ShenLong wrote:
Oh lawdy lawd. I understand. My mom had a party with some old friends yesterday and it was like that. People speaking really quickly in Spanish, aspirating their 's's like no tomorrow. It's almost like how Brits drop their 'r's to those who aren't Spanish speakers or know little about the accents.
Random hi-jack concerning special interest:
Excuse me, but you are completely wrong.
If you are referring to the practice of not pronouncing Rs that come after a vowel, that is something unique to Southern English (Received Pronunciation). RP is the way that the Queen herself talks. Are you trying to compare HM the Queen to a roomful of shrieking Puerto Ricans?
The comparison you're looking for is dropping Hs, not Rs. Dropping Hs is NOT something the Queen would do, and is unique to lower-class British accents. It is frowned upon in the same way that dropping Ss in Spanish is frowned upon. Dropping Rs is NOT frowned upon in Britain. In fact, it is seen as the correct form of pronunciation.
Oh look! Here is an interesting quote from one John Flood, Academic Principal at Churchill House School of English in Bournemouth:
Quote:
"People talk a lot of rubbish about language," he says. "It is one of those subjects like football where everyone thinks they know everything about it when they don't."
I suppose that probably includes me.