On the Tonight show recently there was a British actor who had that stutter - but not the kind that one normally associates with someone having a severe condition.
The sentences go like this:
" I was going - going to Aruba by, by air actually when, when I noticed a large, quite large, uh, vessel, ship - a ship below that was, it was quite noticeably burning, burning in the sense that there were these puffs, puffs of smoke, and, and I was rather amazed, shocked actually, to see, to see this, this event, tragedy as it were. unfolding below, directly below, quite obviously in, in distress, in distress."
After about one minute of this I wanted to reach out and slap that dude.
Is this a British quirk, or is it, is it a quirk, a quirk of language, language spoken mainly, uh, mainly by Brits, the British?
Guilty as charged. And I’m nothign like Hugh Grant.
It’s certainly not universal, but it’s not all that uncommon. I catch myself doing it when I’m trying to form an explanation on the spot. I’m visualising what I want to describe, but the first choice of words that come out isn’t the right one, in the “…quite large, uh, vessel, ship - a ship below…” manner. If I pause to think before speaking, I don’t do it. (Also, I’m sure some people will say it’s a reaction to nerves or stressful situations, but that’s not the case - in those situations, I’m more likely to pause and think.)
Yes, Hugh Grant is a good example but I was refering to last night’s interview with Paul Bettany. Wow, to sit in a room and listen to the two of them talk like that, I think I would give up governement secrets to get them to stop.
I don’t think it’s a British thing, I think it’s an “impromptu speaking” thing. I belong to Toastmasters, and during every meeting there’s a part where a few members are called on – at random – to speak about a given topic for 1-2 minutes. I hear a lot of this kind of thing.
I am american, and I have always done this. I think it has a little to do with your brain getting in front of your tounge. I have trouble finding my words sometimes too, though I don’t do the traditional st st stutter. It is quite frustrating sometimes.
Maybe I am so smart that I think faster than the speed of sound?! :eek:
I also belong to toastmasters, and though I do hear it a lot (and try to focus on it when I hear myself do it) the person I hear it from most is … the British guy in our club.
Perhaps it’s that Americans don’t care as much if we use the wrong word when speaking, we’re pretty sure you’ll figure it out.
