# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Walmarticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Walmarticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walmarticus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/101 "2010-11-22T20:37:46Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > The Verve Pipe’s “Freshmen” isn’t a horrible song but what, pray, is a “frashman,” which is what the clown actually sings? For that, I actually prefer major league pitcher Bronson Arroyo’s cover, as he pronounces the word right. Holy Shit! I’ve been wondering who sang that shit since the 90s. I’m mentally high-fiving you, sexily of course. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/102 "2010-11-22T20:49:27Z")
Sly Stone. When he sings “thank you falettinme be mice elf agin” it sound like he’s singing totally different words. ---
**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 22, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/103 "2010-11-22T22:36:19Z")
I’m driven half-nuts by those songs–usually show tunes–affecting a Southern accent, in which the mispronounced word is rhymed with a correctly pronounced one, such as “I love you so, / I couldn’t love you mo’.” That’s fudging on the songwriter’s part. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/104 "2010-11-23T00:50:08Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > You realize the “day” vowel is a diphthong, right? Not necessarily. I can hold a sound that is recognizably that vowel as long as I want - if I think about it ahead of time. Certainly it’s more common to glide into “ee” as it ends, but starting the pronunciation further forward makes it possible to hear a single vowel. Contrast this with “long I”. I can’t possibly hold a sound like that, having to go from “ah” to “ee” and pronouncing something midway between doesn’t work at all. Although not everyone pronounces the vowel that way - I remember being asked if we had “ahss” at a grocery store I worked at and it took me quite a long time to realize he wanted “ice”. > [@](#): > > I’ve heard it in rural Pennsylvania-Ohio-Indiana in accents that also make “milk” into “melk.” I’ve been criticized for this pronunciation of “milk”, and when I said it’s just like in “pillow”, I was told I pronounced that wrong as well. To me, that’s just how the words are pronounced, and the fact that English spells them weird isn’t strange, because it spells things oddly all the time. I don’t pronounce “kill” or “pill” that way, just those two words, and I have no idea why. I spent only the first few years of my life in a small town in Ohio, and that’s about the only evidence. Personally, I’ve gotten really confused when looking up the IPA equivalents of vowels. Saying it’s how Americans pronounce a certain vowel is useless in the face of the [Northern Cities Vowel Shift](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_cities_vowel_shift), something that I’d never heard of until very recently. ---
**Author:** ![markm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@markm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markm)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/105 "2010-11-23T16:04:05Z")
[QUOTE=WOOKINPANUB] … Someone mentioned Green Day trying to sound British and while it’s not the first time I’ve heard that criticism, I’ve always heard it as sort of SoCal surfer kind of affectation. Billy Joe isn’t nearly as irritating as the schmuck from “Blink 182” and his even schmuckier offshoot “Angels and Airwaves”. There’s so many examples I don’t know where to start. . . . The Neon Trees’ song “Animal” is played eleventy billion times on hit radio and really could be a fun song if the singer could get over his speech impediment “Hiwegoagain. I kindawannabe maw than fwends.So take it easy on me I’m afwaid yaw neveh satisfied” [/quote] Green Day was who I came in to post, then saw I was beaten to it, so was going to go with Neon Trees, and again was beaten. I’m so glad I’m not the only one who is irritated by that speech impediment, especially since he allegedly does not have it on other songs (I refuse to test this). The only way I can listen to the song is if I sing along and do it in Elmer Fudd’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/106 "2010-11-23T16:08:07Z")
Right thurr. Thread over. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/107 "2010-11-23T16:11:44Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > Not necessarily. I can hold a sound that is recognizably that vowel as long as I want It’s recognizable to you, perhaps, but not to everyone. > [@](#): > > Contrast this with “long I”. I can’t possibly hold a sound like that, having to go from “ah” to “ee” and pronouncing something midway between doesn’t work at all. Although not everyone pronounces the vowel that way - I remember being asked if we had “ahss” at a grocery store I worked at and it took me quite a long time to realize he wanted “ice”. So, you concede that different accents treat phonemes differently. How can you then label as incorrect the voicing of a phoneme as a diphthong when it is in fact a diphthong in that person’s accent? > [@](#): > > Personally, I’ve gotten really confused when looking up the IPA equivalents of vowels. Saying it’s how Americans pronounce a certain vowel is useless in the face of the [Northern Cities Vowel Shift](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_cities_vowel_shift), something that I’d never heard of until very recently. You need to listen to sound clips to properly understand the symbols. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/108 "2010-11-23T19:42:26Z")
Once, after listening to Bruce Springsteen on the radio singing “Born in the USA” at work, I mentioned to a co-worker that I thought Bonn was in Germany. I don’t think he realized I was kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/109 "2010-11-23T22:08:06Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I can’t believe I neglected to mention the one that I hate more than any I can think of in this or any other life time: Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue”. There are no words for the rage that comes over me when I hear this song. It actually has kind of a fun beat even though it’s very much country and all would be well if it wasn’t for the stupid, irritating “I just fell off a pumpkin truck on my way to the hoe down, hyuck hyck hyck” nasal , affected hickness of the singers voice. I’m no fan of nasal twang to start with and something about this chick just sets my teeth on edge. Funny enough, I saw her being interviewed and her speaking voice isn’t nearly as accented. Why in the hell somebody would go out of their way to sound like that is beyond me but it makes me homicidal. And god help me if I actually happen to catch sight of it when it comes on VH-1 and there she is with that asinine soccer mom hairdo. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Well, Jennifer Nettles is a Georgia (I believe) native, so it’s not like she’s from Detroit and faking an accent. But dear god, I agree with you on her new hair. Her partner seems to have updated his look as well, for the worse IMO. When I saw their pictures on a Dr. Pepper 12-pack for some promotion, I was convinced I was looking at a photo of impersonators, because I couldn’t even recognize them. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/110 "2010-11-23T22:53:34Z")
There’s a new autotune song that I hate more than any other. Like A G6 is the name, I think. This song is so terrible that I pray for the girls to go on repeating _like a G6, like a G6_ in their robot voices for ever just so I never, ever have to hear that guy say, “sober girls a-kin like they drunk, a-kin like they drunk.” [Listen if you DARE!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvgJEznqtms) I did not notice this thread was on page 3. Sorry if I repeated or missed a salient point. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/111 "2010-11-24T22:50:47Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I did not notice this thread was on page 3. Sorry if I repeated or missed a salient point. Nope and it’s a worthy addition. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/112 "2010-11-25T07:50:30Z")
1. “It’s too late to pologize, too late…it’s too late to pologize…too late…” 2. Diana Ross singing “strenth” instead of “strength” always drove me crazy. 3. And Tik Tok has to be the most obnoxious song of the decade, hands down. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/113 "2010-11-25T09:27:41Z")
Cher sang “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” with the worst affected Southern accent I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/114 "2010-11-25T12:25:00Z")
In “Africa” by Toto, I have never managed to work out what it is that Kilimanjaro rises like above the Serengeti. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/115 "2010-11-25T12:37:00Z")
> [@Sparrow](#): > > In “Africa” by Toto, I have never managed to work out what it is that Kilimanjaro rises like above the Serengeti. Olympus, I believe. mmm ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/116 "2010-11-25T13:02:11Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > It’s recognizable to you, perhaps, but not to everyone. > > So, you concede that different accents treat phonemes differently. How can you then label as incorrect the voicing of a phoneme as a diphthong when it is in fact a diphthong in that person’s accent? > > You need to listen to sound clips to properly understand the symbols. I think you need to reread. All he said was that /e/ is not necessarily a diphthong. He didn’t say any pronunciation was incorrect. The rest of his post hit on a rather good point, he hit on a good point–he recognizes that only the first part of the [eɪ] diphthong is necessary to distinguish the /e/ phoneme in English–hence why I write it as /e/ instead of /eɪ/ (as, like that, it looks like two phonemes). And, anyways, your comment that he was responding to was not the best, either. Just because /e/ is (usually) a diphthong, it doesn’t mean it can be converted into a 5-phthong. It is an affectation to go through so many vowels, at least as affectation is being used in this thread. It’s done for musical ornamentation purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/117 "2010-11-25T14:08:23Z")
> [@KinkiNipponTourist](#): > > oooooooh! ignorance fought! I can pull the stake up outta Vincent’s heart now. Thanks! Here as well. I just played it and listened close - sure enough, “Y’all’s neighborhood.” ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/118 "2010-11-25T14:20:04Z")
Whoops, forgot to pick my own nit. Three pages, and no across-the-board hate for Country? I’ll be that guy. I like a few country songs, but I could like a lot more if they didn’t sing in that goddamn put-on accent. I don’t care if they speak like that, that doesn’t count or the Beatles would sound like Herman’s Hermits. Play the music, sing the song, quit with the affected twang. /Had to get that off my chest. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/119 "2010-11-25T16:01:40Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > I don’t care if they speak like that, I do care. If Hank Williams said “cain’t” in real life, and I truly believe he did, then it’s fine for him to sing it. Country is demotic in a way that pop isn’t necessarily meant to be. But, your larger point – Amen. Cringe if you must/will. Here’s maybe not Exhibit A but certainly an Exhibit of all that is wrong with modern country. https://www.youtube.com/embed/scDxA5JZLoU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389/120 "2010-11-25T16:29:56Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > I do care. If Hank Williams said “cain’t” in real life, and I truly believe he did, then it’s fine for him to sing it. Country is demotic in a way that pop isn’t necessarily meant to be. > > But, your larger point – Amen. > > Cringe if you must/will. Here’s maybe not Exhibit A but certainly an Exhibit of all that is wrong with modern country. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scDxA5JZLoU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scDxA5JZLoU) HA! I used to know John Rich’s brother, (of Big and Rich, and formerly of Lonestar). John had artistic differences with the band(as his brother put it), and left before they got really huge. I kinda questioned whether that was a wise move, what with all the success and all, but he did his music his way and still managed to land on his feet. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-annoying-affected-pronunciation-in-popular-music/561389.md?page=7)