Jerome,
Interesting point! You've now got me saying all the county names out loud, to see whether I say 'sher' or 'sheer' at the end of them! I say 'York-sher', yet 'Lanca-sheer' - something I've never consciously thought about till now. Checking off the entire list from Google (can't believe I've gone to these lengths!) I
do pronounce most of them 'sheer', with the possible exceptions of 'Wilt-sher' and 'Hamp-sher' - not sure about 'Berk-sher'... the rest of the world is probably reaching for the razor blades by this point
I agree with you that 'mistier'/'Gloucestershire' is only an approximate rhyme, but 'sher'
is a tad closer. (The rest of the world: my apologies if you're bored witless by this... only, now I'm starting to wonder about 'Stafford-sher, Stafford-sheer). Blimey, Jerome, I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight with all this going through my head.
Ann,
You're a very naughty girl! I've never heard anyone pronounce 'cwm' as 'quim' (heehee) - but then I've led an extremely sheltered life
Victor Spinetti? Isn't he about 120 years old by now?
