Note To Today's Youth

Extreme heat makes me very cranky, so when I see something on television that irritates me, I have to blog about it.  Also, I holler at the tv, which doesn't do a bit of good, but makes me feel better.  So, here goes:

Note to young people on television ads, etc: I realize that you think the way you all talk alike is cute. You girls (and women in their Thirties and some Forties even) affect those high-pitched little valley-girl voices (are you listening, Elizabeth?) and the guys who want to sound like urban thugs or rappers all copy each other.

However, I feel the least you could do is pronounce words properly.  Today's lesson, boys and girls, concerns words ending in "n't" - words like "wouldn't." "couldn't," "shouldn't," "hadn't," "didn't" and so on.  Look carefully at these words DO YOU SEE AN "E" ANYWHERE IN THEM?

No? Then, perhaps you can explain to me why you pronounce them "wouldent," "couldent," "shouldent," "hasent" and "dident." That apostrophe does NOT take the place of an "E."  It takes the place of an "O," as in "would not," "could not," "should not," "has not" and "did not."  You should have learned this sometime in elementary school.  There are a lot of other words like them, but I just chose them as examples because they are the "pettest" of my pet peeves. Get it? Got it? Good. Now go forth with your knew knowledge and practice, practice, practice.

As long as it stays hot, hot, hot, I will stay cranky, and there will probably be more grammar and pronunciation lessons forthcoming at intervals.

There. I've vented and I feel better, if not cooler. 

Stay tuned.