topic Re: Butchering language in Suggestion Box

Butchering language

CoG — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 05:17:35 GMT

Why is 'Oh DAY perfume' uttered over and over again with no one correcting the Beauty IQ host? Or 'oh DAY Bootay"

rather than eau de beaute? The current trend is to mispronounce many words; co'n rather than cotton, bu'n rather than button but mispronounciation of words in foreign languages often alters their meaning all together. It isn't cute, it isn't proper and every "oh day perfume" or " LA Creseut" for that matter, lessens the host's credibility. Won't someone please intervene?

Re: Butchering language

Kachina624 — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 05:30:10 GMT

Who do you think is going to rush onto the set and intervene? Language police? A college professor? Someone from the state department? Calm down, it's going to be okay.

Re: Butchering language

insomniac2 — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 06:46:44 GMT

I agree with the OP. Displaying ignorance. . .Is there no one in the QVC world who's taken a bit of high school French?

Re: Butchering language

makena — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 07:03:58 GMT

People need to relax. Maybe the hosts are just having fun. The selling of an item and the way the hosts pronounce words really have no bearing on each other. No one is being formal here. No need to be.

Re: Butchering language

NorthernLights — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 07:20:34 GMT

@CoG wrote:
Or 'oh DAY Bootay" rather than eau de beaute?

Trust me I understand, but this made me laugh quite a lot. Sounded like a scent from MTV.

Re: Butchering language

CalminHeart — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 12:54:52 GMT

Posts about pronunciation crack me up. Doesn't anyone realize that words are pronounced differently in various parts of the country? I agree with the other posters who said to relax. Life is what it is and you/we can't control everything.

Re: Butchering language

Trinity11 — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 14:58:21 GMT

@CoG wrote:
Why is 'Oh DAY perfume' uttered over and over again with no one correcting the Beauty IQ host? Or 'oh DAY Bootay"
rather than eau de beaute? The current trend is to mispronounce many words; co'n rather than cotton, bu'n rather than button but mispronounciation of words in foreign languages often alters their meaning all together. It isn't cute, it isn't proper and every "oh day perfume" or " LA Creseut" for that matter, lessens the host's credibility. Won't someone please intervene?

Somehow, I have never expected a Home Shopping channel to be a place I would come to hear proper English or French, for that matter.

I no longer watch QVC because the monotonous presentations bore me to tears, let alone the show hosts improper use of the English language.

Re: Butchering language

Q4u — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 15:06:06 GMT

While I agree, how can anyone expect a higher grade of language on TV when butchering language is e v e r y w h e re!! Starting in the school yards...

Re: Butchering language

Lipstickdiva — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 15:15:52 GMT

When hosts are on air selling a product, their job is to know about that product, including the name of the item. Mispronouncing the brand name like Le Creuset is inexcusable to me and the host should be corrected in his/her ear by the producer.

I remember back when Sheila Johnson was a host, throughout an entire hour, she mispronounced Etienne Aigner. She couldn't get it out at all then said it differently everytime she said it. It was ridiculous that she was selling a brand and couldn't say it. It made her look ill prepared for her shows.

Mispronunciation of words like decollete, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, etc. doesn't bother me. I have heard several different pronunciations of that, even from fragrance vendors themselves.

Re: Butchering language

janz — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 15:35:49 GMT

How about when certain hosts AND vendors shorten words? Like 'It's gorg" for gorgeous? Among others. I cringe at attempts to sound "hip" or "with it" as teenagers often do.

Re: Butchering language

PhilaLady1 — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 18:16:36 GMT

Remember the host that intentionally mispronounced gaucho pants as groucho pants multiple times because she thought she was certain that she was correct and that the vendor was saying it wrong ?

Re: Butchering language

trenet — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 05:54:09 GMT

It would be nice if they learned before they went on air. Or reminded, if necessary, by the director through their earpiece.

However, some are just so funny.

The “Groucho” pants made me picture the models wearing them have the glasses and big black mustache and have the duck drop down. “Say the secret word”

Re: Butchering language

RealtyGal2 — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 09:26:11 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
Who do you think is going to rush onto the set and intervene? Language police? A college professor? Someone from the state department? Calm down, it's going to be okay.

It is the host's job to communicate so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect them to properly pronounce words and names of products. I understand some of the hosts have accents, but they need to work on sounding more mainstream, like the actors and actresses that are from England and Australia that shock us when they are on talk shows because we had no idea that they had accents. Sharon Fatsch, for example, had a strong accent when she started at QVC and you would never know it now. I don't think it is too much to ask when they communicate for a living.

Re: Butchering language

Suziqzee — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 09:47:03 GMT

I have to say, the "bu'en" and "co'en" (button and cotton) with the very strong glottal catch in the middle does drive me to distraction, but, I personally don't pronounce the "tt" in the middle of these words, nor do I know anyone who does. In fact, if someone happens to emphasize that "tt" sound, I think they're trying too hard or are uptight, ha ha.

It's similar to when some hosts will emphasize the "d" in the phrase "branD" new, which I also find distracting. To me, overpronunciation is almost as bad as bad pronunciation.

I think we are accustomed to a television culture which has, throughout the years, tried to promote a generic dialect, devoid of any regional accents, or, in technical terms, "Standard American English"

I live in New England, but I wasn't born here, and while I've gotten used to the strong "Bah-ston" accent, I would imagine people would struggle if a host spoke like that for hours at a time. Here in Rhode Island, our current governor did a campaign ad and actually said, "from the beginnin," lacking the obvious "ing" at the end of the word, which was GLARING to my husband and me. Every time we heard the commercial, we couldn't imagine such a person could run for office and were shocked when she got elected, LOL, but that is, (unfortunately) the accepted regional dialect up here. We've learned to adjust, but it used to make our ears bleed.

It's not something to lose sleep over, but those of us who are linguistic purists do have a challenging lot in life, sometimes. I know this gets repeated all too often here, but I've just learned to change the channel.

Re: Butchering language

Big Sister — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 09:48:46 GMT

@insomniac2 wrote:
I agree with the OP. Displaying ignorance. . .Is there no one in the QVC world who's taken a bit of high school French?

Or, high school English!

Re: Butchering language

forsythia1 — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 12:27:04 GMT

It's sad that so many people have such a poor grasp of spelling, grammar and correct pronunciations.

Do they not care how ignorant they look?

Re: Butchering language

jackthebear — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 12:34:32 GMT

I think that if you are selling anything, perfume to computers, a salesperson should familiarize themselves with the correct way to say term they don't know.

It is obvious that after watching this channel that Mgt doesn't have an interest in this

Re: Butchering language

BalletBabe — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 03:43:19 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
Who do you think is going to rush onto the set and intervene? Language police? A college professor? Someone from the state department? Calm down, it's going to be okay.

LOLOLOL @Kachina624

Re: Butchering language

Moonchilde — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 09:04:53 GMT

The English language is butchered daily on these forums on a continuing basis by the posters. I think maybe if everyone had an educated grasp of their own language, then maybe we could address the mispronunciation of non-English words.

Re: Butchering language

cbrite — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 09:21:07 GMT

I'm not saying how I pronounced the word "ciao".............for 5 years.

_____

.............I have a difficult time reading some things all over when they use YOUR.... it confuses the sentence meaning.... You're = you are // Your= Your car // and then there is

their / they're / there.............not just here but even the news articles....but I don't mind as many are trying so darn hard and from other countries.