What Has Happened To The English Language?

I was watching TV tonight and on came the adverts and I heard the English language get totally butchered by a well know celebrity publicising a car sale company.

I know there are people who believe that only people who speak what was known as the “Queen’s English” should be talking on televison and radio, but I think that the sound of a regional accent is welcomed, as long as what is being said can be understood by everyone, not just those from that specific region. I must admit that there have been announcers in the past whose strong regional accent had made understanding difficult, but now they do seem to have found the correct level!

No, this was murder of the word MOTOR!

The celebrity in question speaks with an exaggerated Cockney accent through overly white, sparkling teeth, but seems to be unable to pronounce the word correctly and seems to ignore the central T in the word and says it more like MOHER.

As a Southerner myself, and being told that I do talk like a Cockney, I always pronouce the word and, no matter how hard I try to sound more Cockney than I am, I am unable to NOT use the central letter.

I think that it is just pure laziness by the person as whenever I do hear him on television, he seems to drop more and more letters and is creating his own vocabulary. His pronounciation has deteriorated over the years since he started on TV!

In my role as a Grumpy Old Man, I feel that people in the public eye should not only try to act as a good and fine example to youngsters, but should also talk in a manner that emphasises the correct way to speak. The general standard of the English language is not great at present and we need more people in the public eye to show youngsters how it should be spoken and not butcher it like we are seeing now!

We need to get a campaign underway to improve the quality of language of people in the public eye and the sooner the better otherwise we’ll end up with more new words that are old words with their original letters missing.

I’d welcome your thoughts on this in the comments below and your help in making this important change!