Sometimes I almost expect Tom Jones to break out right in the middle of the newscast with "What's New, Pussy Cat?"
Contributed By:The 411 News
As Hamlet says ...
Talking is out of style. People still do it, but it’s lost something. It seems it is in dire need of revision, or upgrading, or something to make it “more attractive,” that the language, and the use of that language, has lost its appeal, that it’s time to “hype it up,” kind of like upgrading one’s wardrobe, or updating the living room… Anyway, that seems to be what I’m noticing lately…
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for improvement, but my idea of such is learning more words, not just changing the way they sound when they come out of the mouth. That’s what singers are interested in, and I haven’t been a singer for a few years, and even when I was, I stuck rather closely to the notes. Maybe that makes me conservative. If so, Oh, well…
A few years back, speakers used to model themselves after good speakers, you know, the ones who saw a word and duplicated the sound of that word, based on the letters in it! The sounds were clean, precise. Sounds began at a certain point, and continued “according to schedule.” Like cake, they could be judged by those who recognized the difference between good and just thrown together. It was not assumed that everybody with vocal cords, articulators, etc., was a good speaker.
Call me picky, but I recoil when I hear people doing somersaults with their voices. I want to scream Hamlet’s directive, “Speak the speech, I pray you, trippingly on the tongue…” Clarity is, for me, so far superior to what passes for style! Let me share some of my horrors:
There seems to be a new “athle-speak” of late. A sports announcer puts a mike in front of a hockey, basketball, or football player – or coach – and the guy begins, “…He threw me a hard one, an-duh-ruh, I knew there was only five seconds on the clock, an-duh-ruh, I just got up under it, an-duh-ruh…”
I’ve listened to interviews before, and I know oftimes they’re out of breath, but this is relatively new! Besides, the coach isn’t out of breath… and women athletes aren’t as bad, though some are trying!
Then there are the regular television announcers. When did the women decide they needed to purr at the ends of sentences? Sometimes I almost expect Tom Jones to break out right in the middle of the newscast with “What’s New, Pussy Cat?” It’s news, for heaven’s sakes, not a come on!
Add to these the ones who string out the last few words without the growl. Whether they’re doing a commercial about stubborn stains or promising cloudy weather, the voice is as far away from the purpose as the fish you came to the lake for are from where you dropped your sinker. It’s more about them than it is about the message.
Words have a purpose, and the way we use them should fit that purpose. None of us would be caught informing a next door neighbor about a tragedy using a bouncy voice and wearing a perfect smile!
Words are so important, and they should be used with integrity, not tossed around at will. When it comes to hair color, that’s your prerogative, but words are not your prerogative. They deserve your respect.
Story Posted:02/04/2017
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