Today’s LINGUA FRANCA Sprachschule blog post aims to tackle one of the greatest pronunciation challenges in the English language. What exactly is the name of the popular sauce in this picture?
Worcestershire Sauce (often shortened to Worcester Sauce) is a complex fermented liquid condiment. It comes from the British town of Worcester, which gives the sauce its name. It was popularized by the company Lea & Perrins. The key ingredients are barley malt vinegar, spirit vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, onions, and garlic.
None of which helps us with the pronunciation. I’ll give you a clue – „Worcestershire“ has only 3 syllables (the short form „Worcester“ has only 2.) OK, ready? – here we go. Repeat after me. WUS-ter-sher – or /ˌwʊs.təʃə/ for the IPA-literate. And WUS-ter /ˌwʊs.tə/ for the short form. Easy, right? To hear an example, click here.
If you had trouble, take solace from this elderly Italian wearing a fabulously relevant T-shirt.