The English one is Worcster. I know the American name is pronounced differently, but can't remember how right now.
dJE
Pronouncing the unpronounceable
- Thread starter Extrocomp
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dJE
Actually we do say "Wooster," we just spell it that way too. 
There's a Wooster Pike in my city; in fact, it goes right through the tricky-to-pronounce Mariemont neighborhood I mentioned earlier.
There's a Wooster Pike in my city; in fact, it goes right through the tricky-to-pronounce Mariemont neighborhood I mentioned earlier.
If I'm understanding things correctly, "Worcester" is just "wuss" (pronounced like "book" or "hood") with "ter" tacked on to the end.
The capital Q represents a voiceless uvular affricate, which is sort of a raspy K sound made in the back of the throat -- sort of like the Klingon H (or the Scottish or German ch) but with the back of the tongue touching the uvula. It is approximated as "kr" in Qo'noS/Kronos, but I don't think that's obligatory. I figure a lot of people would just pronounce it as a K sound.
Turns out Wikipedia actually has a handy section on Klingon phonology as part of its "Klingon language" article.
That Wikipedia page is, indeed, excellent!
You can also find information on each Klingon phoneme on KLI.org, along with audio samples.
^Hmm, I though it was basically, in Klingon rendering, "van goH." Sounds more like "von HoH."
That, I only knew because I used to work for a fellow named Houston.
And Kryptonians pronounce it "Hoos-ton."
You can also do this with Yonge Street in Toronto. (hint: "young")
*COUGH*
(If you speak German, you'll get that right away.)
I was discussing with a friend the Myriad Universe stories this morning and pulled out my book to make sure I was referencing it correctly. I had a good chuckle when I saw that Mr. Bennett had added this little gem. Made me think of this thread. I already struggle enough on what's actually said on the show, in the books I realize how my mind creates pronunciations that aren't even close to what I think the author meant or an expert would pronounce. I try not to stress about it and just enjoy the story.
When I was a kid, one of my first dinosaur books said that "Diplodocus" was pronounced "Die-PLOD-uh-cuss." I said it wrong for YEARS. 
When I was a kid, one of my first dinosaur books said that "Diplodocus" was pronounced "Die-PLOD-uh-cuss." I said it wrong for YEARS.
That's not wrong, it's just nonstandard. It's still acceptable, like saying giga- with a soft initial g; it's just a less common but not incorrect variant. (And to stave off the "but in Greek-" posts from others; etymology only guides pronunciation and definition, it doesn't determine it. Otherwise we'd still be speaking perfect PIE.
)
Well, that's good to know. Too bad I can't dig up my 9th-grade science teacher to tell him we were both right! (I swear I argued factual points with my teachers more than anyone else I've ever known. Probably because both my parents were teachers in another district, and they encouraged me to challenge them.)
As I understand it, the comic-book character "the Sub-Mariner" was supposed to be pronounced "Sub-Mare-Inner" (as in "Mariner"), but that didn't stop generations of comic-book fans from pronouncing it "Sub-MarEEner" (as in "submarine").
And is "Mon-El" of the Legion of Super-Heroes pronounced "Mon-El" or "Moan-El"? Pretty sure I got that wrong for decades!
And is "Mon-El" of the Legion of Super-Heroes pronounced "Mon-El" or "Moan-El"? Pretty sure I got that wrong for decades!
When I was a kid, one of my first dinosaur books said that "Diplodocus" was pronounced "Die-PLOD-uh-cuss." I said it wrong for YEARS.
I thought so too, but with a short I in the first syllable instead.
Star Trek has some groaners in the pronunciation of constellation names. Like Harry Mudd pronouncing Ophiuchus as "oh-fie-a-kus" instead of "oh-fee-you-kus." (Although there's some other SF franchise, I forget what, where I've heard it pronounced "oh-few-shus" or something.) And a lot of people seem to think Eridani (possessive form of Eridanus) should be "air-ih-don-ee" or "air-ih-dan-ee" when it's actually "eh-rid-ah-nee."
I've always known how "Sub-Mariner" was meant to be pronounced. Although I'm not sure whether I just recognized from the hyphenation that "Mariner" was treated separately, or because I heard it pronounced that way in cartoons.
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