Quote:
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The former town of Merion Square was renamed Gladwyne in 1891 in order to imitate the stylish Welsh names of adjoining towns, although the name is meaningless in Welsh.
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The Anglophone ear would have difficulty distinguishing "glad" from "gwlad," I suppose, though
gwlad's A is broad rather than short, and the W's "oo" sound in Welsh is unstressed in this word, so the word tends to sound like "g'lahd." It means
nation or
country.