Q Talk

[dooBdoo]

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

@dooBdoo, you nailed it with your post describing the three ways of pronouncing such words. I am used to the soft "t" version. The hard "t" sounds strange to me.

As for the third way, the one that is the issue here, I don't necessarily think that it is laziness at all but rather a habit arising from how it's pronounced in a person's environment.

As @on the bay mentioned, I also have trouble even mimicking the the dropping of both "T's

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            Thanks, @suzyQ3!   I agree with you about the "laziness," and that instead it basically comes from each vendor's, host's, or guest's background and environment.   Additionally, this new pronunciation takes more effort, in my opinion, so it wouldn't be related to laziness.

[dooBdoo]

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@Shawnie wrote:

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@dooBdoo wrote:

           There actually are 3 ways people are pronouncing words like "cotton" or "button."   In my experience, there used to be only 2 ways -- either a regular or "hard" sound to the "t" or the glottal sound most of us probably use.   Here's a very basic video that explains and we can hear the 2 sounds (you ony need to listen to the first part to get the gist):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vabg-EUHOQk

           In recent times, for some reason, people have invented a 3rd pronunciation.   This method sounds like "cahh--hun" or "buhh--hun" with the main accent on the first syllable but definite emphasis on both syllables, and it eliminates the "t" altogether.   Dennis Basso does this quite distinctly, and every time I hear it I think how much more difficult it is to say the words that way, it takes more effort.

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Thankyou for posting this video.  It explains why the third newer variation in cotton and button sounds like chalk on a board to me.  The person on qvc that I hear using it is the blonde vendor for Dooney who says Bu'un regularly in describing the strap type on their bags.  Every time she pronounces it I cringe.  BTW I pronounce all of the examples in the video using the glottal first choice pronunciation except-Mountain which I believe that I pronounce both glottal and with the emphasis on the second syllable as Moun Tain.  Go figure.

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            You're welcome, @Shawnie!   I think the video helps, too.😊

[santorini]

I hate it too.  It's like you're in the dentist chair and the dentist has his hands in your mouth, holding down your tongue and then tells you to say "cotton."  It sounds ridiculous but I guess one person said it and someone thought it was cool so they copied it.  A little like SK and how everything is a "story" -- "let's talk about the easy pay story" -- "here is our value story" -- "let's look at our color story."   Now I hear the other hosts saying it all the time.

[cotto22]

I was thinking this was some sort of speech impediment on the part of those saying it, so tried not to be too critical. I have noticed it most with the young woman who helps out with the LOGO line. It is distracting!

[KKWA]

There is another new "valley girl" impediment that bothers me, and that is adding a sh sound to "S" words.  Stripe is Shtripe and strange is shtrange.  Angel is a good example.  

@seaBreeze I am sure it is much more that caffeine.

Here is another:  You know you are from Seattle if you pronounce it Seaddle.  For those of us who live here, it is true.

[Shawnie]

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@KKWA wrote:

There is another new "valley girl" impediment that bothers me, and that is adding a sh sound to "S" words.  Stripe is Shtripe and strange is shtrange.  Angel is a good example.  

@seaBreezeI am sure it is much more that caffeine.

Here is another:  You know you are from Seattle if you pronounce it Seaddle.  For those of us who live here, it is true.

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I pronounce it Seaddle and I am not from there.  Never thought about it until just now, LOL.

[TenderMercies]

I cannot believe this is still being discussed.  It is appropriate to pronounce words like Cotton, Button and Putin with a glottal stop rather than a hard T in American English.  There are several websites with information about this, and many different dictionaries which you can visit online as well in which you can click a button and hear how the words are pronounced in both American and British English.  It is not a regional thing, and it is not something teenagers started doing a few years ago.  It’s always been this way, and it’s appropriate.  When was the last time you heard someone say, “Wait just a cotton-pickin minute,” with a hard T?  Go to YouTube and find a version of the Gershwin tune, Summertime, in which the singer croons, “Fish are jumpin, and the cotton is high” where you hear a hard T.  People just love to complain, don’t they?

[tarsmom]

This was so enlightening!  The poster who mentioned the Valley Girl thing is right - there's a third way - it's cah-in.  Or buh-in.  That's what's bugging the original poster, I believe and it bugs me, too.  I only hear younger women speak this way (20's and younger).  

A local young woman sportscaster did it a few times - the Spar-ins instead of Spartans and both hubby and I looked at each other and started laughing!  

[kivah]

@Kachina624

Susan is from NY - and that's where I grew up. It's lenth!!!! Sorry

[lOVETOSHOP]

What actually bothers me more than the cotton and button pronunciations is when I hear a vendor who is showing a product say "gonna" instead of "going to."  

As an example, they'll be showing a shoe and stating "you're gonna feel the cushioning on the insole."  It just sounds bad to me, instead they should be saying "you're going to feel the cushioning on the insole."

There, I feel better!!!