# Most Irritating Weird/Affected Pronunciation In A Song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974 "2006-04-09T17:30:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/121 "2006-04-19T12:16:32Z")
Just wanted to chime in on Nawlins - I lived there (and nearby) for 9 years, and there’s definately a very Jersey type of accent. I used to love listening Edwin Edwards lie to us in a Cajun accent! The Cajun accent is much easier on the ears than a Jersy accent (sorry, Jersey - no malice intended). Compare Harry Connick Jr. or Dr. John to Fran Dresher & you’ll understand. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/122 "2006-04-19T12:35:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by CalMeacham > “Adieu, adieu > to yieu, and yieu, and yieu…” > > It’s supposed to be “to you, and you, and you…” of course, but that had to get it to rhyme. > > Except it’s not a forced rhyme for the sake of rhyming; it’s a forced rhyme for humorous effect. The kid’s dad makes an “Oh, you…” gesture at him, the other adults laugh, and the kid smirks as he exits. It’s still the most irritating/affected Pronunciation. And the wouldna done it if not for the sake of the rhyme, humorous or not. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/123 "2006-04-19T13:01:18Z")
> [@dwalin](#): > > 😕 That’s the way I pronounce ‘riot’. How do you say it? I think the badness lies in his putting the accent on the second syllable. Most people pronounce it RYE’ ot ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/124 "2006-04-19T20:24:45Z")
In the English version of Nena’s “99 Luftballoons” (99 Red Balloons), when she says “bugs in the software,” it sounds exactly like “box in the software,” which makes no sense. Similarly, in Shocking Blue’s “Venus,” it sounds as though they’re saying “The Gov’ner saw the mountain top” instead of “The goddess on the mountain top.” ---
**Author:** ![Iguana\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@Iguana\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iguana_Boy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/125 "2006-04-19T21:20:45Z")
No band, but just about everyone who sings **Auld Lang Syne** , and I include many Scots in this… It is Syne with an S and so is pronounced as in **sign** , it is NOT Zyne with a Z!!! ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/126 "2006-04-19T21:28:43Z")
I don’t usually care about unusal pronunciations, but it always seems to annoy me when Jim Morrison uses the very ungrammatical \*I \* in _Touch Me_, as though that makes it more poetic. Also that he wanted to be burried with French poets, as though that would somehow make him a poet instead of a hack. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/127 "2006-04-19T22:16:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s still the most irritating/affected Pronunciation. And the wouldna done it if not for the sake of the rhyme, humorous or not. You sound like the kind of person who would watch a Marx Brothers movie and ask, “Why doesn’t the curly-haired guy speak up once in a while?” It. Was. A. Joke. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/128 "2006-04-20T00:32:56Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I don’t usually care about unusal pronunciations, but it always seems to annoy me when Jim Morrison uses the very ungrammatical \*I \* in _Touch Me_, as though that makes it more poetic. You can’t blame Jimbo for that one. Robbie Krieger wrote the song. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/129 "2006-04-20T12:58:18Z")
A while ago, I wanted to post “What’s the most British-sounding pop song out there?” Some songs strike me as trying too hard to sound British, with the singers performing in what seems like a super-British accent. Off the top of my head, _Cool for Cats_ by Squeeze is the most affected British-sounding song I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/130 "2006-04-20T13:24:05Z")
Back in my high school days, there was a considerable stretch of time in which I was forced to wonder what exactly Scott Stapp meant by “WOAN! Oh, woan! The only way is woan”. I honestly had no idea he was supposed to be saying “One” until I finally got curious enough to look it up online. Seriously, WTF is “woan”? I still blame Creed for popularizing, if not necessarily inventing, what I have come to term the “Angsty Ballad-Rocker Voice”. For another shining example, look no further than “I’ll Be”, by Edwin McCain. “RrrrrAAAAHHH’ll be, ah-yoah craaaayaaahn shoul-da-ha! Rrrraaaahh’ll be, louooove’s soo-uh-sayeeyahyayeed!” Indeed. You, uh, go do that then. Meanwhile, rrraaahhh’ll beyah over here, trying to figure out what the hell you’re talking about, oh deeply emotional one. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/131 "2006-04-20T13:30:27Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > Back in my high school days, there was a considerable stretch of time in which I was forced to wonder what exactly Scott Stapp meant by “WOAN! Oh, woan! The only way is woan”. I honestly had no idea he was supposed to be saying “One” until I finally got curious enough to look it up online. Seriously, WTF is “woan”? > > I still blame Creed for popularizing, if not necessarily inventing, what I have come to term the “Angsty Ballad-Rocker Voice”. For another shining example, look no further than “I’ll Be”, by Edwin McCain. “RrrrrAAAAHHH’ll be, ah-yoah craaaayaaahn shoul-da-ha! Rrrraaaahh’ll be, louooove’s soo-uh-sayeeyahyayeed!” > > Indeed. You, uh, go do that then. Meanwhile, rrraaahhh’ll beyah over here, trying to figure out what the hell you’re talking about, oh deeply emotional one. I think we have Mr. Eddy Vedder to thank for this phenomenom. I didn’t bother me when he did it, but between the growl and doing “The Jesus”, Scott Stapp needs a slap. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974/132 "2006-04-20T17:00:03Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > You can’t blame Jimbo for that one. Robbie Krieger wrote the song. Thank you for the correction. Still, he sang it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-irritating-weird-affected-pronunciation-in-a-song/351974.md?page=6)