The Letter T
Something is afoot with the letter T. It is migrating in mysterious ways and I worry about some linguistic fuckery going on. My first notice of this anomaly was about a decade ago. The D in "and" was being replaced by a T, mostly by celebrities who were dragging out their and and turning it into ant. I was puzzled.
Then, while listening to a New York City YouTuber, I noticed he had dropped the Ts from Manhattan. It became "Manha-an". I figured it was a New York thing. Then it spread.
This went from a notice of something to a distraction to an honest annoyance. What was going on? Where are my fellow thinking people, nerds with ears, who are constantly NPRing and hearing something that doesn't fit the standard? What is the deal?
The incidents that caught my attention were imbedded in the words Manha--an, impor--ant, and Ti--ans. Manhattan, important are fairly clear, but Ti-ans was a breach of a standard which pricked my ear, and raised my ire.
The Titans are Nashville's pro football team. I listen to Nashville's NPR station on my morning commute, and there is often a story about the home team. The reporter was dropping her Ts every time. Obviously, she got some criticism from management and began pronouncing "Titans" with increased emphasis on the middle T. Then, "important" had a more pronounced middle T.
What's up? Is there a revolution going on? Is T under attack? Does it have some existential dread that is forcing an undescribed takeover of where it and other letters have priority in the language?
My theory is split between two possibilities - 1) There is a new linguistic variation of what was known as "vocal fry", a vague new intonation and 2) A conspiracy by the Deep State to contort our language to a point where certain individuals will be discredited due to their diction, like wearing a mask or not. You decide.
Then, while listening to a New York City YouTuber, I noticed he had dropped the Ts from Manhattan. It became "Manha-an". I figured it was a New York thing. Then it spread.
This went from a notice of something to a distraction to an honest annoyance. What was going on? Where are my fellow thinking people, nerds with ears, who are constantly NPRing and hearing something that doesn't fit the standard? What is the deal?
The incidents that caught my attention were imbedded in the words Manha--an, impor--ant, and Ti--ans. Manhattan, important are fairly clear, but Ti-ans was a breach of a standard which pricked my ear, and raised my ire.
The Titans are Nashville's pro football team. I listen to Nashville's NPR station on my morning commute, and there is often a story about the home team. The reporter was dropping her Ts every time. Obviously, she got some criticism from management and began pronouncing "Titans" with increased emphasis on the middle T. Then, "important" had a more pronounced middle T.
What's up? Is there a revolution going on? Is T under attack? Does it have some existential dread that is forcing an undescribed takeover of where it and other letters have priority in the language?
My theory is split between two possibilities - 1) There is a new linguistic variation of what was known as "vocal fry", a vague new intonation and 2) A conspiracy by the Deep State to contort our language to a point where certain individuals will be discredited due to their diction, like wearing a mask or not. You decide.
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