- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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SMART TALK by Dr. Tilde Cedilla
SWAT I SAID: English being my second language makes me notice speech lapses even more than other therapists at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired. Indeed, much of American English reminds me of my own Cuban Spanish in the way consonants are dropped and words get smoothed out. Some would simply call it mumbling, but that sounds unkind.
Here's a conversation I had with an acquaintance at the mall. Obviously, he's speaking first.
You like pointsettas?
What?
You like pointsettas?
Oh poinsettias?
Swat I said. Pointsettas. You get um inna winner, roun Christmas. Shoppin senners er full of um.
And what about spring flowers?
Uzhly alwys, we git a bokay of toolups an put it onna cowner. Spriddy.
You mean tulips?
Swat I said. Toolups.
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