There’s something wrong with my ears.
“Yew shoulda seed gordin puffinuntin thuther day.”
What?!
This has been going on for a while now, this need to say “huh?” in response to questions. I blame affordable concert prices in my youth, although in all fairness I have to admit that in addition to the intermittent ringing in my ears since Purple Rain, we now have the slurring with which to contend.
Oh, not my slurring: it’s everyone else’s slurring that is messing me up.
But I’ve noticed this slurring of one word into another primarily in men.
Like a recent conversation in which the sentence “yew shoulda seed gordin puffinuntin thuther day” popped up.
Again: What?!
Sure, it looks easy now; but at the time, there had been no hint of anything Gordon-Ramsey related in the conversation.
How it came up, I’ll never know.
And who talks about puffin hunting?
I guess I had never considered puffins a sport bird.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s my ears.
And maybe it’s the close-lipped speech of some people.
All I know is that guy better stop making fun of my bewilderment over “puffinuntin”.
After all, I laugh at his jokes.
I figgeree yoze me.
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23 comments:
Sounds like the tail end of my happy hour!
Secretia
Purple Rain was my FIRST concert! But I was in 7th grade so my Dad took me. I wonder how much he enjoyed Sheila E's opening act when she simulated oral sex on some guy from the audience...?
Don't make the puffins angry!
Ha! I have this problem, too. I can hear a cat twitching its whiskers from a hundred yards away, but understanding someone standing 3 feet away? Forget it. I'm good with sounds, no words please. :)
Yeah, what's up with the new form of double speak, as if their ideas are so important they must cram it all in before being interrupted, which of course gets you to say, "Huh?" indicating your undivided attention and permission to slur it all together in longer squeetenceegees.
Back when I was a Thespian I worked diligently on using my upper lip when I talk.
Did you notice that Midwesterners have completely abandon their upper lips?
Best,
Ann
Roasted puffin.....Yummo
Sounds like most Glaswegians I know. They get everywhere.
Unfortunately, when I say "Huh?" the offender usually just repeats the same words, same pacing, same intonation, same volume. So whatever caused me to miss it the first time...strikes again.
Since my early life on lawnguyland, I have been most painfully aware of the tendency of all human beings to blissfully de-enunciate (my word for it) when excited or when speaking in small social groups. A new, localized, rhythm of speech is developed that is understandable to the group. With age comes a loss of the ability to hear the almost indistinct pauses between the words.
And, since I spent a few too many hours at hard rock concerts (Led Zeppelin, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Iron Butterfly, and the like) without wads of cotton jammed in my ears, I also suffer from the "Huh?" malady.
(an aside... Ann, I never knew you were a thespian... Don't ask, don't tell, eh?)
Puffin the magic dragon was NOT a song about drugs I tell you....lol.
=]
When I visited Iceland a few years ago, I was horrified to learn that they had puffin on the menu in some places. Those darling little fish eaters ARE hunted!
I agree...presently people seem to run their words all in together and expect you to understand it. When the "huh?" slips out before you can stop it...they will repeat it exactly the same except LOUDER. Now that I'm older and basically have more nerve...I tell them to slow down so I can understand wth they are saying!!
The older I get, the more people seem to slur their words. Damn them!
Bottox can be a terrible thing...
I definitely visited a few too many "affordable concerts" in my youth, as well! I'm CONSTANTLY asking my husband to repeat himself. So he doesn't get mad, I tell him what I THOUGHT he said! That can be really, really funny!!
I suspect that somebody's told the youth of today that letters are in short supply. All those vowels they aren't using in textspeak are passing as intelligible spoken conversation. When you actually hear a real consonant (not just a glottal stop)(sorry, yo'a o') it comes like a slap in the face.
You wake up on your 40th birthday half blind.... you know you are half blind and do something about it..... the hearing.... oh the hearing....unlike sight...what we miss with the ears we remain oblivious... with a healthy mix of inappropriate responses.......I'm so sorry, I thought you said you crapped your pants...etc.
As if learning another language isn't difficult enough.....fondly believing Spanish sounded roughly the way it was written I went to Costa Rica and found that glaswegians had hijacked the language....Spanish with a glottal stop....
Huh?
Sadly, that sentence meant exactly what I thought it meant on first reading.
Oh, you only have the diminished sight and hearing then? ...I wont spoil it for you by telling you about the rest of the things that are just about to go wrong.....
LOL! I think people are speaking like that just to annoy you... ;-)
Never your fault. It has to be other people.
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