{"id":1638,"date":"2021-02-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tutor.engoo.com\/blog\/?p=1638"},"modified":"2021-02-19T05:09:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T05:09:20","slug":"sloppy-standard-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tutor.engoo.com\/blog\/curiosity\/sloppy-standard-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Sloppy Pronunciations That Became Standard English"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you ever wondered why \u201cWednesday\u201d is pronounced \u201cwensday\u201d and \u201ccomfortable\u201d \u201ccomfterble\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or why Gloucester, Worcester, and Leicester (names of towns in the UK) are pronounced \u201cgloster,\u201d \u201cwooster,\u201d and \u201clester\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t thought about these aspects of the English language, your students probably have! So let\u2019s explore how these words became pronounced the way they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skipping Sounds<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve ever tried a tongue-twister, you\u2019ll know how easy it is to skip sounds. For example, \u201cshe sells seashells by the seashore\u201d quickly turns into something like \u201cshells shells by zzshore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This happens because tongue-twisters involve a series of sounds made with the same part of the mouth<\/a> \u2014 in this case, the tip of the tongue. After a while, the part of the mouth that\u2019s being used gets tired and starts mushing all of its sounds together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the same principle behind the pronunciations of Gloucester, Worcester, and Leicester. (Try saying them quickly a few times and the CES\u2019s in the middle will soon become more like S\u2019s.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funnily enough, similar \u201csloppiness\u201d resulted in many other words we know and use today. For example: <\/p>\n\n\n\n