# Why do little English boys not pronounce their 'R's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219 "2008-06-25T19:47:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scrambledeggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@scrambledeggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scrambledeggs)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/1 "2008-06-25T19:47:33Z")
Everytime (at least on TV) I see a little English boy, he doesn’t pronounce his 'R’s. They come out as 'W’s. “Wabbit” instead or “Rabbit”. Is this some kind of British -English thing, based on children still trying to attain received pronunciation, or is it just random speech impediments? ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/2 "2008-06-25T19:49:12Z")
My 5 y.o. son is American and he can’t pronounce Rs and Ls yet. FWIW, Rob ---
**Author:** ![PuddingCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@PuddingCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PuddingCat)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/3 "2008-06-25T20:04:08Z")
I think it’s a stereotype which is meant to appeal to non-natives. Similar to how Hugh Grant is truly representative of englishmen. tim ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/4 "2008-06-25T20:20:41Z")
A lot of young kids find Ls and Rs difficult. My daughter was probably 5 or 6 before she started pronouncing these correctly. She would have said “Yook at the wabbit.” Cute, but thankfully she grew out of it. Rumour has it that Susan Olsen got the roll as Cindy Brady _because_ she had a _lithp._ ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/5 "2008-06-25T20:29:21Z")
It’s more than a stereotype though - in some London accents, and “Estuary English”, a soft R is part of the dialect. I find it alluring in certain ladies, and feeble in many men. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/6 "2008-06-25T22:16:43Z")
[QUOTE=sweeteviljesus] My 5 y.o. son is American and he can’t pronounce Rs and Ls yet. FWIW, Rob [/QUOTE] I’m an American in my mid-70’s, and there are still some things I don’t order when eating out. One is Welsh Warebit (with wed wine). Weally. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/7 "2008-06-25T22:50:27Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl] I’m an American in my mid-70’s, and there are still some things I don’t order when eating out. One is Welsh Warebit (with wed wine). Weally. 😉 [/QUOTE] That’s Welsh wabbit. “Warebit” is hypercowwection. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/8 "2008-06-25T22:53:23Z")
Or _cwningen Gymreig_ (the plural, _cwningod Cymreig_, alliterates better; replace [r] with [w] to suit). ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/9 "2008-06-25T23:09:28Z")
Funny you should ask this. I’ve noticed an equally odd (but opposite) phenomenon of American toddlers on TV. They have a strange way of _over_-emphasizing the ‘r’ sound in every word they speak that contains it. Picking one example at random (because she was on TV yesterday) - Ross Doyle’s daughter from Frasier. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/10 "2008-06-25T23:25:27Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] Funny you should ask this. I’ve noticed an equally odd (but opposite) phenomenon of American toddlers on TV. They have a strange way of _over_-emphasizing the ‘r’ sound in every word they speak that contains it. Picking one example at random (because she was on TV yesterday) - Ross Doyle’s daughter from Frasier. [/QUOTE] The over-emphasis, I suspect, is due to the inability to get it correct in the first years of speech. So, once they get it, it becomes a proud accomplishment of real, grown-up pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/11 "2008-06-26T08:43:45Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] The over-emphasis, I suspect, is due to the inability to get it correct in the first years of speech. So, once they get it, it becomes a proud accomplishment of real, grown-up pronunciation. [/QUOTE] Maybe also the result of speech lessons at drama school, in the case of TV kids, at least. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/12 "2008-06-26T14:06:00Z")
[QUOTE=scrambledeggs] Everytime (at least on TV) I see a little English boy, he doesn’t pronounce his 'R’s. They come out as 'W’s. “Wabbit” instead or “Rabbit”. [/QUOTE] 😕 To me, this is simply evocative of “baby/toddler/small child talk”, having nothing to do with the speaker’s country of origin. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/13 "2008-06-26T14:20:07Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] That’s Welsh wabbit. “Warebit” is hypercowwection. [/QUOTE] Was that the wascally wabbit that wan wegularly awound the wugged wocks? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/14 "2008-06-26T14:24:54Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Was that the wascally wabbit that wan wegularly awound the wugged wocks? [/QUOTE] Wight! ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/15 "2008-06-26T14:32:21Z")
[QUOTE=bordelond] 😕 To me, this is simply evocative of “baby/toddler/small child talk”, having nothing to do with the speaker’s country of origin. [/QUOTE] In the movie, “The Gods Must Be Crazy” (or something like that), there appear Africans whose language includes clicks by a maneuver, I think, that involves the tongue and hard palate. Do their toddlers have difficulty making those sounds? I do. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/16 "2008-06-26T14:35:30Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl] In the movie, “The Gods Must Be Crazy” (or something like that), there appear Africans whose language includes clicks by a maneuver, I think, that involves the tongue and hard palate. Do their toddlers have difficulty making those sounds? I do. [/QUOTE] That would be a great question for **Mr. Dibble**. I can say that a lot of toddlers (perhaps close to all) make sounds that are essentially click consonants as part of their verbal play. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/17 "2008-06-26T14:39:03Z")
I’d also note that it is easily transferable to kids who already speak correctly. In my kids kindergarten class, most of the kids spoke (mostly) clearly and enunciatated appropriately. There was one younger girl (very outgoing and headstrong) who spoke with the r/w pronunciation. Within a short period, a lot of the kids picked up on the speech pattern and were emulating her…including ours. I should note that they weren’t aping her or making fun of the way she spoke, but just started talking the same way. We managed to have them correct themselves, but it still creeps in when they are acting ‘goofy’ (2 years later). ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/18 "2008-06-26T21:47:45Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] It’s more than a stereotype though - in some London accents, and “Estuary English”, a soft R is part of the dialect. I find it alluring in certain ladies, and feeble in many men. [/QUOTE] Was Rick from \*_The Young Ones_ of this denomination? I remember that he often softened his R’s until they sounded like W’s. “He’s just joshing, Mrs. Vyvyan - we’re really tewiffic fwiends.” ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/19 "2008-06-26T21:55:55Z")
“red rock west” is a very difficult movie title. there were many amusing mispronunciations by adults when purchasing tickets. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219/20 "2008-06-28T08:42:30Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] Was Rick from \*_The Young Ones_ of this denomination? I remember that he often softened his R’s until they sounded like W’s. “He’s just joshing, Mrs. Vyvyan - we’re really tewiffic fwiends.” [/QUOTE] The Young Ones was made just before the estuary accent really came into its own. I suspect that Rick’s soft R is there to indicate something of a character flaw: the overgrown child with ill-conceived political opinions, with a dose of patheticness, mocking the many middle-class ‘Socialist Workers’ that were trying to live down their social background, that were all over the bloody place in the 1980s. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-little-english-boys-not-pronounce-their-rs/454219.md?page=2)