How do you folks from the U.K. pronounce Lerwick (as in Lerwick, Shetland)?
Asked by
Kardamom (
33529
)
May 11th, 2017
We’ve been watching a terrific crime drama set in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland, called Shetland. All of the people on the show are from Scotland. Some of them, may actually be from Lerwick for real, but I’m not sure.
Most of the characters pronounce the word as Ler-ick, leaving out the w in the middle. A few of the characters (including the voice over announcer for the Lerwick Ferry) pronounce the word as Ler-Wick.
We leave the closed captioning sub-titles on all the time now, even when we are watching English language shows (many of them set in the U.K.) because you can really pick up more of the dialogue when you are reading it, as well as hearing it, and we’ve learned some new terms. That’s how I learned the lovely word bairns, meaning children.
Those of you who live(d) in the U.K., how do you pronounce Lerwick?
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19 Answers
By the way, I absolutely adore Scottish accents. I know he would beg to differ, but one of our members has an accent that sounds similar, at least to me with my American ears, although he says his accent is not similar at all to those of folks in Scotland. Either way, he sounds wonderful.
I’m from the south of Scotland (Glasgow and its suburbs). It is very different to the north of Scotland, so I’m definitely not an expert on the Shetland accent but I’d say Ler-wick but local customs are often different. Lerrick sounds like it’s a local way of saying it – slightly sloppy, slightly vernacular. The ferry announcement is probably in (Scottish) Received Pronunciation.
In my part of the country, children are called weans – pronounced waynes. I presume this comes from weaning babies off milk
I’d say Ler-Wick.
@ucme, I thought of you when someone asked a question about pet names. I’d be fine with a man from your part of the world calling me pet.
@Earthbound_Misfit Aye it’s a term of endearment usually reserved for women you are close to, although not exclusively so.
Aye, I know. Me Mam was a Geordie.
Gerraway, eeh why arl gan ta tha foot of owa stairs bonnie lass!
If you can say, “It’s a braw bricht moonlicht nicht,” Ye’re a’ richt, ye ken.
Shared with the Scottish Jelly who makes my heart fluther.
Crivvens lassie, you will make me blush. I agree with what @Stinley said although I thought ‘weans’ came from ‘wee yins’ rather than weaning but I could be wrong.
You guys are all so awesome! I can hear the bagpipes braying and smell the shortbread baking.
I think I’ve got to hie me to the Highlands – and lowlands – sometime soon. (I actually know someone whose name is Bonnie Banks!)
I’m English dagnabbit…tea & crumpets anyone?
@Stinley, or possibly from “wee’uns”—wee ones?
@ucme That beats pee and strumpets, I hear that is What Donald Trump goes in for.
I am not from Scotland but from southern England, so my pronunciation may be a little out. Still, I would agree with the TV actors and pronounce Lerwick as ‘Lerrick’, leaving out the ‘w’.
It’s Lerick for me. There’s also a place called Berwick which is pronounced Berrick, so it makes sense. :)
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