For those that have lived in Edinburgh for most of their lives, listening to people pronounce street names and areas wrong is no doubt very frustrating.
Within the capital, there are dozens of streets that appear rather tricky to pronounce, and you could end up in a state of embarrassment if you get it wrong.
Thankfully, we're here to help. Even some of the most popular destinations in the city are mispronounced regularly, to the point where you just describe the area and its surroundings, as opposed to attempting the name of it.
READ MORE: The five areas in Edinburgh where Covid cases are still out of control
There's also various streets that change names every 100 metres. South Bridge, to Nicolson, to South Clerk and to Newington is a particularly confusing one.
Buccleuch Place is a street name that doesn't necessarily roll easily off the tongue. Usually it requires a few double-checks and practice shots before landing the correct pronunciation. The busy area connects the Meadows, to Newington, and is actually pronounced 'book-loo'. If you ever get stuck, try and remember that the university library backs on to it, and what what do libraries contain? Books and, eh, public loos, obviously.
A simple, yet horribly mispronounced one, is Calton Hill. The hill with some of the greatest views of the city, is often pronounced 'Carlton', just like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air character. Unfortunately, there is no 'R', which does mean saying the name makes you sound incredibly posh.
Hearing tourists pronounce Cockburn Street incorrectly is a pleasure second only to that of telling them it got the name because it was a hotbed of STDs (apologies to Lord Henry Cockburn, famed lawyer and early 1800s Edinburgh X-rated answer to Hyacinth Bucket, after whom the street is actually named).
Fettes is another great one that is often mispronounced. Most people would describe it as the 'large school opposite the Western General', as you can't really go wrong with that. The correct way to say it, however, is 'Fett-is', which is often confused with 'Fetts'.
Moving slightly out of Edinburgh, to Midlothian, where the town of Penicuik stands as one of the greatest mispronounced areas in the country. Think of it as 'Penny-cook' and you're sorted. A rather grim way of remembering this one is to think of ‘Penny’ as in ‘Pennywise the Clown from IT’ and ‘cook’ as in ‘what he probably did to all the children he kidnapped’.
Last, but no least, is the Sciennes area of Edinburgh. Even I didn't know how to pronounce this one before doing some research. You'd look at it and see the word 'science' and go from there. However, it's pronounced 'Sheens' - as in the sheen of living with her will wear off when she sets off the smoke alarm. Not 'Skeens' and definitely not 'Sckience'.
Of course, there are probably dozens more within Edinburgh, but this may have given some of you a little helping hand, as opposed to resorting to describing the surrounding area or just pointing at the name on Google Maps.
