The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 6 of 11)

Mark LaRochelle br> Managing Editor br> National Journalism Center br> Herndon, Virginia /p>

I read Mark Goldblatt's column with a certain amount of amusement, but also with a certain amount of resignation. I knew what he was going to say before I got past the third paragraph because it was exactly what I was thinking.

We Southerners have long known that many outside the South view us as "dumb" merely because we speak slowly, pronounce some words differently, and are generally courteous to others. It's just something that we have come to accept and have to tolerate, even with the condescension that is sometimes present.

p>Even though Bostonians and New Englanders mispronounce many words (or at least say them differently than their spelling would indicate ... e.g., "Cuber" for "Cuba"), the general conception seems to be one of acceptability and something that indicates sophisticated speech. While I feel certain that Kennedy's gaff mentioned by Goldblatt was merely a verbal typo, his general linguistic expertise is no better than that of our down-home, good ole boy, crooked-grinning, drawling President. br> -- Gary Johnson br> Madison, Alabama /p> p> I recall that, during a televised senatorial debate between Senator Kennedy and future governor Mitt Romney, the senator referred to college students who were "totally emerged (sic) in debt." br> -- Mike Haire

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