How do you pronounce Worcestershire?
It’s pronounced “woo-stuh-sher” but it’s spelled W-O-R-C-E-S-T-E-R-S-H-I-R-E, so more like “whor-ses-ter-shire.” How did the pronunciation become so different from the spelling? Well, first, it’s not the only place name to be like this.
How do you pronounce Worcestershire wrong?
Why can’t people pronounce Worcestershire sauce?
‘Shire’ is the British equivalent to our counties here in America, so this sauce is simply named for region from which it comes, Worcestershire, where ‘shire’ sounds just like the state name ‘New Hampshire’. So, we drop the first R, and the vowel in that syllable is the UH as in PUSH vowel, wo-, wo-.
Do you pronounce the Shire in Worcestershire sauce?
Just say worcester sauce. Don’t pronounce worcestershire sauce with ‘shire‘, drop the ‘-shire‘ and forget about it. You say the name in full if you are referring to Worcestershire County in England. It’s not yet another British pronunciation quirk, it’s simply custom to shorten the name when referring to the sauce.