Question for uk folks

Butterfly

Butterfly

SF VIP
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico USA
I watch Acorn TV through my Roku; it's British programming, which I love. Anyway, I've been watching Foyle's War, which takes place in England during WWII. My question is that sometimes there will be people seeming to substitute an "f" sound for a "th" sound, as in "I fink" instead of "I think," as least that's what I think I'm hearing.

Is that some kind of regional thing, or am I mishearing it?
 

No you are not mishearing Butterfly, it is a slight speech impediment.........my youngest son used to pronounce th as f ( thumb was always fumb to him) no matter how I tried to help him but as he got older he grew out of it but some people never do.
 
No, Butterfly, it is an indication of the way they were brought up, and probably the same as their parents spoke.

It's a bit like the American way of saying 'Water'. Many people out there say 'Warra'.
When people in America want to 'solder' two pieces of metal, they say 'sodder', and they use a 'soddering iron'.

There are countless dialects in these small islands, and they are all equally charming.
 

Hanfonius said:
No, Butterfly, it is an indication of the way they were brought up, and probably the same as their parents spoke.

It's a bit like the American way of saying 'Water'. Many people out there say 'Warra'.
When people in America want to 'solder' two pieces of metal, they say 'sodder', and they use a 'soddering iron'.

There are countless dialects in these small islands, and they are all equally charming.
Click to expand...


Excuse me but it was not the way my son was bought up and nor was it the way his parents spoke, I take that as an insult, it is so easy to generalise when you don't actually know.

When I was a child I pronounced words beginning with S as Sh and when I was playing with my brothers instead of saying....sit down...it came out as...s**t down................once more nothing to do with the way I was bought up or how my parents spoke.
 
Isn't it a common Cockney characteristic? I am pretty sure that in Foyle's war it would be used by working class Londoners? Although, I don't watch the programme. However, it does lead me to something else. And that is, the influence of TV on the way that we speak.

An example.......

In the west of Scotland, the Glasgow dialect used to be a very, very hard one. It has now changed considerably and it is much softer. I don't mean this the way it may sound, but it is almost a whine.

Also, I have noticed that many youngsters in the west of Scotland no longer pronounce the soft 'ch' correctly. This is a common Scottishism and many have a bit of a problem pronouncing it. Think 'loch' and how many find it hard to pronounce and the best they can achieve is 'lock'. Scousers can do it as can Welsh speakers. But most others struggle. Now I think that TV has affected our accents and pronunciation.
 
I used to fink it was a regional fing. When I went to visit friends many years ago the husband (sorry I forget where in England he originated) spoke that way. But the th/f swap fing only happened with certain words because there was no fere, or fey, ... how fought provoking is fis? LOL
 
IME it's a rather stereotypical feature of Cockney speech. Does it still exist, with all the exposure nowadays to different regional ways of speaking? I have heard it in older programs.

One speech pattern I have noticed that does still exist is the way some Englishmen pronounce "r" as "w" when it comes in the middle of a word. Is this an upper-class practice? I have never heard an Englishwoman do it, nor any Scots or Welshmen so have assumed it was an English guy thing.
 
Guitarist said:
One speech pattern I have noticed that does still exist is the way some Englishmen pronounce "r" as "w" when it comes in the middle of a word. Is this an upper-class practice? I have never heard an Englishwoman do it, nor any Scots or Welshmen so have assumed it was an English guy thing.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed. There is one TV personality in the UK that does that. Jonathan Ross. In fact on his Twitter account, he calls himself 'Wossy'
 
ossian said:
Isn't it a common Cockney characteristic? I am pretty sure that in Foyle's war it would be used by working class Londoners? Although, I don't watch the programme. However, it does lead me to something else. And that is, the influence of TV on the way that we speak.

An example.......

In the west of Scotland, the Glasgow dialect used to be a very, very hard one. It has now changed considerably and it is much softer. I don't mean this the way it may sound, but it is almost a whine.

Also, I have noticed that many youngsters in the west of Scotland no longer pronounce the soft 'ch' correctly. This is a common Scottishism and many have a bit of a problem pronouncing it. Think 'loch' and how many find it hard to pronounce and the best they can achieve is 'lock'. Scousers can do it as can Welsh speakers. But most others struggle. Now I think that TV has affected our accents and pronunciation.
Click to expand...

On the program, the f/th thing usually comes from city-type working class people. It was just bugging me because I wasn't sure if I was hearing it or not.

I LOVE Foyle's War, and I wish it had not ended.
 
fishfulthinking said:
I used to fink it was a regional fing. When I went to visit friends many years ago the husband (sorry I forget where in England he originated) spoke that way. But the th/f swap fing only happened with certain words because there was no fere, or fey, ... how fought provoking is fis? LOL
Click to expand...

You know, you're right -- I had never noticed that, but it is only certain words -- interesting. Wonder why?
 

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