Keep hearing an ID for WRAY-TV "WOOL'son Raleigh Durham"
Is this the town of my youth that was pronounced by locals as "Weeyilt-son?"
(spelled Wilson?)
Pronunciation in broadcasting and in the Triangle Area has changed significantly in thirty years. It was not uncommon for me to hear someone tell me "Yer nut frum aroun' her, err ye?"
Now, a new strange pronunciation is manifest. In broadcasting the nation formerly known as Australia (aw-STRAYL'-yuh) is often pronounced "aw-STRELL'-yuh" I saw examples of this in a pronunciation guide book as far back as 1980 when I took a book away from one of my rookie disc jockeys.
Yes, I have trained people to be on-air for years.
Another mis-pronunciation is the mis-use of the word "sell"
We're having a SALE...not a "sell." (cell) It comes from southerners trying not to say "SAY'-yull" but it's still a mis-pronunciation
Another thing that bugs me is the confusion and misuse of fewer versus less.
A popular medicine advertises "less interruptions." That is grammatically incorrect and should have made the copywriter cringe before ever writing it, but the dumming down of America goes on. It's FEWER interruptions. When you can measure the thing described, you use "less." When it cannot be measured, the proper word is "fewer"
No comments:
Post a Comment