How Did The Capitals Of The UK Get Their Names?

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SOURCES AND FURTHER READING

[NameExplain]

Which of these cities have you been to? Despite coming from the UK I've only been to London! I've visited Scotland and Wales but never went to Edinburgh or Cardiff. Plan on seeing them all one day.

[WaterShowsProd]

Albert Uderzo died today at the age of 92. I think the Asterix adventures are deserving of an epic Name Explain episode.

[arthuruppiano]

Patrick: "London would eventually end up, not just as the capital of England, but the UK as a whole."
Westminster: "Am I a joke to you?"

[ifandafydd]

The Welsh name for Edinburgh is Caeredin (also Edin's fort), and English cities have names that begin with "Caer-" as well. Leicester, Worcester, Gloucester and various other -cesters all begin with "Caer" (aforementioned examples being Caerlyr, Caerwrangon and Caerloyw), and Chester is simply "Caer" by itself.

[tomb]

Caerdydd wasn’t a borrowing from the English, it just simply progressed from being Caerdyf which is the old Welsh way of saying fort on the Taff. The English then just anglicised these names into Cardiff.

[thenorthernirishexplorer]

Some information you missed with regards to Belfast;
The sandy ford or sandy bar from which the city derives its name comes from the mouth of where the River Farset flows into the River Lagan. The Farset itself is today mostly underground beneath the city's streets and buildings. High Street, in the city centre, is meandering as a result of being built along a bend in the river.
(I'm from Northern Ireland by the way).

[chlo.dia]

In Welsh, LL is not pronounced with an L sound. You basically fold your tongue back on its self but the tip touching the roof of your mouth, have your teeth apart and hiss. So at 6:54 there isn’t supposed to be an L sound.

[musAKulture]

this is so fascinating. especially oxford. it's one of the few cities that gets translated instead of transliterated into chinese->ox 牛+ford 津.

[trippydrew]

I live literally 5 minutes away from where Boudica led her revolt against the Romans. An old market town called "Venta Icenorum" translated to "Market place of the Iceni" just on the outskirts of modern day Norwich. There isn't much there these days but you can still see the old walls of the town poking through the grass. It is a beautiful place to go for a walk!!

[loganchase]

Forgot to mention the Irish government rejects the term British Isles

[taj]

Dope content, as soon as I saw the channel I knew I’ll be coming here lots

[WaterShowsProd]

While you wouldn't turn down a scone in Scone, I would rather have a scone in Scone.

[heronimousbrapson]

Scones and the stone of scone may in fact be related. The last time I tried to bake scones, they came out as hard as rocks...

[thelwulfeoforlic]

Winchester was made the capitol of Wessex by Cenwalh in the 660’s CE, way before Ælfred the Great who was made king in 963; though he did reconstruction the city in the late 9th century.

[Ggdivhjkjl]

What about Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man?

[mikesatthehelm]

Is it just me or does “the island of Ireland” sound like “the island of island” in British English?

[gracemurphy]

In Ireland we don't call the isle the British isles

[Resvrgam]

I recall reading in a world etymology book that “Londonium” roughly translated to “The Unfordable Town.” It was given this name because of the town being built on both sides of the Thames river and bridges needed to be constructed (as well as ferries used) to connected the two portions of the town.

[dm]

Dubh Linn is pronounced like “dove linn”

Woah, woah, woah ! Did you pronounce "Loch" as lock like for a door !?