Monday, 24 March 2025

Can YOU Pronounce It?







I believe it is pronounced

WOOSTER
[as in Bertie Wooster of P.G. Wodehouse's
Jeeves & Wooster fame]

SHUR
[not "shy-er"]

SAUCE
[well, at least that word is straightforward!]

AM I RIGHT OR WRONG?

Tell me in the comments!

39 comments:

Boud said...

You nailed it! And yet Dorchester isn't pronounced dustah. That's just wrong.

angela said...

Yes you have explained it perfectly

Mistress Maddie said...

LOL!!!! I had no idea till now this was a world crumbling issue. Its a sad commentary!!

Granny Annie said...

I believe you've got it. Now I can say it. Thanks.

Marie Smith said...

I think she’s got it. Tough one though!

Tom said...

...and I've never thought about this.

Tundra Bunny said...

I used to pronounce it as "Warchestershyer Sauce" until I watched a British cooking show and learned the correct way!

Tundra Bunny said...

Are you having a stroke, sir?

Bob said...

I have always pronounced Wooster-sheer sauce. I think you and I are on the same page.

Val Ewing said...

I still can't say that and other weird words...medications are just as bad! LOL!

Frank said...

I was pronouncing it correctly until I finished reading through all the memes. Then I was completely tongue tied.

Travel said...

It was the worst of them.

Parnassus said...

Hello Debra, I have seen Worcestershire sauce sold here, but always in imported, recognizable bottles. I just looked up the Chinese equivalent and they transliterate it as something like Woo Si Te--but I doubt that any local person would have any idea of what this is if you asked for it.
--Jim

Kathy G said...

This was a hard post to wrap my brain around first thing on a Monday morning :-)

whkattk said...

Worse-ta-shur. It may not be correct Brit, but it's how we pronounce it. LOL.

Deedles said...

Funny, I do know how to pronounce the word (as long as I'm not reading it). I, however, choose to pronounce it the way my grandmother did when telling me a long-forgotten joke back when I was a little kid. I remember the warmth and love in her voice. To this day I prefer to call it "What's this here sauce".

Moving with Mitchell said...

LOL! And don’t forget Whatsthishere Sauce.

Moving with Mitchell said...

And there it is! I just posted my comment and THEN read Deedles’.

Cleora Borealis said...

🤣 My Grammy was also that kind of silly and said "what's this here sauce?" We kids had a follow up, though. We would chuckle and tell Grammy to "try saying THAT three times fast!" She would get tongue-tied of course with "whaztuhsusuch" and we would shout (really fast) "no, that that that!" And we would laugh because we caught her again! It was years later when I remembered she would be smirking as she turned away. She was letting us "win." Every single time. 😁 Grandmothers, amirite? 🥰

Ol'Buzzard said...

Wor Chester Shire or WCS - Don't ruin a good steak by covering it with WCS
the Ol'Buzzard

e said...

Thoroughly enjoyed the memes and have bottled up many a guffaw hearing folks try to pronounce it. We go with 'wusta shure' but only from trying many other versions.
Thanks for the laughs!

Kirk said...

I pronounce it A1 sauce.

Mike said...

"Exactly" BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Anonymous said...

I know how to pronounce it, but I prefer to say west chester sauce.
It's my life. I can say it any way I want!
Patricia

Rade said...

Living in Southern New England we often pass through Worcester, MA. Here, it's pronounced "Woo-stah". So "Woosta-shah" sauce is quite adjacent.

ArcticFox said...

round these parts we just call it wusstah sauce...... but i am sure Yorkshire Pudding will tell you...... up north we prefer Hendo's!!

Sassybear said...

I just read these out loud and we both laughed maniacally!

Rosemary said...

Just say Lea & Perrins sauce and everyone will know. By the way it sounds more like Wustershire rather than Woostershire.

Frank said...

Wasn’t that the 3 Stooges?

Sixpence Notthewiser said...

I lost all train of thought with the Dominatrix.
Priorities....

XOXO

roentare said...

You made my day with these memes

Joanne Noragon said...

That's how we were taught to say it.

Beverley said...

You'd think Worcestershire was coined by a tipsy leprechaun...as the spelling and pronunciation don't quite go together, which an Irishman enjoying a tipple or ten, would find hilarious for the English to attempt ....

DB Stewart said...

Safe word, lol.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

Geeze, I've been living under a rock. I thought it was spelled with an "h" and pronounced "Wor-cHes-ter" sauce. Help me, SWS. Help me. And thank you for teaching me something new with my every visit.

Busy Bee Suz said...

The memes are funny, and yes, I believe you nailed it!

The Happy Whisk said...

I don't know if you're right or wrong but you are funny. I love that across the world, many of share this impossible word. That and I often hear peeeeeecon and peeeeeeecan.

Liz Hinds said...

I just call it worcester sauce. But love the worst of/best of shires.

Mary Bolton said...

Whats-this-here-sauce