Date: Tue, 8 Feb 1994 13:20:11 +0100

From: Peter Trudgill PeterJohn.Trudgill[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ANGL.UNIL.CH

Subject: Re: Sluff/Slough



The British Rail announcer must have been joking - EVERYONE in

Britain knows it's pronounced /slau/ - witness the famous John Betjeman

poem



Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough,

It's not much good for people now----



(Second line isn't right, but it does end in "now".)

Peter Trudgill





P.J. Trudgill FBA

Professor of English Language and Linguistics

Section d'anglais

BFSH 2

University of Lausanne

CH-1015 Lausanne

Switzerland



Phone: +41-21-692 4593 Fax: +41-21-692 4637/4510

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