If there was a Mancunian citizenship test correctly pronouncing Blackley would surely be one of the questions.
Or Burnage, or Baguley or Bury for that matter.
Loads of place names across the region aren't pronounced the way they're written down.
In some cases it's not even close.
For a newcomer or a tourist it can be absolutely baffling.
So here's our handy guide to those hard-to-pronounce places across Greater Manchester.
Blackley: It's not 'Black-ley', that would be too obvious. It’s actually pronounced 'Blake-ley'.
Burnage: Despite recent gentrification the childhood home of the Gallagher brothers is most definitely not 'Burn-arrrj', unless, of course, you want to take the mick.
You say it 'Burn-idge'.
Horwich: When it comes to odd place names Bolton reigns supreme. To kick us off we've chosen Horwich.
Ignore the 'w', so it sounds like 'Horritch', not 'Hor-witch'.
Daubhill: Back to Bolton for my personal favourite. It's 'Dobble', like the children's card game, not ‘Dawb-hill’.
Hulme: Hulme, as in Cheadle Hulme, Levenshulme and Hulme itself, is one many people struggle with.
It's not 'Hulm'. It’s more like 'Hewm'. Don't ask me why - I don't make the rules.
Bury: You think they'd be no problems with the name of an entire town. Especially when it's just four letters long.
Fat chance. It's not 'Burry', it's 'Berry', as in Strawberry, and if you're from there you're a Berryhead.
Breightmet: We return to Bolton for another one some people struggle to get their heads round.
It’s fairly straightforward though - it's 'Brate-met'.
Demesne Road, Whalley Range: This is another one which bears little resemblance to how it's written.
Demesne is actually 'Domain'.
And just to complicate things even more Whalley can be a bit of a head-scratcher too. It's pronounced 'Wall-ey', not 'Way-ley', unless of course it’s Whaley Bridge.
Worsley: This leafy suburb of Salford is pronounced 'Wurs-ley', a bit like the first part of Worzel Gummidge.
Greenacres: Oldham is very close to Yorkshire, so the good people of the town can be forgiven for occasionally speaking a bit funny. As a case in point Greenacres, about a mile and half east of the town centre, is pronounced 'Grin-nickers'.
Altrincham: The 'ch' is in fact a 'g' sound.
So instead of 'Alt-rin-cham', it’s 'Altrin-gam'.
Beswick: Home to Premier League champions Manchester City and the birthplace of British cycling's remarkable recent success story.
Just remember the 'w' is silent.
Baguley: It's not 'Ba-goolie'. That would just be weird. The 'u' is silent. It's 'Bagley'.
Salford: Southern PR companies pitching stories to the M.E.N. newsdesk often struggle with Salford.
So if any of them are reading this it’s 'Sol', like the beer, and 'fud'.
Or if you're a proper local 'Solfod'.
Mossley: Wikipedia tells me Mossley means 'a woodland clearing by a swamp or bog'.
But that doesn't help us to pronounce it correctly. Pretend the double 's' is only one 's', or a 'z'.
So 'Mos-ley' or 'Moz-ley', but never 'Moss-ley'.
Northenden: Best advice for this south Manchester suburb is to say it really quickly and swap out the 'en' sound for more of an 'un' one.
'North-un-dun'.
Falinge: An area of Rochdale that is pronounced 'Fay-linge'. Not 'Fal-linge'.
