In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

In message
, Colin
Rosenstiel writes

Indeed. But we're used to that sort of problem in Cambridgeshire,
Interesting choice of places. I've always pronounced them as:

what
with Wisbech,
"Whizz Beach"

Manea
"May Knee"

and Quy,
Not heard of this one!

Am I wrong?

Two out of three, though I might get picky about the "Wh" in the Wisbech
pronunciation - I'd have put "Wizbeach", but you've got the main point.

Quy (pronounced like the Bridge over the River Kwai) is sometimes shown
as Stow-cum-Quy. Of that lot, it is much the nearest to Cambridge, just
off the Newmarket Road by the A14 junction to the East of the City.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On some bus routes, an audio announcement for the rear doors at every stop
says: "Doors opening, stand clear," accompanied by an intermittent buzzing
sound.

"brixtonite" wrote in message
ups.com...

On the 35, for every stop they announce 'bus stopping at the next bus
stop, please stand well clear of doors', which gets on your nerves
pretty soon - and seems unnecessary since there's an audible beep when
the stop button is pressed anyway. If they restrict the announcement
to 'next stop camberwell green' or whatever then no problem, but I
expect more long-winded verbiage...

I thought that it was pronounced something like Mar-le-bone.

"Olof Lagerkvist" wrote in message
...
James Farrar wrote:

Btw, what is really the correct pronounciation of Marylebone? Most people
I hear pronounce it "marlebn" (or something like that) but almost all
encyclopaedias etc that I have checked suggest something like
"mary-lee-bn"...
The Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marylebone mention both,
the former is said to be some "common" pronounciation while the latter
variant is said to be correct according to "Marylebone Association".

The way they announce transfers to the Circle or Hammersmith & City lines:
The way they pronounce the word Circle sounds like they swallow the second
syllable in that word.

"Tristán White" wrote in message
. 109.145...


There's a few really annoying inflexions - I can't remember where they
are as I try and eliminate them from my memory.

Could Epping be one? I seem to remember being on the Central line and
hearing at every stop "This train terminates at..." and then this
strange way of saying "Epping" almost like she was suddenly asking a
question.

"Neasden" on the Jubilee line is annoying as hell. She doesn't
mispronounce it, but it sounds like she has a gun to her head because
the previous ten times she did mispronounce it. It's just a tad louder
than the rest, with the s in the middle pronounced like a few zzz and
really clearly as though her life depended on it. when the JL terminates
there and you are listening to it at every stop .... this train
terminates at NEEEEZDN ... it's almost equivalent to torture.

No wonder so many people listen to their iPods at full whack....

My guess is that after departing a stop, the bus will announce the next
stop. If the bus passes that announced stop, then it will simply announce
the next stop.

Is it true that there are sensors in the bus stop posts that can tell which
bus passes by?

"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On 22 Jan 2007 04:12:17 -0800, "Mizter T" wrote:

I think the iBus project will be useful to passengers, but hope that
iBus announcements are restricted to major bus stops or compulsory
stops only - I don't want every stop announced otherwise the bus will
never stop talking!

I think you will find every stop will be announced and displayed as I
believe that part of the project's objectives is to provide additional
info for blind and deaf travellers. If you consider what their
requirements are likely to be then you'll find that every stop will need
to be announced and displayed. This is so that they have a fair chance
of knowing that their stop is coming up even if it is not a major stop
or a compulsory one. Quite how hail and ride sections of route will be
done I do not know!
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 07:23:30 GMT, Olof Lagerkvist
wrote:

James Farrar wrote:

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 13:03:51 -0600, "Tristán White"
wrote:


"Richard J." wrote in news:0HOsh.113595
:

On the Underground, they are much better than they were, and I have no
complaints at all about Emma Clarke's announcements on the District
Line. What current incorrect pronunciations irritate you?




I think the Plaistow/Playstow has now been ironed out,


It has, but the Bakerloo line gets Marylebone wrong.

Btw, what is really the correct pronounciation of Marylebone? Most
people I hear pronounce it "marlebn" (or something like that) but almost
all encyclopaedias etc that I have checked suggest something like
"mary-lee-bn"...

The conventional pronunciation (at standard speaking speed) (IME) is
"mar-l-bun", "mar" as in "marrow", "l" as the child-like "luh" not
"el" and "bun" as the bread product. It's spoken quickly, so the "y"
doesn't sound, though it modifies the pronunciation of the "a" sound
in "mar" from that in the month "March", and the "r" sound is almost
swallowed as well.

The Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marylebone mention both,
the former is said to be some "common" pronounciation while the latter
variant is said to be correct according to "Marylebone Association".

I think they're being pretentious, in the same way as people who
insist that Cirencester is properly pronounced "Sissister".

The DLR is IMHO even worse, maybe worst of all. It sounds far too
robot-like and in addition a very compressed voice.

I haven't been on the DLR in some time; sounds like I should be
grateful.

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 22:28 +0000 (GMT Standard Time),
(Colin Rosenstiel) wrote:

In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

In message
, Colin
Rosenstiel writes

Indeed. But we're used to that sort of problem in Cambridgeshire,
Interesting choice of places. I've always pronounced them as:

what
with Wisbech,
"Whizz Beach"

Manea
"May Knee"

and Quy,
Not heard of this one!

Am I wrong?

Two out of three, though I might get picky about the "Wh" in the Wisbech
pronunciation - I'd have put "Wizbeach", but you've got the main point.

Quy (pronounced like the Bridge over the River Kwai) is sometimes shown
as Stow-cum-Quy. Of that lot, it is much the nearest to Cambridge, just
off the Newmarket Road by the A14 junction to the East of the City.

And don't get me started on the traffic news reporters who can't
pronounce "Altrincham".

Paul Corfield wrote:

I think you will find every stop will be announced and displayed as I
believe that part of the project's objectives is to provide additional
info for blind and deaf travellers. If you consider what their
requirements are likely to be then you'll find that every stop will need
to be announced and displayed.

True. If all that is announced is "Pigeon Street", or "Next Stop
Pigeon Street" at most, it won't be disruptive - it IMO isn't on German
buses where such automatic announcements are fitted (if a driver does
it he typically only reads the stop name). If the announcement is "The
next bus stop will be Pigeon Street, please make sure you take all your
belongings with you and mind the doors" it will grate.

OTOH, at interchanges it *will* be useful to announce "Please change
here for the Northern Line and for routes 1, 2 and 3".

This is so that they have a fair chance
of knowing that their stop is coming up even if it is not a major stop
or a compulsory one. Quite how hail and ride sections of route will be
done I do not know!

Are there many left in London? One would hope that such routes will
just be phased out, as they are neither good for passengers (lack of
information, slower runs, general confusion) nor operationally any
improvement over fixed stops. There is some argument for allowing
alighting between stops in quieter times (as indeed some German bus
operators do), but not really for random boarding.

Neil

In message , James Farrar
writes
And don't get me started on the traffic news reporters who can't
pronounce "Altrincham".

A very common one for travel announcers here in the Midlands is them
saying "Avel - Church" for Alvechurch (correctly "Ulve - Church", for
anyone that doesn't know.

--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

Neil Williams wrote:

True. If all that is announced is "Pigeon Street", or "Next Stop
Pigeon Street" at most, it won't be disruptive - it IMO isn't on German
buses where such automatic announcements are fitted (if a driver does
it he typically only reads the stop name). If the announcement is "The
next bus stop will be Pigeon Street, please make sure you take all your
belongings with you and mind the doors" it will grate.

I've never found it a problem on German buses, in fact, quite the
reverse, it's really helpful. They're limited to just saying "Next
stop: Gerhard Hauptmann Strasse", or, if it's a U-Bahn/S-Bahn station
"Next stop: Barmbek, interchange with U2, U3 and S1". Some of the
central ones also have the information in English, as well as "exit
here for Alster boat trips" or "exit here for town hall" (the only
problem being the use of the word 'exit'. Interestingly, the tourist
information is generally not mentioned in the German, and the
interchange not mentioned in the English.

What did grate this weekend on my visit to Hamburg, was that they've
got a really irritating kid to do the announcements for some reason.