I was talking to an American earlier and he kept pronouncing his T's like D's?

Question

You don't all do this do you?

For the record I'm Norwegian.

Answer 1

For the most part, yes we do. For example: the word "butter" sounds like "budder"; ;he word "later" sounds like "LAY'der." The British use the crisper, "t" sound in their speech.

Answer 2

Water, butter and many words are pronounced with d rather than t. It all depends on your accent. I am sure you have an accent too.

To be politically correct, English has changed alot over the years, we do not speak the same language as it was spoken 200 years ago.

The only language to stay the same is Arabic. But language changes due to customs, traditions and migration.

Answer 3

LOL! Bet you noticed how many Americans said, "I've never heard anyone do that." That's because it's an east coast accent. (Either they're from the east coast and they're so used to it they don't even hear it, or they've never been there.) I'm from the mid-west, and when I went to a Baltimore Orioles game, I got a kick out of the announcer saying, "badder," over and over again, instead of "batter." People from the south draw their R's, here in the mid-west we tend to say "yer" instead of "your." America is so huge and diverse, people in each region tend to have their own accent and slang. It doesn't mean they don't know a T from a D, it's just that in casual conversation, you go with what you used to.

Answer 4

On occasion we do. I don't recall hearing it a lot on words that begin or end with a "t"; but sometimes if the "t" is near the middle of the word. Interestingly, I would say we might pronounce "better" as "bedder", but not "butter" as "budder" (hhhmm, maybe "butder though). Certainly no rule of thumb for this habit.

Answer 5

That is not something that all Americans do... it may be a product of regionalism... The United States is a large country and there are high number of different regional accents throughout the nation.

Answer 6

Are you sure you don't just pronounce your D's like T's? Different dialects cause confusion all the time in the english language.

Answer 7

I was talking to a norwegian and he kept pronouncing his w's like v's whats that all about you don't all do this do you?

Answer 8

Maybe whomever you spoke with was a foreigner who recently moved here to gain citizenship. My grandparents
families were from Germany and my grandpa would often
pronounce his "D's" as "T's". And there maybe other
European countries that pronounce English that way or
similar themselves. Many new immigrants who come the
legal way, often struggle with pronounciation of the words
we speak. But if we listen carefully, we can figure it out.

Answer 9

That depends on the part of the country he is from, his education level and his culture. For example, in many urban areas the D sound is used in that way. (Duh D soun is used like dat.) Also, many southerners do this. Southerners and urbanites also tend to drop the g sounds at the end of -ing words like playing (playin'). If he was talking to you like that, chances are, he was being casual and feels comfortable with you.

Answer 10

Well, it depends on the word. Some of them, that's just how you pronounce it, but if it's things like 'didn't' or couldn't, then there's a distinct difference.

Answer 11

Whachoo talkin' 'bout Willis??? I know how to announciate.
Must have been someone HEAVILY into (c)rap music. Normal people know how to pronounce their letters. Yes, there are accents all over the U.S., though. And for the record, he may have thought you were pronouncing just as "wrong". Who knows?