@rosesareredvioletsareblueaimverytiredandsoareyou
I am guessing that you, like me, have what is called a “rhotic accent”. Think Scottish, West Country, American or Northern Irish.
When we see a word with an “r” in it, our voices make a rolled “r” sound.
Think about how you say “car”, “door” or “margin”.
Lots and lots of English speakers, especially those from the South of England, are physically incapable of making a rolled “r” sound. They are called non-rhotic speakers. However, the presence of an “r” in a word does signal to them that they should lengthen the vowel that precedes it. That is why the “a” in “tar” has a much longer sound when spoken by a non-rhotic speaker than when they say the word “ta” (slang for thank-you).
For this reason,non- rhotic speakers tend to forget that “r” isn’t just a silent letter that tells them to elongate a vowel. They forget that rhotic speakers will make a rolled “r” sound. So they use it to indicate a long vowel in written English, hence its use to illustrate the classic North/South argument about whether to pronounce the word “bath” with a long or short vowel. They write “barth” to illustrate the long vowel, whereas something like “baath” or “bahth” might be more universal.
Hence “girarffe” is giraffe with a long “a” sound.
While I understand the frustration amongst fellow rhotic speakers of the way we speak being completely forgotten about, it’s pretty obvious that non-rhotics are not suggesting a rolled “r” sound be added. They literally can’t say them!
Hope that clarifies.