# Wus-ter . . . or WOR-CESTER??!!!??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 1999, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199 "1999-12-02T22:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Drew\_17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@Drew\_17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_17)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/41 "1999-12-06T02:51:00Z")
\<\<“Peabody” is not “pea body” but “peebadee”\>\> Well Torq, in New Haven, our natural history museum vehemently disagrees with you. The town, as well as many establishments in the northeast, were named after not an English place but the industrialist Georgre Peabody (it was called Danvers when he grew up there, methinks) and at least at Yale, they pronounce it like two nouns. However, New Haven does happen to have a famous Italian neighborhood called, simply, Wooster Square. We just went the extra step. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/42 "1999-12-06T19:26:00Z")
Ohhhh I know the answer, sorta. At least the history of the word.A book I just bought yesterday at Gatwick airport ( I had a few extra pounds to lose :)) has paid off: Dictionary of English Place-Names. (by A.D. Mills) **Worchester** (starting names and dates) _Weogorna civitas 691 Wigranceastre 717 Wirecestre 1086 (as cited in the Doomsday book)_ “Roman town of the Weogora Tribe” Pre-english folk name possibly from a Celtic river name meaning winding river plus the Old english usage of _ceaster_ at the end of it. **Worchester** as we know it first referred to in the 11th century. And, for your edification, Lancastershire is pronounced Lanca-shire. ## I think the Brits do it to pick out the tourists. ( As if them constantly trying to drive on the right hand side of the road isn’t a clue enough.) The early bird gets the worm but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese. ---
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/43 "1999-12-06T19:37:00Z")
Well of COURSE people in New Haven think it should be pronounced “Pea-body”, that was more or less my point. EVERYONE thinks that, except those people that actually live in or near the town, who say “peebuhdee” and snicker under their breath at people who don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/44 "1999-12-06T21:28:00Z")
As someone who’s grown up in Worcester County, Massachusetts, I can tell you that ‘Worcester’ is pronounced (at least around here, anyway) as “Wis-ter” (rhyme it with ‘sister’). By the way, people here are laughing at David Letterman’s mispronounciation of ‘Leominster’ on his show the other night. He said it like “Leo-minster,” not like 'Lemon-ster" ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/45 "1999-12-06T22:45:00Z")
Shirley Ujest, Are you referring to Lanca-shire, which is pronounced Lanca-shire? (There is a town called Lancaster, but not a county.) But you American chappies are quite right to object to some of our spelling / pronounciation. I can only say: - these words come from a mixture of languages and have changed over time - there is only one Cholmondley, and no Featherstonehaugh in my regional telephone directory, so those sort of names are not a big problem. (However it is the LEICESTER area - oops!) - it is difficult to change well-known names or techniques. Consider the QWERTY keyboard, which I understand was DESIGNED to be inefficient. But all those ongoing typing courses make it hard to replace… - as the song has it: you say tomato, I say tomato! * * * In the bathtub of history, the truth is harder to hold than the soap… (Pratchett) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/46 "1999-12-06T23:09:00Z")
Stephe96 LEMSTER, pal, LEMSTER Shirley you don’t mean Worc **h** ester, you know - you really don’t… ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/47 "1999-12-07T20:50:00Z")
Hey, enough already. What’s the go with all the Brit-baiting? English-speakers the world over use words that don’t appear to have any logical connection between their spelling and pronunciation. I’m sure there are placenames in the US that are equally unlikely, so please give it a rest. PS Leicester (pron. Lester) is a medium sized city in the East Midlands - the tube station is Leicester Square (central London). Worcester is pronounced Wooster Worcestershire is pronounced Woostersher Berkshire is pronounced Barksher Other good ones… Cockburn - coburn (Scotland) Moray - murray (Scotland) Cholmondeley - chumlee (stereotyped posh person’s name) St John - sinjun (ditto) Milngavvie - mulg-aye (town in Scotland) Slough - slow (rhyming with “how” not “hoe”) - English town Edinburgh - pronounced “Edimbra” by the residents Ely - pronounced “Elee” (English town) Love, A London resident ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/48 "1999-12-07T20:52:00Z")
Shirley Ujest As far as I know there’s no major town called Worchester. There’s a Worcester and a Winchester, but not a Worchester (unless it’s some tiny village somewhere). And there’s no Lancastershire. The county is Lancashire, and there’s also a town called Lancaster (pronounced as written). ---
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/49 "1999-12-07T22:13:00Z")
Evidently the pronunciation of “Leominster” varies even locally in the area. I lived in Tyngsboro and Dracut, and on the (relatively rare) occasions when a native of one of those two places would refer to the town you could definitely hear the N. It wasn’t “Leminnnnnnnster,”, but it wasn’t “Lemster” either. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/50 "1999-12-07T22:59:00Z")
mattk, Struth mate, leave it out - you’re repeating some of my posts! ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 1999, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/51 "1999-12-08T06:18:00Z")
K, I’m from Beverly (bevalee) Mass, right next door to Peabody (Peebidy) Mass…Which, you’re right, broke off from Danvers (Dan-viz) Mass…which in turn broke off of Salem (kinda obvious, ain’t it? :)), Mass. Here you go. It’s Wistah. Simple as that. Baw-stin leminstah = Leominster fall rivah reveah = Revere kwinzee = Quincy Meffa = Medford ## But then, that’s just my $.02…hehe Truth does not change because it is, or is not, beleived by a majority of the people. -Giordano Bruno ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 1999, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/52 "1999-12-09T06:29:00Z")
Yep, those are the sounds of home! All you have to do is check any dictionary. But have you ever heard the accent from Pittsfield MA? Southern? Mountain? It’s like they moved up here en mass from TN or **worse**! You have to forgive them, they invented basketball out there. * * * Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&\* codes 'til I get 'em right. ---
**Author:** ![mojopitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@mojopitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojopitch)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/53 "2000-09-07T15:31:36Z")
Re: how Leominster is pronounced, Stephe96 is right. Having grown up in that area, everyone I know always refers to it as “Lemon-ster”. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/54 "2000-09-07T16:53:38Z")
Smiling Jaws: You have something there, with the Loew’s On-jay-leez thing turning into Law’s Anjelless. The key is in common usage. And also in how English spelling became standardized more or less before pronounciation was. I would suppose place names tend to stay with traditional pronounciations more than other words. As to common usage of Anglicised Spanish, I went to High School in a place everybody called “Saen Rawfell” of even “Sanurfell” …San Rafael, which ought to be pronounced in proper Castillian Spanish more like “Sahn RRRah-FI-ell”. And of course everyone knows Saen Fran-cizz-go, which should probably be done up more like Sahn Fron CEES coe. If an Anglo tries to do the “correct” Spanish, you know someone is putting on airs or is painfully politically correct. Either way, the first thing that pops into your head is “Y’all ain’t from around here, are you?” ---
**Author:** ![ChuckForbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@ChuckForbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChuckForbin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/55 "2000-09-07T18:06:23Z")
Wow - the timing on this is amazing. I will be moving to the Worcester MA area in the next month or two. I plan to fly out there (from Portland) at the end of this month to look for a house. My (ex) wife is buying a house near Southbridge (pronunciation? Im afraid to ask), so to be near the kids (but not her) I’d want to be with 20 miles or so. If anyone has any opinions about places to live (or _not live_) or good or bad parts of town, or anything that would help me in my quest, I’d be really happy to chat with you. My email is [jfm@unidial.com](mailto:jfm@unidial.com), and I’d be happy to call you for any ideas, and pay you back somehow for the help. Thanks Plenty ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/56 "2000-09-07T18:32:03Z")
Anyone from Rochester, NY knows some of the strange pronunciations of the surrounding communities. Rochester: Raa - chester as opposed to Rah-chester Charlotte: Shaw-lot as opposed to Shar-let Chili: Chi - li with long i sounds as opposed to the usual pronunciation of Chili Avon: A-von with an ‘a’ sound like in at in stead of a long ‘a’ sound. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/57 "2000-09-07T19:05:47Z")
Here in Maryland we have: Worchester County and Dorchester County. The spelling would make you think they rhyme, right? No. The first one is “Wus-ter”, the other is “Door-chester.” Whatever… ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/58 "2000-09-07T19:18:30Z")
I definitely intended to stay out of this and just watch the Merkins confusing each other, but… Well, just because it is the last post I saw, can I say to Tretiak that the Avon pronunciation is very clever, (more so than the English having a “River Avon” in fact) as it means “river” - in Scottish Gaelic “abheinn” and in Welsh “afon” although I don’t know the Irish Gaelic version. Now, just trust me that both of those do have a “v” sound, because I am going back to being a bemused spectator. ---
**Author:** ![magdalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@magdalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magdalene)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199/59 "2000-09-07T21:12:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flymaster \* > \*\* > Here you go. > > It’s Wistah. Simple as that. > Baw-stin > leminstah = Leominster > fall rivah > reveah = Revere > kwinzee = Quincy > Meffa = Medford > > But then, that’s just my $.02…hehe > \*\* Yep. I’m from Charlton, originally. The R is optional. I used to drive through Lestah to get to Wistah, and sometimes I go see my aunt & uncle in Shrewsbury, only it’s Shoes-berry. Occasionally I take a trip to Aubu\_n or Wobu\_n…I waited tables at The Webstah House for a few summers, and my big brothah went to Clahk University. Don’t say it WOOH-ster, that’s another town entirely, in Connecticut, I believe. Plus you’ll get your a-- kicked by some of the mullet-and-workboot sporting natives. Next time I go home for the holidays I’ll have to look up all you Central Mass Dopers! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wus-ter-or-wor-cester/5199.md?page=2)