Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

Have you heard about “T-Glottalization”?

It’s when someone speaking drops the letter “t” .

The logic behind this issue is to speak faster, create a smoother flow when speaking and simplify pronunciation with a “glottal stop”.

For example, “INTERNET” becomes “inner net”.

“Dot-com” becomes “doc-ahm”.

This practice of slipping past the “t” is sometimes viewed as a social or class marker, particularly among the younger generation.

Then why do I hear “OFTEN” pronounced more and more as “OFT-ten” instead of “AA-fn”.

Both are acceptable ways to say the word but if the younger generation is trying to talk faster and ignore most “t’s”, why is “OFTEN” not included?

It might be that “social” or “class-marker” thing coming into play.

Enunciation is fading away.

Ignoring the letter “t” is nothing new.

We have “listen”, “castle”, “wrestle”, “whistle” and “rapport” to refresh our memories.

One of my favorites is “mortgage”.

In the English language, words ending in “STEN” and “FTEN” pay homage to the silent “t”.

Say hello to “listen” and “soften”.

However, silent letters in our language are not rare.

“B’s” can’t be heard in “climb”, “tomb” and “comb”.

“W’s” are silent in “write” and “wrong”.

You can’t hear a “g” in “gnat” or “gnome”.

We ignore “n’s” in “autumn”, “hymn” and “solemn”.

Forget about the “p” in “Psalms”, “psyche”, “corps” or “receipt”.

A snake might hiss but you won’t hear that “s” in “aisle”, “island” or “debris”.

With “okay” it’s alright to say “k” but ignore it in “knife”, “knee” or “know”.

If you want to raise a little hell with the letter “l”, don’t try it with “calf”, “half” or “could”.

Can we talk about the letter “y”?

With “beyond”, the “y” sort of just takes up space.

Why not spell is “beond”, “beeond” or “be-ond”?

But here’s a nice news nugget that can win you a free drink in a game of “Trivia”.

The letter “V” is never silent when it shows up.

It will always claim victory.

Very nice!

What about the letter “x” you ask?

Try “faux pas” or “xylophone”.

Part of the English issue is related to input from other languages.

Let’s talk about “rendezvous”.

Thank the French for that.

(By the way, notice the “v”?)

When the Italians leave or arrive, it’s “ciao” and I looked everywhere but couldn’t find any “chow” to eat.

Why did we waste a “g in “bologna”?

I blame Spanish for using too many letters to create “guerrilla”.

Speaking of words, I saw an article listing the five most-mispronounced words for today.

Heading the list is “GYRO”.

It should be pronounced as “Yee-row” whether or not it’s a sub or a grinder.

What if you splash some Worcestershire sauce on it.

Say it properly.

“WUSS-ter-sheer ” sauce.

The small, dark purple fruit from an Amazon forest palm tree is “Acai”.

Order one by asking for an “ah-SIGH-ee” if you want that super food delivered.

Then there’s that Middle Eastern nation that starts with the letter “Q”.

That should tell you right away, there’s a pronunciation problem ahead.

It’s known as “KAH-tar”.

I’m tempted to say “Welcome back, Gabe Kaplan!”

This one surprised me because our little dog “Sofi” was one of these.

But, Dachshund (DAKS-hund) often gets mispronounced.

If we’re not mispronouncing words, we often misspell them.

Some of the top ones include “apparent”, “entrepreneur”, “privilege”, “separate” and “tendency”.

I used to play “Word Cookies” on line until I maxed out the game when I became the “numero uno maxi mega chef” or something like that.

I still haven’t found another game that comes close to challenging my “word smithery”.

But this entire blog started with folks dropping the letter “t” in order to speak faster, create a smoother flow and simplify pronunciation.

This same group insists on clearly focusing on the “t” in “often”.

Okay, so what’s it gonna be?

Are you going to practice “glottalization” or are you going to stick your nose up in the air with your little finger extended when you say “often”.

I guess an old radio dog like me would defer to Paul Harvey who worked the English language better than anyone I’ve ever heard.

It afford me a fitting way to close this article.

“Good day!”