Welcome to Follow-Up Friday!

By this time, you know the drill. Follow-Up Friday is a chance for us to revisit the subjects of previous posts and bring the PuzzleNation audience up to speed on all things puzzly.

And today, let’s return to the subject of vocabulary and pronunciation!

[Image courtesy of Savethewords.org]

One of the best things about doing puzzles is that you get to learn new words.

Whether they’re obscure or antiquated, hip new slang, borrowings from foreign languages, or simply neat words you’ve never encountered before, these words can be a delight to encounter while solving. (Even if you’re baffled while solving and have to look them up afterward.)

But the problem with some of these words is that if you only see them in print, you might not know how to pronounce them. For instance, it took me quite a long time to connect the written word “quinoa” with the spoken word that sounded like “keen-wah.” I know I’m not alone on that one.

So, imagine, if you will, you’re on vacation in the United Kingdom, and you stumble upon this small town:

Welcome to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a town in Anglesey in the UK.

This 58-character place name is actually only 51 letters long, as certain character groups in Welsh are considered as one letter (LL, NG, and CH among them).

Would you be able to pronounce it? I don’t think I would!

But check out this TV weatherman, who doesn’t blink twice at tackling this mind-boggling word:

Now that’s a puzzler who won’t be daunted by some uncommon vocabulary.

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! You can share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and be sure to check out the growing library of PuzzleNation apps and games!