I've been quiet until now.Am I alone in being irritated by the poor speech of some radio & TV presenters?

Question

Febewerry the fith or sickth,
axe me a question
and seckaterry,
are some of the mangled pronunciations that are taken as the norm on radio and TV these days.

It makes my teeth itch!

Answer 1

You are not alone; I do agree with you.
I admit that my enunciation and pronunciation are not perfect but I'm not paid to speak to the public.

Answer 2

I tend to accept it since they are still easily understandable.
Countries have regions where different accents and dialects are spoken and sometimes they can be genuinely cryptic for an outsider to understand! Then there's the pronunciation from those for whom the language is not their native one.
I wouldn't want to hear hard-to-interpret speech from someone whos job it is to be a presenter though, and since there is a form of speech (standard received pronunciation) which has been demonstrated to be more widely understandable by English-speakers, I think presenters should try to match it unless it is a regional programme.

Answer 3

1. Cut an arrow out of red contruction paper. 2. Place the arrow on any floor in your home - preferably an area where there are a lot of people and activity. 3. Run around in a circle 50 times, farting each time you pass the red arrow (kind of like in Monopoly, but instead of fake money and a "Go" you have a red arrow and farting). 4. Take 1/3 cup of purple grape juice and slowly pour it on a light-colored carpet. 5. Take 1/4 cup of crushed Oreos and pour them over the grape juice. 6. Stomp your foot down on the grape juice and Oreos. 7. Grind your foot into the Oreos and grape juice repeatedly until you no longer feel or hear crunching. 8. Walk outside and yell "I am not a mousepad!", fart 3 times, then go back in. 9. Don't forget to wipe your feet! 10. Call your local accountant and praise him or her - they probably deserve it! 11. Jump on someone else's bed with your dirtiest shoes on. 12. Take 1 bottle of maple syrup and spread it all around the floor of your downstairs bathroom. 13. Go outside and put your hands in mud, making sure both hands are saturated. 14. Go back inside and clean your hands with the nicest light colored towels you have. This should do the trick!

Answer 4

Axe me another. Don't object to regional accents, but BBC 1's Breakfast programme this morning did a bit about Oldham (Greater Manchester) and managed to transmit an interview with possibly the only woman in Oldham who doesn't have a Lancashire accent! How representative is that?

Answer 5

I quite agree with you. What we need is perfect language pronounced by all for all to understand. Unfortunately that is not the world we live in. I am not saying that pronunciation is not important but it is adaptable and can be used in context .
The dialects that exist around the world are our heritage and demonstrate a vast array of History, should we lose that?
Differences can be hard to understand and accept, we all have them and all have a right to follow them.

Answer 6

no you're not alone. the best remedy to your irritation is to just continue to speak correctly, pronounce the words correctly, and when and if the opportunity presents itself, correct the offender. the problem is, if you spell or pronounce something correctly, or use proper grammar, you usually go unnoticed. if you mispronounce, or misspell, or mis-conjugate (if i may use that as a real word), that's the only time the general public may actually notice. we can only lead by example and accept the fact that we can't teach the world to really care about how they present themselves to those of us who place value on proper english in all forms. hope this helped you!!

Answer 7

I fully agree. In the old says people had training in speech, these days almost anything is worth a go it seems.
I listen to old radio on DAB (BBC 7). What a difference.
--That Cheeky Lad

Answer 8

Let me scratch your teeth...

In order for your irritation to be soothed...do not be afraid for your language. I do mean YOUR language.

The English language is one of the worlds most remarkable achievements and this is because it continues to grow and developer despite hundreds of years of interference and manipulation.

If you were to travel back in time to 15th century London...you would not be able to understand much of the language on the street, and they would not be able to understand you.

If a French national were to make the same journey...they would understand almost everything that was said around them and would be able to speak and be clearly understood.

So...don't get too frustrated...English is the most vibrant and exciting language on the Earth....do not fear the change...fear stagnation.

Answer 9

Oh i know exactly where you are coming from, being from the black country most have the most annoying, unintelligent and just horrible sounding accent possibly in the UK =/.

I'm proud of my origins but by gosh it makes me want to chop out some people's tongues haha.

I blame Jonothan Ross! =P hehe, just kidding.

Answer 10

Some people aren't able to spell and often the spell checker is no help sorting out bigger spelling mistakes, so I don't worry as long as they manage to get their message across, that's fine. Spelling is not every person's forte.

Many people rely on spelling phonetically so you will see a variation according to their accent.