May 04, 2005

• Oops - via.
• Is 'American English' like 'sluttish virgin'? *slap* ouch!
• Actually that nu-cu-lar (for nuclear) repetetive mistake by Bush is interesting. It's always been a soundbite by which he's been lampooned. But my own feeling is that, despite what PBS imply, it 'seems' morelike a dyslexic trope. I'm no linguist but I think there are plenty of much better reasons for which GWB can be critcized rather than highlighting his speechifying manglements. It's just a bit too pat to hang 'intelligence' on speech quality.
• I'm afraid of Americans.
• It's interesting, though, when speechifying manglements seem to highlight something unsaid, or misspoken, in the manner of a freudian slip. Hmm, one of my mispronunciations - of semi - is ok in one case. However, for the word semi, meaning a tractor-trailer, SEM-eye is acceptable.
• one weird americanism is the different pronounciations of the word "draught" referring to tap beer. in kansas city they pronounced it "draw," in d.c. it's "draft." go figure.
• The mispronunciation of "nuclear" drives me batty... every time I hear it, it's like someone scratched their fingernails on a blackboard. And yet it's not just Bush, and all things considered it's probably not a big deal. Hell, Carter had troubles with the word and he actually studied nuclear physics in graduate school! Language does change over time, and god knows there are enough words that are not prononced the way they appear (is everyone here "comfortable" with that assertion?). According to the following article "nuke-you-lur" seems to be in large part a Southern thing and is common in the military culture as well. Bush's 'nuculer' reactions: The president's critics have a meltdown when he mispronounces "nuclear," but linguists say it's a common way to say it
• There's no explanation for Bush's continuing use of "nu-cular" other than willful choice. Even if you could make the argument that there was a connection between using that pronunciation and intelligence in general, he's been doing it long enough and consistently enough that someone in the White House would've corrected him if it didn't poll well (and I'm using "poll" informally). See also, the consistent and continued use of that pronunciation by Kiefer Sutherland on 24 -- people think it's right and don't want to be told, indirectly, that they're wrong.
• Or rather, "pronounced." I'm going to go read My Pet Goat with the president again. Don't wait up.
• A linguist interviewed for the article I just linked asserts that Bush's pronunciation of "nuclear" is probably intentional. The reasons for this given by aaronetc are probably right on the money.
• It drives me crazy that Jack Bauer mispronounces it. It seems out of character in some way. That has to be some kind of nod to the President... Hey, it's OK to say it like this - see, even cool action heroes say noo-cyoo-ler. So - according to the logic aaronetc mentioned, we shouldn't correct folks who think that 2+2=5? (Not an attack on aaronetc - I just don't understand the mindset. I'd want to be corrected if I were saying something wrong.)
• I'm glad I visited the website before ranting about how awful I thought the show was. The site has has some pretty cool stuff (although I disagree with some of their answers on the regional tests). It's sort of a Linguist List for us commonfolk. I saw the PBS series, though, and thought it sucked out loud. Especially the show on the California contributions to slang--sorry, but most of the so-called Cali slang came there from people who resettled there. Yes, some of the surfer slang was original (or at least sounded original--I am not an expert) but most came from elsewhere. And if I saw the lady in the bayou play her "shirt accordion" one more time, I was gonna gag. Momma's got a squeezebox, indeed!
• See, I take a different view. I feel sure with Bush that his pronunciation is not ever intentional. He could probably pronounce out the syllables easily if he was repeating what he heard. But it just feels to me like it is the whole 'word choice' in brain to tongue/mouth action that appears disturbed. He tries but can't really control it. I'm sure some people DO pronounce things on purpose in an ornery way but with him it's not ignorance or bloodymindedness, it's either some brain anomaly or else a speech defect from psychological (childhood) origin. Those are things that are hard to remedy whichever way. But that's just my take. And I was one of those who originally laughed at the seeming buffoonery of the guy when he was running in '99 for the presidency. And as for Say-My (semi)....we in the anglo world pronounce it as: say-me. It's just one of those 'things' - funny little geologisms (is that a word? - if not I claim copyright) that have arisen over the last 300-odd years.
• I love collecting New York Speak. Favourite part of being in town. The site raises an interesting possibility, that New Yorkers' intrusiveness is not rude, but rather reflective of a genuine interest to find out more about the person. The very diversity of New Yorkese would in itself suggest that, seeing as how words specific to one ethnic group get assimilated into the larger community's vocabulary. (Example -- a while ago on the Apprentice, George remarked to one of the contestants something along the lines of "so you're the one they have schlepping this stuff over town?" I forget the exact words. But the natural ease with which George used 'schlepping' was marvellous -- it really was a normal word for a New Yorker, and not just of its original ethnic community.) Odd, though -- the different use of language by Americans has a great appeal for me, but American spelling drives me ab-so-lute-ly batty...
• Oh -- and I did terribly on the audio tests. But I'm legally deaf, so I'm excused.
• This is great, MsVader - banana to you.
• Anyone notice that those from the Dakodas and there abouts pronounce "wash" with an R inserted? eg "I warshed the car today." My grandma and mom say it this way and I've heard it in Indiana where I studied at IU.
• I haven't heard much of what linguists have to say about Bush but my linguistic gut tells me that, while there is socio-economic variation in who says nuclear, and who says nucular, it is up to the speaker to choose to say whichever in order to affect the right sound. Bush is most definately aware of this (at least, if he pays attention to criticism), and may well be doing it to speak to a particular crowd. He may well realize that people do have judgements on this dialectical variation, and may yet still be chosing to speak this way. On the other hand, I kind of dislike how he sounds like he's shouting a lot of the time, particularly during the debates. The intonation he uses sometimes sets me on edge.
• I did horribly on the quizes but I have also never been too far away from the west coast, and *groovy* and *bitchen* still exist in a lot of the sentences I utter.
• The comments on Bush's pronunciation of nuclear reminded me of Laura's recent jab at George. "But George and I are complete opposites — I'm quiet, he's talkative, I'm introverted, he's extroverted, I can pronounce nuclear" (transcript) Though, it's hard to say whether she believes he's mispronouncing the word, given that she hasn't seen Desperate Housewives and may not have ever actually been to a Chippendales.
• Here's a linguist's take on Bush. And an article with a bit more info. Hmm...I remember one of his aids saying that Bush had practiced saying 'Abu Grahib' about 3 or 4 times on the day he first addressed it. He gaffed it completely of course. It's these other manglings I guess that ....um, make me think that he can't be doing all of it on purpose. Why would he? I suppose I can see the redneck argument for something like 'nucular' but all the rest? *shrug* Maybe I'm arguing uphill. Anyway, I don't even get the opportunity to not vote for him.
• All Bush all the time!
• I thought I wouldn't know any of the Slayer Lexicon, not having seen the series, but much of it is familiar from Clueless, or wherever. I admit I hadn't heard of pointy, though. That's so genius.
• Anyone notice that those from the Dakodas and there abouts pronounce "wash" with an R inserted? eg "I warshed the car today." Supposedly, the more severe forms of Pittsburgh slang/inflection do this (it's not a proper dialect, so whatever one would call that.) I don't hear it often, but when I do it drives me absolutely bonkers. "Warshington," too. 'Course, the whole area's non-dialect-thingy is whacked out to begin with. So it's probably one of those things that pops up in pockets across the country, like pop-vs.-soda.
• Having been originally from Arizona, I was long exposed to the hispanic pronunciation of locations and natural features (i.e. Gila River pronounced "heela.") However, when I came to Colorado I was perplexed by the common (mis)pronunciations: Buena Vista pronounced "byoona"; Pueblo as "pyooblo"; Galapago as "galaPAgo." I could go on. Given the strong hispanic influence that exists here as well, this has never seemed right to me.