# Most Annoying Affected Pronunciation In Popular Music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389 "2010-11-21T01:22:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/41 "2010-11-21T07:18:53Z")
Yellow. Ledbetter. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/42 "2010-11-21T08:24:37Z")
“Imagine all the pe-PULL-LL-LL . . .” (Ringo also sings “yellow **club** marine” in the final verse of the song of almost the same name, but flub or pun, it’s kind of cute.) ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/43 "2010-11-21T08:28:28Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Where are you from? Some accents would certainly pronounce them the same way, but a rhotic accent, for instance wouldn’t. **The vowel is also different in a lot of accents**. _(bolding mine)_ Apparently Australian is one of them. 🙂 Soar, saw and sore all sound the same to me! ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/44 "2010-11-21T08:44:14Z")
All these posts and no one is annoyed by Manfred Mann’s “Wrapped up like a douche”?! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/45 "2010-11-21T10:11:40Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Supernovar and soar for saw aren’t affectations though, it’s just the singers’ real pronunciations of those words. If it were an American singer doing it it would be an affectation. As a non-rhotic speaker, I’d agree regarding Oasis. There’s an R there because the next word begins with a vowel and a lot of Brits use the “non-rhotic intrusive R” that personally I hate: Champagne supernova-R-in the sky. Irritating but correct. However, though my accent pronounces “soar”, “sore” and “saw” exactly the same, there’s no reason to put the R in when the next word is “them”. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/46 "2010-11-21T15:57:48Z")
“White Hot” by Tom Cochrane drives me nuts with the chorus: I’m white hot; I can’t take it anymore I’m white hot; by the SOMA LION shore It’s “Somalian” not “Soma lion”! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/47 "2010-11-21T16:43:19Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > As a non-rhotic speaker, I’d agree regarding Oasis. There’s an R there because the next word begins with a vowel and a lot of Brits use the “non-rhotic intrusive R” that personally I hate: > > Champagne supernova-R-in the sky. > > Irritating but correct. > > However, though my accent pronounces “soar”, “sore” and “saw” exactly the same, there’s no reason to put the R in when the next word is “them”. Funny, I was just criticized for rhyming “war,” “for,” and “secure,” which have all always rhymed wherever I’ve lived. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/48 "2010-11-21T17:00:17Z")
From wikipedia: > [@](#): > > A débutante (from the French débutante, “female beginner”) is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal “début” presentation. Mellencamp’s line always made sense to me as the whole song is about two kids becoming adults. In the case of the line in question, either the French definition or the definition of a girl reaching the age of maturity fit the story Mellencamp wants to tell. I, personally, always took it to mean the latter and in a sexual sense. Mellencamp’s style is strictly a matter of taste. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/49 "2010-11-21T19:51:29Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > As a non-rhotic speaker, I’d agree regarding Oasis. There’s an R there because the next word begins with a vowel and a lot of Brits use the “non-rhotic intrusive R” that personally I hate: > > Champagne supernova-R-in the sky. > > Irritating but correct. > > However, though my accent pronounces “soar”, “sore” and “saw” exactly the same, there’s no reason to put the R in when the next word is “them”. I never had pronunciation issues with the song. But the part about slowly walking down the hall faster than a cannonball never fails to elicit bemusement from me. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/50 "2010-11-21T21:09:50Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > I never had pronunciation issues with the song. But the part about slowly walking down the hall faster than a cannonball never fails to elicit bemusement from me. The following line “where were you when we were getting high” suggests that it’s some sort of hallucination. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/51 "2010-11-21T22:18:40Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > All these posts and no one is annoyed by Manfred Mann’s “Wrapped up like a douche”?! For what it’s worth, it’s “revved up,” not “wrapped up.” In the Springsteen version, I think it’s “cut loose” or some such. It almost makes sense given what the song is about. I know it’s not a song, but I can’t help but think of Wilfred Brimley’s “diabeetus.” ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/52 "2010-11-21T22:26:09Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > I know it’s not a song, but I can’t help but think of Wilfred Brimley’s “diabeetus.” That’s how my mom says it. She’s been diabetic for forty-four years. ---
**Author:** ![big\_alex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@big\_alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_alex)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/53 "2010-11-21T22:26:22Z")
The “ooookay” at the begining of Jagger and Bowie’s Dancing in the Street always annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/54 "2010-11-21T22:26:30Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > I know it’s not a song, but I can’t help but think of Wilfred Brimley’s “diabeetus.” I guess I started the thread with the intention of covering only purposeful put-on-DB mispronunciations (Springsteen clearly knows that no human says “pank”). I always thought Brimley was just trying to pronounce the word but it was a regional/generational weird variant. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/55 "2010-11-21T22:27:34Z")
I gave up listening to Tori Amos many years ago because I cannot fucking stand the way she mispronounces everything and puts on a bizarre Cockney accent at random moments and pronounces “main” like “mine”. GAH. Her supremely self-conciously twee lyrics were the other breaking point. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/56 "2010-11-21T22:32:02Z")
> [@big\_alex](#): > > Jagger How did I forget him? “Ennnnnjaaayyy!” Jackass. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/57 "2010-11-21T22:37:22Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > I guess I started the thread with the intention of covering only purposeful put-on-DB mispronunciations (Springsteen clearly knows that no human says “pank”). I always thought Brimley was just trying to pronounce the word but it was a regional/generational weird variant. > [@Kyla](#): > > That’s how my mom says it. She’s been diabetic for forty-four years. I stand corrected then. I always assumed that Brimley did it intentionally in some weird effort to be folksy. But if not, oooookay! ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/58 "2010-11-21T22:38:52Z")
Was just thinking about this today as I sang along with the radio on the way to buy my turkey. In Katy Perry’s piece of pop-fluff **California Gurls** , she pronounces “us” as “oos.” As in "once you party with oo-oos . . . " Don’t know if that’s a regionalism, and don’t really care, but I always mark it in my head as I shamelessly bop along with her cheerful sluttiness. ---
**Author:** ![prettydorky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@prettydorky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prettydorky)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/59 "2010-11-21T23:06:55Z")
Aerosmith’s **Eat the Rich** - Eat the “wretch!” ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/60 "2010-11-21T23:10:35Z")
> [@Sigmundex](#): > > And don’t get me started about this line, you know, the one that doesn’t even have a VERB! > > Diane’s debutante back seat of Jackie’s car > [@Blake](#): > > You have a superfluous apostrophe. The actual lyric is “Diane debutante back seat of Jackie’s car”. I’ve always heard it with the apostrophe, as if to say that because these kids are living very much working class, no frills lives, Diane’s debutante _event_, her “coming out,” her entry into adult life, was when she lost her virginity to Jack. Not a superfluous apostrophe, and in fact, perhaps an unheard colon. “Diane’s debutante: back seat of Jackie’s car.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389.md?page=4)