Hello I have been on this list / digest for a while now and was wondering if someone could tell me how is the name of Billerica pronounced??? I am a phonetic speller but this one I think is different than this OHIO gal knows. I do know from a friend that Worcester is pronounced (Wuster), but the other town I cannot ask her about. Thank you for you patience and assistance!!! Peggy in OHIO

Hi Peggy, That's quite a coincidence ! I just told someone on a CT List an hour ago - how to pronounce Billerica ! I lived in that town for 36 years, and everyone I know pronounces it like the man's name: Bill Ricka ! Billerica was named after a town in England, which is spelled slightly differently, Billericay. A few years ago I asked someone living in that town, and they said they pronounce it like the man's name, Bill Er Ricky ! :o) Usually, people in MA can come up with a good attempt at pronouncing Billerica ! But, so many times I talked to people on the phone from the other half of the country, and they don't even want to attempt to pronounce it ! We also have a town, Leicester, which is in the Worcester vicinity, and that is pronounced like the name, Lester ! And, I would spell my pronunciation of Worcester as ... Wooster ! I think there is a book on the origins of the names of towns in New England ! The towns were named after towns in England (or Great Britain), Native American words, people's names, etc., so it is no wonder that we have a wonderful collection of .. unusual names of towns ! Betty (near Lowell, MA) ----- Original Message ----- From: "John D. & Peggy Ledrich" <ledrich@sssnet.com> To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2006 11:57 AM Subject: PRONUNCIATION OF TOWN NAME > Hello > > I have been on this list / digest for a while now and was wondering if > someone could tell me how is the name of Billerica pronounced??? > > I am a phonetic speller but this one I think is different than this OHIO > gal knows. > > I do know from a friend that Worcester is pronounced (Wuster), but the > other town I cannot ask her about. > > Thank you for you patience and assistance!!! > Peggy in OHIO > > ______________________________