The over enunciation of S

[Lex345]

Am I the only one who gets irrationally, internally furious at this, usually during news reports? It makes me cringe and I am willing them to shut up or to not use words with 'S' in them! In longer reports, I have to change the channel, it honestly riles me that much 😳

Not speech affectations, I mean a very obvious effort to over pronounce S. Also I have never noticed it "in real life"/face to face-only ever on TV.

AIBU to wonder why some people do it? It sounds awful!

@GinghamChicken

On a slight tangent I cannot abide /d/ being pronounced as /j/ in words such as dew or duke. The man's a Duke, not a Juke - that's a car!

That's good old diachronic palatization at work for you. It'll change even further over time (we'll be long gone though) and the /d/ will be totally transformed into a /dz/ ("j" in letters) probably.

Ho-mer-sex-you-ill - 5 syllables and rhymes with grill.

Ho-ma-sec-shawl - 4 syllables and to rhyme with shawl.

2nd way seems more normal and correct to me.

@Lex345 is it Kay Burley on sky news?
She tends to over pronounce s and creates an almost shhh sound. We always think she is trying to sound like Jodie Foster in 'Silence of the lambs'.

Is there a word for over-emphasising the letter "l" mid-word?

I know two people who say, for example, the word "milk" with major emphasis on the "l" and it makes me feel peculiar.

@Laiste

Ho-mer-sex-you-ill - 5 syllables and rhymes with grill.

Ho-ma-sec-shawl - 4 syllables and to rhyme with shawl.

2nd way seems more normal and correct to me.

Ho-mo-sex-u-al, surely? There's neither an e for homer or an a for homa.

Now, thanks to this thread, all I can hear in my head is the voice of the late lamented art critic, Brian Sewell.

@GinghamChicken

On a slight tangent I cannot abide /d/ being pronounced as /j/ in words such as dew or duke. The man's a Duke, not a Juke - that's a car!

For a long time I assumed a Nissan Juke was actually a Duke because I'd only ever heard it said!

Issue is a sign of what kind of education you had, Ishoo- pleb

Issyou not pleb

Though I doubt that many people bother correcting their children these days

Ho-mo-sex-u-al, surely? There's neither an e for homer or an a for homa.

Hom-uh-sek-sy-uh-l
Both uh vowels are usually pronounced as what's called schwas.

My Gran used to do it (tissue) it was an affectation to sound posher in her instance!

@RavensWig

Is there a word for over-emphasising the letter "l" mid-word?

I know two people who say, for example, the word "milk" with major emphasis on the "l" and it makes me feel peculiar.

That could be the absence of a "dark" L. We all do it to some extent without noticing. Say "love" then "film" and look at your mouth while doing it. In most regional accents/dialects, they are different. The "L" in "love" has your tongue touching your upper lip. In "film" it probably touches the roof of your mouth. Some accents/dialects don't have the palatal one, so use the labial one. This makes them almost add an extra vowel sound afterwards "fillum" etc.

@Watchingyou2sleezes

Issue is a sign of what kind of education you had, Ishoo- pleb

Issyou not pleb

Though I doubt that many people bother correcting their children these days

British standard English was "issue" /s/ American standard was "ishue" "sh" As with most American English usages, that was the original sound and they've kept it. It's the English which has morphed from /s/ to "sh"

Cuntstable. Makes me RAGE!! Why not a nice constable instead? I know it’s officially correct, but loathe it so much. I don’t mind cunt at all, so it’s not that it’s a bit sweary sounding

I really REALLY hate the sh sound being added to words where it shouldn't be.

eg a certain R2 traffic person saying Shhhtreet etc. STOP IT.

@SurferRona

Cuntstable. Makes me RAGE!! Why not a nice constable instead? I know it’s officially correct, but loathe it so much. I don’t mind cunt at all, so it’s not that it’s a bit sweary sounding

Isn't it "Cunstable" - no t in the middle?

Apart from the iss-you issue , I literally haven’t got a clue what the OP is on about with overemphasising their sssss.

Give us a proper example, proper sentence.

Thank you @Geamhradh, that's really interesting. I love learning this kind of thing!

The former BBC presenter of Newsnight, Gavin Esler always said his surname with an exaggerated hissing sound, so much so that I've been calling him Gavin Essssler for years, as a mild send up. Is that the kind of s sound you mean, OP?

@RavensWig

Thank you *@Geamhradh*, that's really interesting. I love learning this kind of thing!

I find it fascinating! Then stand in front of the mirror gurning like a loon!

I think regional pronunciation is partly the issue / ishew here

@WalkingOnTheCracks I'd rather it was said like most people say it - home-uh-sechul. The exaggerated "seskseuille" is unnecessary.

[quote EishetChayil]@WalkingOnTheCracks I'd rather it was said like most people say it - home-uh-sechul. The exaggerated "seskseuille" is unnecessary.[/quote]
Again, whether or not it's necessary, sek-sewell is correct. Or closer to correct than sekshul.

I mean, I probably say sekshul. But it's difficult to criticise those who actually get it right. I'd be pretty indignant if they criticised me for getting it wrong. Well, not so much wrong as SarfLunden.

I've noticed it a lot since I moved to Somerset and it seems to predominantly women who are trying to sound well spoken/posh. It sounds ridiculous.

I'm definitely an ishoo, tishoo person BUT

when people say ashoom instead of assyoum it jars.

Go figure 🤷‍♀️

It means they've been kidnapped. But they're fine.

It might have been Homeland or something but they said American spies were taught to overly enunciate esses to prove they hadn't been turned.