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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Lee Dalgetty

US newsreaders slated for 'embarrassing' Edinburgh pronunciation during Queen procession

As the Queen’s coffin travelled up the mile today to lie in St Giles’ Cathedral, all eyes are on Edinburgh.

News presenters round the world are reporting on the memorial events in the city, with many coming under fire for their questionable pronunciation of Scotland's capital. American outlets such as the Today Show, MSNBC, CBC and Fox News have been discussing the events of today - and many Scots have taken to social media to inform them how to say Edinburgh.

Some have claimed the incorrect pronunciation of Edinburgh from news reporters is ‘embarrassing’ and ‘disrespectful’.

READ MORE - Die-hard Edinburgh royal fans line up with chairs hours before Queen's procession

Taking to Twitter, user Dana Linnet wrote: “NBC coverage of Queen’s coverage of Queen’s funeral with Kier Simmons and Samantha Guthrie who can’t even pronounce Edinburgh properly is horrible, total embarrassment - switched to ABC.”

Another user, James Sassman added: “I heard an American newsreader mispronounce the name of Edinburgh. The ‘g’ is silent just as in through, it’s not a hard ‘g’.”

Some had further issues with other discrepancies in reporting. Tweeting at MSNBC, Patricia Mitchell commented: “How difficult is it to pronounce Edinburgh?

“It is a capital city. Listen and learn from Brits, and the UK has had a monarchy for over 1,000 years.

“Just because you don’t understand it, you keep talking nonsense. Shut up with stupid speculation.”

In a more polite tweet, another Twitter user typed: “@CBCNews, thank you for your always thoughtful coverage this morning.

“It would be wonderful if you and other colleagues could pronounce Edinburgh properly: ‘Edinburra’ not ‘Edinburro’ thank you.”

One user informed the Today Show of their mistakes, typing: "It’s “Operation Unicorn” not London Bridge and can you teach Savannah Guthrie how to pronounce Edinburgh correctly."

Linsey Davis, who reports for ABC News, did receive some positive feedback. Deborah Kallgren took to social media to say: “Kudos to ABC’s Linsey Davis, apparently the only American journalist who can properly pronounce Edinburgh - ED’n’BRAH - thanks, we noticed.”

It wasn’t all directed at American news outlets, with Toronto based programme Breakfast TV also coming under fire. Zoe Sandler tweeted them, writing: “Good morning, can you please pronounce Edinburgh properly - you’re killing the name of this amazing city.

“It does not have an ‘o’ sound at the end, it’s Ed-in-bruh.”

A study from language learning website Preply earlier this year showed that Edinburgh was one of the most mis-pronounced places in the world. The scottish capital was named alongside the likes of Montreal, Phuket and Dubai.

Preply said: “The two most common and accepted pronunciations of Scotland’s capital city are the short ‘ED-in-bruh’ and the longer ‘ED-in-bur-uh.

“Scots warn that they speak fast and have a tendency to swallow unnecessary vowels, so make sure you start off strong with ‘ED-in’ then quickly and softly end with ‘bruh’ or ‘bur-uh’. Keep at it, and you’ll be singing Flower of Scotland with your Scottish pals in no time.

“Try and score a free pint at an Edinburgh pub by impressing someone with the local pronunciation ‘EM-bra’.”

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