# Do people no longer speak English in the USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 5, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781 "2003-09-05T18:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781/41 "2003-09-07T07:08:36Z")
Last time…damn I gotta get some sleep.[here you go](http://slate.msn.com/Features/bushisms/bushisms.asp) I believe these are all valid. They include cites and dates, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ptahlis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@Ptahlis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ptahlis)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781/42 "2003-09-07T13:19:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > \*\*Of course, you may well be able to supply a quote that shows such ignorance on the part of Mr. Bush, and save your point. > > - Rick \*\* Well, I think it would be hard to find a direct quote in a news article where they don’t _print_ “nuclear” when transcribing Bush’s words, but I do have these two articles discussing his mispronunciation: [#1](http://slate.msn.com/id/2071155/) and [#2](http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/nucular.html) I am no fan of Bush, but the articles rightly point out that he is hardly the only person, or even the only president, to say “nucular.” Clinton did it as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781/43 "2003-09-07T20:26:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by t-keela \* > So, **Rick** I think my example was relevant to the OP. I still don’t agree. The OP presented a person who was offended at being asked to listen to a presentation by a _classist_, the distinction between that word and _classicist_ being lost upon him. The problem the OP complains about is not pronunciation, but vocabulary knowledge. Others who chimed in to the thread also presented stunning examples of people not familiar with the meanings of words. Your example shows Mr. Bush unable to correctly PRONOUNCE a word, but doesn’t suggest he is ignorant of its meaning. In this way, you missed the boat. If you are now arguing that sloppy pronunciation is the first step to imperfect vocabulary, or that the example of poor pronunciation gives a green light, somehow, to those unable to grasp meanings, I’m afraid I must disagree. Besides showing nothing to support that notion, it unfairly stigmatizes people with all sorts of accents. The President, a Texan, is held accountable for a Southern accent and colloquialisms; are all Southerners equally to blame for the decline of vocabularly skills? How about the inner-city African-American accent - almost a patois, in fact? Are they the harbingers of poor education as well? How about a transplanted Parisian, or Lisbonite? Do their accents and imperfect pronunciations also contribute to a culture in which ignorance of words’ meanings are the norm? - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781/44 "2003-09-07T20:31:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by t-keela \* > Because most of them spoke with a heavy southern accent it made the whole country sound like a bunch of hicks. (Sorry, no offense intended) Here, I believe, is the root of the problem. I’m not offended, but I can assure you your apparent assumption that all Southern accents make the speaker sound like a “hick” is misplaced - and, I imagine, quite offensive to a person with a Southern accent. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781/45 "2003-09-07T20:36:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by t-keela \* > So…argh to hell with it. I’m tired and this isn’t worth staying up for. > Google George Bush and inarticulate then dismiss the results you get. I will not waste my time arguing the man’s lack of oratory skills. That was one of a few premises upon which I would apply some psych. theories in an attempt to explain human behavior as observed by the OP. > > If you think he IS articulate, cool…I’m not fighting w/ya on that. No one is arguing he’s stunningly articulate. You just seem to be missing the difference between a poor public speaker and an ignorant one. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781/46 "2003-09-07T23:24:44Z")
The problem’s not just confined to the USA …[a paediatrician hounded from her home…](http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_49785.html) ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781/47 "2003-09-08T05:22:26Z")
Damn **Rick** are you still arguing that Bush never misused a word in any of his comments. Where’ve you been? I guess I’ll have to actually quote him using a word incorrectly before you believe it. I seriously thought his oratory weaknesses were a given fact. I guess I’m the “ignorant” one around here? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\* > So, can somebody explain to me how such incredible levels of inarticulation have become so popular among the “educated”? \*\* This implies that educated people can be inarticulate, sarcasm aside. Clearly these speakers are educated. FACT: Everyone is ignorant in some aspect. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > \*\* > No one is arguing he’s stunningly articulate. You just seem to be missing the difference between a poor public speaker and an ignorant one. > \*\* So, we agree that Bush **IS** inarticulate. We both know he is educated. I do understand the difference between the two examples of articulation regarding our disagreement. I don’t necessarily agree that **“a poor public speaker and an ignorant one”** (your words) are mutually exclusive terms. If the OP had clearly restricted terms/definitions to his specific example, I would have quoted a similar misuse of language. As far as southern accents are concerned. Surely, nobody thinks Jimmy Carter is ignorant. He is probably one of the most intelligent men to ever have been President. IIRC he did not sound ignorant, but he also didn’t sound educated. Many people I’ve met are surprised to discover just how educated he is. BTW, I never said all southern accents…sound like hicks. At least get my quotes correct. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > \*\* > If you are now arguing that sloppy pronunciation is the first step to imperfect vocabulary, or that the example of poor pronunciation gives a green light, somehow, to those unable to grasp meanings, I’m afraid I must disagree. Besides showing nothing to support that notion, it unfairly stigmatizes people with all sorts of accents. The President, a Texan, is held accountable for a Southern accent and colloquialisms; are all Southerners equally to blame for the decline of vocabularly skills? How about the inner-city African-American accent - almost a patois, in fact? Are they the harbingers of poor education as well? How about a transplanted Parisian, or Lisbonite? Do their accents and imperfect pronunciations also contribute to a culture in which ignorance of words’ meanings are the norm? > \*\* Hmm, I said all that did I? Sounds like you’re taking this thing a bit personally. Especially since you completely got whooshed from the beginning…if you missed it the first time. I did include a 😉 and a 😃 But no you want to pick a damned fight. I am from Texas. I sound like I’m from Texas. I don’t consider myself to be too ignorant. I have a decent education as well. But, when I hear GWB butchering the English language, it hurts my ears (figuratively speaking of course) and I hear the accent everyday. Despite the fact that GWB went to a prestigous college is not a native Texan and has **deep New England roots**. He does one hell of a job portraying himself as a Good Ol’ Boy. Maybe that’s my whole beef right there. The guy just … :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781/48 "2003-09-08T13:56:41Z")
Well, t-k, if you’re harping on the man’s use of the pronunciation “nuc-yu-lar,” you are being ignorant. That happens to be the way a good number of people say the word. The English language is still a living language and thus subject to change. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781/49 "2003-09-08T14:05:45Z")
Actual conversation that I witnessed in high school: “Are you a virgin?” “No. [pause] I’m a Gemini.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-no-longer-speak-english-in-the-usa/199781.md?page=2)