Tursdays rand
I am starting a campaign to save the letter ‘T’.
I have noticed of late that there is a terrible tendency to replace it in speech with the letter ‘D’, which is totally unnecessary but is also extremely grating on the ears.
I don’t know where this awful habit comes from, but I suspect it is more of this Mid Atlantic bastardisation of our spoken word.
I had the misfortune last night to accidentally hear one of the announcers on TV3 who seem to delight in employing bimbos with the most horrendous accents. She announced something about some ‘celebriddy’ programme that was on ‘lader’ ‘afder’ some other programme.
I’m not attacking TV3 specifically, though they do have an obvious policy of employing women for their looks rather than their brains. RTE is another occasional offender, where you get some flashy little size zero troll who insists on using the same irritating habits [or should I say ‘irridading habids’?]
I know there is quite a vigorous campaign in Dublin to support my cause. My old friend Bertie was one of the leading lights in this campaign where ‘th’ was replaced with ‘t’ as a mark of sympathy. Unfortunately, while I laud their efforts they still have frequent lapses where they would refer to ‘dis Tursday’ or ‘dat tunder’.
Maybe I’m being too hard?
Anyway, I will leave you to ponder over my taughts while I go and make a cup of d.
Very much with you on this one. I notice it in the Dublin accent more so. Southside, certainly the soft D, but Northside it’s a very hard T. TomaTo, AnTo and the like.
All this talk to T is making me dirsty.
And there’s the ‘slurry T’. It comes at the end of a word. Where the teeth don’t come together properly to produce the ‘t’ sound and it sounds like a ‘t/sh’ hybrid.
Do you getsh whatsh itsh is I mean?
Darragh – We have Antos here in the mountains too. A lot of them have become Andos though. Of course the ‘Roadwatch Bimbos’ tend to talk about ‘tomaydoes’? Enjoy your trink.
Dorothy – Ah yes. Roysh.
Funny, I just complained about an utter lack of ‘T’ in Belfast, on my post today.
T seems to be causing all sorts of Drouble, or ‘rouble, these days.
Ah the flashy little size zero troll (love it!!!!) language! …Not one I have come across so far – thank goodness I don’t watch TV ofden…..
I’ll stick to my Spanish…. Good luck with your campaign Grandad!
Turn down the sound and enjoy the view.
“Mid Atlantic bastardisation”
Have you ever heard the Irish accent?
It’s THink not Ta’ hink.
It’s Northern Ireland not Norn Iron.
Oh yea rhyming slang is cockney not just D4.
Please don’t blame your ills on us from the Mid-Atlantic states.
I’ll be the first to admit I have a bit of a Philly accent but we’re not all, ‘Yo, Adrien’
Atele King as Dwink. Still very unappealing.
Susan – You were talking about spelling though? I must confess, their written word Up There is very important as I generally can’t understand their spoken word!!
Kate – I was trying to come up with a snappy description of those cloned presenters that seem to proliferate these dyas. Now if only they would clone Sharon…………!
Jim C – As usual, it is Herself causing all the trouble here. I’m quite content to sit and admire the view, but she insists on broadcast ‘entertainment’ [enderdainmend?].
Brianf – Ooooooh! Look who is all touchy! Did I mention America? Did I say anything about the Americans not knowing how to talk? You have one hell of a guilty conscience, mate!
Welcome, Colonel [Sir]. Atele King? Please don’t sully this site with mention of that cund.
As snappy descriptions go I thought it was brilliant! I may have to adopt the phrase for when I want to make derogatory comments about thin people… Wid your permission of course?…..
Kate – Feel free? 🙂
Did I mention America?
Well yes. You said,”…but I suspect it is more of this Mid Atlantic bastardisation of our spoken word.”
By Mid Atlantic did you mean Galway, or maybe just that area of ocean in the middle of the Atlantic? I am not familiar with any area know as the Mid-Atlantic other than here in the Mid-Atlantic states. That and you like blaming everything on Americans. Well maybe not everything. We had nothing to do with either Bertie or Biffo.
Brianf – I know the trouble some of you Americans have with geography, so I’ll explain. The Atlantic is a bit of water which thankfully separates you lot from us lot. It is quite big, so it is called an ocean. Mid Atlanic [like mid anything] means ‘in the middle of’. Therefore, Mid Atlantic means ‘in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean’, which is quite a long way from your patch of land. That OK?
I’ve noticed that some British accents do away with the ‘t’ altogether. I guess it’s a Bri’ish say of fi’ing more words in, yeah?
Frank B – I think the British are even more anti-t than the Irish! But then quite a few of their accents are just plain anti-consonant!
Where is the mid-Atlantic? Is it the Blaskets you are talking about man? Sure Jaysus Peig Never had time to be pronouncing anything except her children dead, and the only bit of T she could scrape together was schmoked in the pipeen!
Down this neck of the woods, the letter T is replaced by a glottal stop – unless it comes at the start of a word: “D’you wa’ me to type a le’ah?” Drives me nuts! Despite my flat, South African vowels, I am often told that I am posh, because “you say all your le’ahs”
Oh, and just to point out, the Atlantic separates Africa from America, too, perhaps you are actually closer to the middle of it than you thought ;o)
When the young man went to ‘merica for the week-end and had a New York accent before he got there, he had developed a mid-Atlantic accent.
Stipes – Precisely. So if he turned around mid Atlantic, he would have had the accent without ever having reached the far side?
Not just Ds, either, it’s Ns aswell.
Hearing DJs talk about things happenin in twenny minutes while driving makes me want to embed a tree into my bonnet. Grow a nose, fuck sake.
.-= >> K8´s latest brainfart .. No pain, no gain =-.