July 10, 2007
Tuesday

Mr Sawyer, the state of the English language is in very dire straits for sure, but President Bush is not the only guilty culprit.

Surprisingly, even professional radio and TV newscasters are always pronouncing words wrong.

A good example is the word PRINCIPAL. Now you're probably thinking, how could anyone mispronounce that? Just pay attention carefully when listening to professionals on TV ads or radio. I will break down the proper way to say the word, "PRIN-SIH-PULL". But most say PRIN-SUH-BULL.

Another bad one that drives me nuts is PROFESSIONAL. Most announcers newscasters or actors say PER-FESH-UH-NULLS or PRA-FESH-UH-NULLS. You wouldn't say, hey that guy is a real pra or per you would use pro.

But the worst most mispronounced word of all times is the word OUR. It is mispronounced 99 percent of the time. I will use it in a sentence like I heard it in the news the other day on ABC. Are troops are are finest asset.

Yes, they pronounce the word OUR like the letter R. Or sometimes they get caught between are and our and pronounce it OR. Why is this you ask? Well because we are getting lazy.

When you break down the pronunciation of the word OUR, it has three mouth movements. Say it very slowly, AH-OOH -ER, whereas ARE is two mouth movements , ah-er. Our is pronounced the same as the time increment, HOUR. It takes less time and is simpler to say the word are than the word our. Therefore we have substituted are for our because newscasters have gotten that lazy!

Shaun Hannity is the worst at it. He cannot say the word OUR, period. I have also heard local and state newscasters and radio folks mispronounce Ketchikan. To me it is pronounced KETCH-IH-CAN. But many say CATCH-UH-CAN or CATCH-IH-KEN. And of course there is the popular gaff over the street in Ketchikan named Carlanna, people who have lived in Ketchikan for 50 years still say Carolina. It drives me nuts! Ill bet you know someone who says I'm going to warsh the clothes!! Or, we are going to get on the ferry and go to Warshington. Good grief! Or the sports gaff of he's going for a feel gold, instead of a Field Goal.

And didn't Jimmy Carter also say NOOK-U-LUR like Bush? No it was even worse, it was like NUK-YUH LUH. I don't think anyone gets away with perfect English so, the point of Mr. Sawyer's letter is just "Bush bashing" for sure.

He should listen to Jessie Jackson's undecipherable gibberish and do a commentary. Or hire him for subtitles.

(nowmseh?) Translation: Do you know what I am saying?

Tom Ferry
Ketchikan, AK

Received July 7, 2007 - Published July 10, 2007

Related Viewpoint:

The Great Pronouncer By Mike Sawyer - Birmingham, Alabama

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