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Is our language evolving or are we just getting sloppy? Listening to the news tonight and earlier to some discussions, I got really annoyed at the number of times I had to guess at what was meant. SLURRING of words, WHISPERING of a crucial word to make for fancy enunciation, TAILING-OFF at the end of sentences ---------- I tell you, this world's getting beyond me!

Maybe we're entering the first stage of telepathic communication.

(Horrible thought ----- If we're going to eliminate speech, what else might be eliminated? Bring on the ORGASMETRON?)
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No Spry, it's a bad habit that newsreaders have got into - putting their own emphasis on the words. It's a dangerous tack as stressing the wrong word could change the meaning of a sentence. Reporting Scotland is particularly bad at it.

You think that's bad - you should try reading the Teletext subtitles!

(Actually it's the funniest thing on TV.)

I agree, Spry. I find it really quite frustrating when I've built up sufficient interest to pay attention and listen and then I miss vital words because they don't say them properly.
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The Kips, Pentlands avatar - Scald Law, Pentlands.

Nah, it's just evolution.....

There was a fascinating series yonks ago on adult literacy. It was presented by some actor..... Don somebody (deid noo, but.)

One of the things he raised was the gh that turns up in words like laugh, night, right, cough....... pronounced "correctly" as laff, nite, rite and coff. He wondered if the original English pronouniation of these words was lach (as in loch - or lough, if your from Ulster) nicht, richt and coch.

After all, what's that gh doing in words like night, bright, right etc., if it was never meant to be pronounced? Somehow, somewhere over the centuries, we've changed our way of speaking. Evolution, like you say.

And it's still going on. I was in a pub in Essex a while back and heard one staff member tell another, "Dewek's noh dan wa wow'a ye'." I could still understand that Derek's not done the rota yet." Down there, w, r and l are all pronounced the same (w). The letter T is dispensed with entirely.... but it's all still understandable.

And look at all the redundant letters in the French language! et, er, ers, ez - all pronounced like the letter A.....'cept they pronounce A different tae us.

The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it's now being fed to us by the media... telly and such. It'll be the death of regional variations eventually. And they seem to be passing into history already.....sadly.

That makes ----

bough ---- bouch
dough ---- doach
hough (as in potted) ----- here, that's right! Hoch!
Slough ---- Slouch

All ch's as in loch.

Think I'll put up with the slurring.
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