Pronunciation

People pronounce things differently all the time. Covid-19 has been pronounced with an "0" sound and an "oh" sound as in cove id and cov as in o in "open" who the heck knows which is the correct one.

The one that irritates me the most is when people pronounce with an "f" instead of the th sound. As in fing instead of thing.

Alex Scott, the former Arsenal and England footballer and now an excellent sports presenter has been criticised for not pronouncing the 'g' at the end of words. She is an East End girl born and bred, so how is she supposed to speak?

I do think that people who speak in public/presenters etc should pay attention to their pronunciation/grammar. I'm sure they all care about their general grooming and how they dress. The same care needs to be taken with their speech.

I have a neighbour who always greets me with ”how is you?” I'm not sure if it's meant to be 'cool' or funny.

Hands up. I'm guilty,
Twenny Twenny,
Satdy, Sundy, Mundy etc
ent
kent
Ennit,
shenit
woonit
dint
Gooin
samwiges
tuday,
tumorra

Guess where I'm from lol

No it’s not a reasonable excuse for people being taught pronunciation incorrectly and in addition they are taught the four skills, Reading, writing, Listening and Speaking. However this is the way English is spoken by many. As far as watching a film is concerned, I think the only time they would hear correct pronunciation, that is RP, is if they were watching a film that was made in the 40’s or 50’s. Sometimes I need to put English subtitles on for more recently made films.

Greta

^Alex Scott, the former Arsenal and England footballer and now an excellent sports presenter has been criticised for not pronouncing the 'g' at the end of words. She is an East End girl born and bred, so how is she supposed to speak? ^

I do think that people who speak in public/presenters etc should pay attention to their pronunciation/grammar. I'm sure they all care about their general grooming and how they dress. The same care needs to be taken with their speech.

I have a neighbour who always greets me with ”how is you?” I'm not sure if it's meant to be 'cool' or funny.

Why should that be expected? Can't people be proud of their roots and the dialects and accents that come with it? Reading some of these posts it seems that only people with a mouthful of plums should apply to be presenters and news readers. Some posters on here would have to have a lie down in a dark room and a quick rub down with the Radio Times if Kathy Burke ever gets to front the BBC News.

I get annoyed with anyone who makes fun of our Devonian accent, especially when they finish with ‘ooh arrr’

@Brocky. - it just shows how rude people are, I had a friend from Dawlish who told me it happened to her the time, in the end she ignored them

I had noticed Alex Scott saying things like womin swimmin before Digby Jones mentioned it. I don’t know if it’s her accent or just mispronunciation. Slightly irritating but not life changing, we have more important things to worry about.

Nannan2

And yes, i do wonder why they allow people on tv (announcers and such like) if they cannot be bothered to speak correctly ?

maybe because they are trying to reflect, represent all their audience, and some of the attitudes on here sound utterly snobbish to me, but also ridiculous, like hyacinth bucket.

Yes I am IRRITATED with the latest sports commentators and everyone else who does not sound their bloody 't's' or 'th's'...
I try not to judge, but I enjoy watching sports and especially the Olympics. Clare Baldwin I salute you! The other two newbies, I do not! Regional accent my backside! I had to turn off the coverage on Saturday night, couldn't stand it any more! Sad!

All starts at school with teachers being role models. If teachers were decent role models children would be aware of acceptable pronunciation. Yes we proudly all have our own accents but diction and annunciation must be appropriately expressed by teachers. Glottal stops aught to be a teaching crime. Our children deserve the best. When children are taught to say ‘haitch’ instead of H., I cringe.
Our once beautiful language is being corrupted by American slang. Yes we have accents but do we really need our precious children to have bad role models.

Teachers from around this way speak in the same way, though.
It's how we talk.

It's always irritated me that most people in the South of England pronounce pattern as patten. There's an r it!

Please may I add here...I like most regional accents (apart from Essex and E.E...sorry folks, just sounds lazy to me) and my family are not 'posh'. I just want someone who is being paid a massive amount of money to 'present' to be able to pronounce the English language clearly! Do you think they got the job because they are attractive by any chance?
Going off to hide behind my settee now...

i was waiting for the haitch to be mentioned.
why does it bother people.
i remember someone at work, one of the officers, slagging off an admin asst because she said haitch.
i pointed out that most people say it like that and have no awareness at all that they have committed some sort of crime by doing so.
that is the pronunciation that they have received.
why is it regarded in this way. why are people looked down on for saying haitch. i think it's nonsense. perhaps a way of feeling superior. how does it adversely affect anyone else.

Bankhurst

Regional accents are fine with me, but I can’t stand ‘haitch’! The word for the letter h is ‘aitch’. Not sure why or how this habit began. Anybody have any thoughts?

Oh yes, that makes me cringe too. Hate it even more when I hear it on radio or tv.

I don't even know what it means when people complain about haitch or aitch. What about Huh

Copper3
Is that the whole of Essex?
Can you hear the difference between, say, Southend and Maldon.
Or wivenhoe and Burnham on Crouch.

I asked an older Essex woman where she came from, as I couldn't place her accent.
It sounded a cross between Devon and Australian.
I got short shrift off her; she told me hers was a "proper" old Essex accent.
She came from Little Wakering.

what a charming place name.
far better than in glos, upper slaughter !
or even worse lower slaughter.
one of the first women priests in the church of england whom i met was stationed there, so it stuck in my mind.
she was a sensible middle-aged plus woman, and wore a pale green stock. years ago now. i drift off into reverie, as usual. sorry.

Grandmadinosaur
I’m from Lancashire; we pronounce year as ‘yeer’, not yur. It’s a shame that the Lancashire dialect is disappearing; luckily there are local poets who keep it alive. The South East Lancs. accent is being transformed into a kind of Oasis-style Manc twang.?
Rylan Clarke is annoying in the way he pronounces ‘Britain’. (Does he actually have any talent??)
I love regional accents (especially Geordie), but sloppy speech is a different matter.

Miss adventure, I agree and that’s the trouble, some teachers are not being good role models. Of course we all have accents including me and that’s our heritage and I’m proud of that accent. This is about accurately pronouncing words, not about our gorgeous accents, it’s easier for children to spell and read accurately if they pronounce their words correctly. It’s not about being posh or elitism. We have a brilliant language, let’s embrace this free gift of language.

Used to have to avoid one of the checkout staff at my supermarket who would say "Twenny"!!

Could have been worse.
Firty.

The correct pronunciation of Cicero in Latin is with a hard "c"; therefore it is pronounced KIH-keh-roh. Cicero is often also pronounced as CHIH-cheh-roh or SIH-seh-roh. The reason for these differing pronunciations is because of the different varieties of Latin used.
www.pronounceitright.com › ... 'Different types of Latin!' Still, all in the name of harmony Lucca and Blossoming