Pronunciation Peeves!

["couldbecousin"]

  I've been annoyed lately by sloppy English pronunciation, both by professional actors/announcers
  and by civilians.  It seems to me that most of these stem from laziness, i.e., not wanting to open the
  mouth wide enough to say the word the way it should be said.  Currently I'm bothered by ads for
  LifeLock, in which the announcer talks about preventing "idennity theft."  Identity!  Dude! 

["couldbecousin"]

  Also annoying is the tendency of some people, especially young women, to pronounce the long "a"
  like a long "e," so that the word "amazing" is rendered as "ameezing."  Again, it's laziness, not wanting
  to open the mouth wide enough to say the long "a."  It grates on my ears.  It sounds ditzy. 

["couldbecousin"]

  Sometimes the long "e" sound is also used as a substitute for the short "i," so that the word "amazing"
  ends up being pronounced "ameezeen."  It just sounds very bimbo-esque to me and irks me. 

[renaeden]

I know someone who says "sikth" instead of "sixth" and it irks me.

["couldbecousin"]

I know someone who says "sikth" instead of "sixth" and it irks me.

  Ah yes.  Any combination of "x" and "th" can be tricky, but we must do our best. 


  Similar to that is saying "axed" instead of "asked."

[Icequeen]

Living just south of Pittsburgh and just north of West Virginia I will refuse to pass judgement on anyone's poor pronunciation skills since this area seems to have a language all of it's own.

You are either assimilated after living here for 3 years or exiled because the locals don't understand you and don't trust you.

I have been here for 35 years now and there is no longer any hope for me.

["couldbecousin"]

Living just south of Pittsburgh and just north of West Virginia I will refuse to pass judgement on anyone's poor pronunciation skills since this area seems to have a language all of it's own.

You are either assimilated after living here for 3 years or exiled because the locals don't understand you and don't trust you.

I have been here for 35 years now and there is no longer any hope for me.

  No longer any hope of losing the accent, or of acquiring it? 

[Icequeen]

Living just south of Pittsburgh and just north of West Virginia I will refuse to pass judgement on anyone's poor pronunciation skills since this area seems to have a language all of it's own.

You are either assimilated after living here for 3 years or exiled because the locals don't understand you and don't trust you.

I have been here for 35 years now and there is no longer any hope for me.

  No longer any hope of losing the accent, or of acquiring it? 

No hope of losing it, tried not to acquire it, but it sneaks up on you...like it or not. 

["couldbecousin"]

  I don't have the Boston accent except for the very rare occasion when I get lazy and drop an "r"
  from the end of a word.  I have to be pretty tired to do that.  Ordinarily I'm almost midwestern
  in my insistence upon pronouncing every "r" at the end of a word.  I enjoy speaking crisply! 

[renaeden]

In my experience I have observed that the Australian accent is the hardest to gain and the easiest to lose.

[Lestat]

Scousers. A heavy scouse accent can be pretty unintelligible, even to other english people. And it sounds about as mellifluous as a cat trying to pass a razorblade-studded hairball, rectally, whilst having its nads squashed in a vice. Only nowhere near as pleasant.

["couldbecousin"]

Scousers. A heavy scouse accent can be pretty unintelligible, even to other english people. And it sounds about as mellifluous as a cat trying to pass a razorblade-studded hairball, rectally, whilst having its nads squashed in a vice. Only nowhere near as pleasant.

  George Harrison originally had a scouse accent, didn't he? 

["couldbecousin"]

  Another thing that bugs me:  Commercials for the Proactive skincare line, in which narrators and
  customers pronounce it  "Peractive."  Again, it's laziness about opening the mouth wide enough. 

[odeon]

There's also some of the more posh ways of speaking. Think Alan Rickman on steroids.

["couldbecousin"]

There's also some of the more posh ways of speaking. Think Alan Rickman on steroids.

  Why do so many posh Brits have trouble pronouncing  "r"?