Korean Job Discussion Forums

[daskalos]

I'm a silly old fool, and I know it. I know because the pronunciation I grew up with of the word often is fading, and soon will be dead. That more and more people say it as though the T were not supposed to be silent does nothing, and will never do anything, to assuage my grief.

But just so everyone knows, the word "often" should be pronounced as though the T were silent. I know, I know, as far linguists are concerned, there is no "should" in language. Pretty much, though, I loathe "linguists."

To the non-linguists who pronounce the T in often, I have a small request. Could you also pronouce the T in soften and listen, as well as several other words, just so that the rest of us can have a laugh behind your back at your insistence on mispronouncing often?

And before any of you go rushing off to your dictionaries, I will say that the fact that your dictionary's publisher may have included, as an altnerative, pronouncing the T in often is only evidence that you should throw your dictionary away.

I know, I know, I'm a silly old fool. But at least I'm not a linguist.

[Grimalkin]

Go back a hundred years or so and you probably had people writing to 'The 'Times' lamenting the fact that people had stopped pronouncing the 't' in 'often'.


Just hang around for another hundred years or so...it'll probably disappear again.

[Kimchi Cowboy]

Do you also remember the time when "terrific" meant scary and horrible?

[Qinella]

I know about that, but I prefer to say it by pronouncing the T. It just sounds better to my ear. Comparisons to listen and soften be damned, unless you think through should be pronounced based on the pronunciation of rough and trough.

Once I read about it like this: people with no education tend to say offen. People with a little education look down on those people as uneducated dunces, and say often. People who really do have an education and know about this will say offen, and look down upon the middle group for looking down on the others. So I've heard it said.

[Novernae]

[Big_Bird]

I've never noticed anyone sneaking a crafty T into often. Perhaps it is some American phenonmenon?

I've heard quite a few people pop a T into the middle of waistcoat though, and changing the vowels so it resembles " waist coat" instead of "wesscut", and people pronouncing forehead as 'four head,' instead of rhyming it with 'horrid.'

[Qinella]

[eamo]

[tzechuk]

[Big_Bird]

[endofthewor1d]

that reminds me of something that happened to me early in high school. we were riding the bus to school, and two girls were having this very discussion, and they turned to me and said "endofthewor1d, how do you pronounce 'often'? with or without the 't'?"
i honestly couldn't decide one way or another, in my imagination i could picture myself using both pronunciations. so i tried for a cop-out and said. "i don't know. i really don't use it that... er... much."

[daskalos]

[tzechuk]

[Qinella]

You and me Sunday driving, not arriving, on our way..

[faster]

I also cringe a little at "ofTen," but it's not going away, so I'll learn to tolerate it.

Another common case of overcorrection is the reflexive pronoun:

"There were three of us there: Bob, John, and myself"

Pretty awesome when pro athletes bust this one out:

"A player like myself wants to have the ball in your hands with the game on the line."

Which also brings up the annoying use of "you" as a distancing first-person:

"So, how'd you feel up there at the plate, in the bottom of the ninth, with the tying run on second, Mike?"
"I felt good, Bob, in those situations you just try to make good contact."

(Uh, no, Mike, I don't; YOU do. I just watch you on TV.)