The greatest man ever 1074

We've got a credit card ad over here where the narrator's got a puncture. He keeps saying 'pssent,' BBC announcers calling the Corporation Bibssy and a huge number of young females who pronounce the u and oo sounds 'i' or 'ee', as in "Gyid afterneen." this is fast becoming universal, as is 'dishtal' for digital.

In fact about the only time you hear a pure 'oo' sound is when a gang of hooligans troop down the street making monkey noises!

And I've just heard Mobie for Mobile Phone! Obviously, people are having a whale of a time using them - until they see the bill!

Mind you, you can't beat the good old US 'howywrss' for horse, 'squrrrrrrrrrrl' for squirrel, 'meeyrrrrrrrrrrrrrr' for mirror, 'ayyygg' for egg 'eyyend' for and even, and Dubya's 'Teyrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsts' for persons - oh, yes - and 'Van Goe' for Van Gogh! No-one in their right mind would say Loe Ness, would they?

Come to think of it, it *would* be a damned good idea to beat Dubya's 'Teyrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsts' - and ours of last week - if they could be re-buttembled and resurrected!

chickenney speech has similar syllable doubling, like 'dayern' for down, 'rayernd' for round, but that's more-or-less traditional. The stuff I've mentioned above is all fairly new - on both sides of the pond. That's why it throws me sometimes when I hear it unexpectedly - and it really does gall me when I think of the large salaries paid to TV and radio presenters and announcers who *can't even speak properly*!

The trouble is: you need the analytical ear of a mimic to actually hear all this. It's a huge tribute to the interpretative powers of the human brain that most people hardly notice it.