# Why do singers say "everythin"? (no G) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731 "2019-07-27T22:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/1 "2019-07-27T22:06:30Z")
A lot of them do it. Love and Rockets gets right in your face with it in [So Alive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9pGcneI2Q). Graham Parker does it 3 tiimes in [Gypsy Blood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_JDMYsF41s)! They don’t do it to make a rhyme or to fit in with the rhythm of the song. And it’s obviously not a slip of the lip. So why the hell do they do it? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/2 "2019-07-27T23:30:39Z")
Because ng is hard to sing. To make it you have to kind of close your throat. Few pop singers appear to have voice training but it could just be instinctive. Or, they want to sound down home and country. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/3 "2019-07-27T23:56:41Z")
They don’t want to sound…square? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/4 "2019-07-28T02:07:56Z")
It makes a super nasal and annoying sound in a sensitive mike, especially if you have to hold the note. A plain “n” sound is much more pleasant and easier to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/5 "2019-07-28T02:52:05Z")
Okay, I just went to youtube and did a search “everything” and came up with this song. Although I don’t care for the singer or song he clearly says everythin **g** , and I didn’t find it annoying at all. A singer dropping the g sounds very harsh to me and breaks the mood. Case in point: the above Graham Parker song in the OP. But I guess I’ll just have to live with it, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/6 "2019-07-28T03:00:36Z")
Missed the edit window. [Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFD2gu007dc) the link to the song I mentioned ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/7 "2019-07-28T19:16:07Z")
Every singer is different and their voices will all sound different over equipment. Someone who’s well trained will be better able to enunciate clearly while singing and holding a note, whereas someone with raw ability with little training (like me!) will usually find ways of cheating to get a good sound. I can handle listening to the dropped “g” much more easily than enduring even a second of autotuned vocals, that just makes me insta-stabby. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/8 "2019-07-28T19:55:12Z")
Then there’s that joker who made sure damn we all knew he wasn’t dropping the ‘G’. “Every little things, gonna be allright.”…which reminded me that Sting in his affected voice also says “Every little thing she does is magic” ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/9 "2019-07-28T20:17:17Z")
Even for actual song titles, it goes back at least as far as “Singin’ In the Rain” and “Makin’ Whoopee”. God knows why. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/10 "2019-07-28T22:02:09Z")
I always hear an “is” in Three Little Birds–like, “every little thing [beat] is gonna be all right.” In the song titles, I think that’s just being vernacular rather than it being a pronunciation issue. And I think the “i” is also a lot of the issue, which is why you get Eddie Vedder and his “of what was ever-THANG” thang. “I” sound is produced with your mouth mostly closed and that don’t resonate much. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/11 "2019-07-28T22:17:31Z")
They sing it because we say it. Maybe not you personally, but any southern accent says it. If Lynyrd Skynyrd sang the word “everything”, fully pronounced, I’d be asking who the guest vocalist is. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/12 "2019-07-28T22:59:00Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Then there’s that joker who made sure damn we all knew he wasn’t dropping the ‘G’. > > “Every little things, gonna be alright.”…which reminded me that Sting in his affected voice also says “Every little thing she does is magic” Marley is saying “thins” not things. Go listen again. Sometimes his backup singers say the g. Sting goes back and forth between “thin” and “thing” saying “thin” on the first line where he lands on “thing” longer but thing on the faster “everthing she do just turns me on” The g will get dropped more frequently when the not is held or actually sung to a pitch. Bryan Adams is mostly speaking. It’s actually how singers are taught to sing, so you see it more from people who have some formal training. Just like ending “s” sounds usually get turned into “z” sounds. Unless you are really listening for it, especially if its in an accent not your own, your brain just auto fills the right sound. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/13 "2019-07-28T23:27:34Z")
But, but, can you _imagine_ the immortal Ray Stevens going “Every-_thin_ is beautiful”?!?!?!? :eek: Pearls clutched. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/14 "2019-07-28T23:29:35Z")
Then there’s _thang._ ---
**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:** [July 28, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/15 "2019-07-28T23:49:38Z")
While I don’t think any of the answers here are wrong, per se, I do think that, more than anything, it’s a stylistic choice. Sure, “ng” can be hard to sing without it sounding all pressed and nasal, but it is possible, same as with “m” and “n.” And there’s no inherent reason to elongate the sound. The reason to do so would be that it’s part of the style to hold out your nasals. There is just a certain casualness of dialect or accent in many styles of music, and changing multisyllable _-ing_ words to _-in’_ words fits that intention quite well. It’s already a normal feature of the English language in many dialects (including ones that don’t think they do it, but do it when speaking quickly). So it doesn’t sound unnatural. Well, I say it’s a normal feature, but I’d say that normally only applies to _-ing_ verbs. That may be why “everythin’” sounds so weird to the OP, but they didn’t object to “tryin’” or “dyin’” in that Bryan Adams song. And, appropriately, “everything” is less likely to have the G dropped than those _-ing_ verbs. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/16 "2019-07-29T01:16:59Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Marley is saying “thins” not things. Go listen again. Sometimes his backup singers say the g. Sting goes back and forth between “thin” and “thing” saying “thin” on the first line where he lands on “thing” longer but thing on the faster “everthing she do just turns me on” > > The g will get dropped more frequently when the not is held or actually sung to a pitch. Bryan Adams is mostly speaking. It’s actually how singers are taught to sing, so you see it more from people who have some formal training. Just like ending “s” sounds usually get turned into “z” sounds. > > Unless you are really listening for it, especially if its in an accent not your own, your brain just auto fills the right sound. Wow thats EXACTLY what i did ( i did listen to Sting before i posted…so i dont know) but on Marley I just filled in an accent in my head and assumed he was saying “theeng” both times. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/17 "2019-07-29T05:57:55Z")
OP here. I can’t really explain why, but sometimes it’s okay dropping the g and sometimes it’s not. In normal speech it goes pretty much unnoticed, as in “singin’ in the shower this mornin’”. But," everythin’s okay", just doesn’t work. Same goes for singing. It’s just too much in your face. It always seems to be that particular word. Everything. Everythin". Why that one damn word! Like I said before, I’m going to have to live with it…but I don’t have to like it. ☹ ---
**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:** [July 29, 2019, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/18 "2019-07-29T12:00:16Z")
Off the top of my head I can’t recall ever noticing it in song but it’s one of my (many) pet peeves when listening to people speak. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/19 "2019-07-29T13:33:34Z")
Well, when I do it, it’s because my accent. I don’t enunciate the g at the end of a lot of words when I speak (sorry, **WOOKNPANUB** ). I’ve noticed a lot of English classic rock singers sound very much like they’re from the southern US when they sing. I think some of it is from people intentionally or unintentionally imitating their influences. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731/20 "2019-07-29T14:05:47Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Well, when I do it, it’s because my accent. I don’t enunciate the g at the end of a lot of words when I speak (sorry, **WOOKNPANUB** ). I’ve noticed a lot of English classic rock singers sound very much like they’re from the southern US when they sing. I think some of it is from people intentionally or unintentionally imitating their influences. No, \*I’m \*sorry, **scabpicker** ; that was rude of me to say:o If it makes you feel better, I have problems with the way most people talk; my fault (misophonia) not theirs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-say-everythin-no-g/837731.md?page=2)