[tompko]

The elision of the 'e' in -cester placenames so that the 'c' and 's' have a single sound is reasonably common e.g. Leicester, Gloucester, Worcester, Towcester, Bicester. So English natives should have a reasonable chance of getting the pronunciation of a previously unseen example correct.

[rob74]

And that's why "Worcester Sauce" is the second most mispronounced culinary term in Germany (after "Stracciatella") *

[*] - according to my made-up-on-the spot stats

[tonymillion]

Also doesn’t help that it’s actual name is “Worcestershire sauce” which is even more difficult to say.

[brnt]

Now I must know: how do Germans pronounce stracciatella?

[gloria_mundi]

Some switch around the "s" and "sh" sounds, so it is pronounced roughly like "shtratsiatella". "st" at the beginning of a word is pronounced as "sht" in German.

[pirates]

I have heard even Manchester sometimes spoken that way as well, depending on who you’re talking to.

[NeoTar]

Godmanchester in Cambridgeshire, although now pronunced by most people as 'God-Man-Chest-Er', used to be pronounced (and may still be by some locals) as Gumster.

[JdeBP]

It's not even unreasonable. -caster, -chester, and -cester are related suffixes.

[arrowsmith]

All descending from the Latin "castrum", which means "fort". So if a placename has one of those suffixes, chances are high that it was a Roman settlement.

[darrenf]

And then along comes Cirencester.

[kwhitefoot]

Sissiter according to the locals in the old days, Siren when I was growing up in nearby Swindon.