#liam dutton

British weatherman Liam Dutton EFFORTLESSLY pronouncing the seemingly near-impossible name of a Welsh town: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Y’all. This might seem just like a fun moment where a weatherman pronounced an impressively long word. But it’s so much more than that.

Wales is a part of the United Kingdom that seldom gets the same attention, especially internationally, as other parts of the UK (ex., England, Scotalnd or Northern Ireland). The people of Wales have their own distinct language and culture -- both of which ahve often been looked down upon historically by other British peoples. In particular, the English-speaking politicians of old and new sought to make the UK an English-speaking country -- leading to the decline and death of many of Britain’s languages. Languages are deeply tied to cultural heritage, and this could be said to be part of a greater effort to reduce cultural pride in minority ethnic groups in the UK. As such, over the past 200 years, Welsh as a language has been nearing language death. 

The Welsh people were not okay with this Anglicization of their nation. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch intentionally gave their town this long name in the 1860s -- making it the longest name of any railroad post in Britain -- as an effort to raise awareness about the Welsh language, which was beginning to die out. Today, Welsh is even closer to language death, but is slowly making a comeback. People like Liam Dutton, who are raising awareness of the Welsh language and culture in their everyday life, are helping to make that happen.

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Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki- maungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

A weatherman who said Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch is a hero.

Liam Dutton is way more than a weatherman who can pronounce a Welsh word you probably didn't know existed.

By casually name-checking a rare culture with so much casual and dapper respect, he's preserving some pretty important history, giving the Welsh language life, celebrating differences, and reporting the weather.

In today's Follow-Up Friday post, we talk about a Welsh landmark with a mindboggling name!

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.…