there are other explanations for the meaning of the name for Bicester, such as from a family who lived there, and so on, but from other towns we know that the "cester" part means "fort" in nearly all cases in the english language. The other suggested reasons for the name have very little factual reason or support and the date does not lend to them being the reason as per this.

This then suggests that what we have here is an evolved form of the correct pronunciation bi-sester into bista as it is easier to say. So when people such Edith Bowman on the radio read it as bi-sester they are in fact reading the Latin name in the correct fashion.

The evidence certainly suggests BI - Cester as in "2 Forts", and as it is BI as in 2, this would have to be spoken as in bicycle or bipolar and so on, meaning that the sound of the name could not have originally and should not technically (in terms of Latin) be spoken as Bista as this loses the meaning of the BI part as 2, it has to start with the BI sound making BI - Sesta the technically correct way for it to have been spoken.

I find this the most likely way that it was spoken from the 3 reasons, the fact that Cester means fort, the fact that Bi means two, the fact that the name would have Latin origins in this sense from the Roman population in the area. All of it points to that as correct, the other possible reasons have no supporting evidence and no strong reason in the english language to be correct either.

And I have yet to hear any evidence or factual reasons for it to be Bista, other than that is how it is now spoken by the locals.

Anyway that is what I got from looking into it.

[shaithis]

Try this Welsh name

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Funny thing about that place, is the English translation of the name is actually longer....

[b0redom]

Thought I would chip in my 2 cents on the Bicester thing, as it seems quite interesting and people keep mentioning it.

Well they did about 5 years ago.

Welcome to the forums though.