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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think i don't have a speech impediment

285 replies

McColonel · 20/12/2015 23:53

To me, F and TH are pronounced exactly the same. E.g. three and free - I say them in exactly the same way.

My wife says I can't pronounce th, and I always pronounce an F when it should be TH.

Does anyone agree with me, that they are pronounced the same? Or is she right, and I can't speak properly? My brother agrees with me.

OP posts:
Theoretician · 21/12/2015 20:31

Yes, to clarify my earlier point, I'm not saying that everyone who speaks Estuary English is stupid. But to most people, it's associated (rightly or wrongly) with low intelligence.

My favourite example of this would be Janet Street-Porter. She sounds so rough I'd be afraid to employ her as a cleaner. Yet (picking an achievement at random) Wikipedia says she edited the Independent on Sunday for two years.

derxa · 21/12/2015 20:34

If you can produce t d s r which are produced by the tip of the tongue on the alveolar ridge then it's only a short distance for the tongue to go between the teeth to make th.

lorelei9 · 21/12/2015 20:36

Thanks five
The people I know who say free for three can say the.

CastaDiva · 21/12/2015 20:49

I don't think it is 'only a certain kind of person who would judge someone based on their pronunciation of 'three'', and nothing to do with being 'thick'. As others have said, it's a widely-recognised linguistic class marker, rather than some form of individual speech quirk or impediment. What I personally feel about 'free' for 'three' is irrelevant - class shibboleths are by their nature society-wide things, and as class markers in speech are often gendered, your daughter, depending on her education and what kind of career she wants, might find it limits her more than it has you.

IguanaTail · 21/12/2015 20:59

An Irish friend of mine says "tree" instead of three. Terty-tree-tousand (33,000).

Incidentally, while using their/there/they're incorrectly, and should of/ instead of should have etc are grammatically incorrect, try to/try and are both correct. It's just that try and is more informal (but still acceptable).

OxfordDictionaries observes that “In practice there is little discernible difference in meaning, although there is a difference in formality, with 'try to' being regarded as more formal than 'try and'.

Because saying f/v instead of "th" is not Received Pronunciation, some people will indeed judge it and might draw unfair conclusions.

DixieNormas · 21/12/2015 21:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RoganJosh · 21/12/2015 21:10

There is an impediment where people can't say th. Interestingly in parts of Scotland people with that impediment would more likely say something a bit like shree for three
My Glaswegian grandma did this.

TattyDevine · 21/12/2015 21:13

I haven't read all the replies sorry.

I had this "speech impediment". Similar to the one Jonathan Ross has - it is sort of the opposite of a lisp - where your tongue hits too far forward or something - and I had it "corrected" with speech therapy.

It is nothing to do with being uneducated or not - it is down to whether you had it corrected or not. If I hadn't have had it corrected I'd still have the same education otherwise, and still be as intelligent or not otherwise, I just wouldn't have had it corrected is all.

Same with Jonathan Ross - if he had his corrected he may as well be just as successful a broadcaster, or not...

derxa · 21/12/2015 21:15

It is nothing to do with being uneducated or not - it is down to whether you had it corrected or not. If I hadn't have had it corrected I'd still have the same education otherwise, and still be as intelligent or not otherwise, I just wouldn't have had it corrected is all. Exactly Tatty

Sallystyle · 21/12/2015 21:16

I have a little overbite. I do not have a large mouth at all. My mouth is perfectly lovely the only nice feature

Frusso · 21/12/2015 21:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

derxa · 21/12/2015 21:19

If there isn't a speech impediment with th/f then my childhood speech therapy was wasted. No it wasn't. You had a problem with th and it was corrected.

goodnightdarthvader1 · 21/12/2015 21:27

I don't think a lisp or replacing your Rs with Ws is widely considered to be a mark of poor education in the way that Estuary English-style speech is.

Babymamaroon · 21/12/2015 21:40

It sounds like you genuinely cannot hear the difference between the two sounds. However, please do take on board that you are incorrectly pronouncing these words and need to remember to say them correctly.

Maegeri · 21/12/2015 21:53

I was never taught to pronounce 'th' properly as a child. I met my partner in my early 20's and he noticed it. He started to pick me up on it every time I pronounced it incorrectly and I absolutely hated it! Then after a while I noticed that I was pronouncing 'th' correctly. Its second nature now and I am grateful to him for annoying me so much! I am teaching all of my children so it helps them with their spelling and so that they don't have to re-learn it all later in life which I think is so much harder.

Bunbaker · 21/12/2015 22:00

"My partner who was raised in Northumberland th-fronts, he literally cannot hear a difference between what he say and what I say"

What has Northumberland got to do with it? OH is from Northumberland and we spend a lot of time there and I have never heard anyone replace "th" with anything else. BIL is from London and says free instead of three etc, and so do his children because that's what they hear at home.

How do people who can't pronounce "th" say fifth? Grin

IguanaTail · 21/12/2015 22:01

Fiff

Frusso · 21/12/2015 22:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 21/12/2015 22:32

Well, fifth is quite a hard one, and many people say "fith" instead of putting in the second f; people who can't pronounce "th" are going to say "fiff". Correct way to say it is to pronounce fif-th.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 21/12/2015 22:32

Uvva isn't a word.

madmother1 · 21/12/2015 22:43

I had a boss pick me up on this when I was about 40. I've now changed the way I say it. Unfortunately my daughter says it and she's 15. I'm trying to drum it out of her as people do just you sadly.

LucyBabs · 21/12/2015 22:56

I'm Irish and think I mentioned up thread that I say tree for three. I know its three but its just my accent. My dd say three and all her little pals really pronounce the th in all their words. We didn't do phonics in primary school. Think we did "Annie Apple and Sammy snake" type of learning Smile

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 21/12/2015 22:58

Lucy do you pronounce it exactly the same as "tree" though? Or do you slightly aspirate the "tree" when you mean three? sort of like saying T then H before the 'ree' part?

steff13 · 21/12/2015 22:59

Do they offer speech therapy in elementary schools in the UK? A child in the U.S. who spoke this way would have received speech therapy at school. My brother did.

IguanaTail · 21/12/2015 23:05

No some people would find that quite offensive because it's down to your accent and how your family and peers talk.

It would be like getting all the New York kids and training them not to say caw-fee.