- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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SMART TALK
by Dr. Tilde Cedilla
TORE, PORE, MORE: Coming to this wonderful country from Cuba, I sometimes struggle here with the language. Sometimes, I can’t understand what people are saying, because they make one word sound like another.
For instance, I hear tore instead of tour and get mixed up. Tour is supposed to have the same vowel sound as “tool,” right? I even hear tore on TV.
Mrs. Moore’s name gets pronounced as Mrs. More, so if I’m looking it up in the telephone book, I’m not going to find it. It has the same vowel sound as “loop,” right?
Pore is my favorite in this group of words Americans can’t say. They pore me a glass of milk — thank you — but pour over a legal document. Their pronunciation has led them to switch the words!
This seems to happen only when the “oo” vowel comes before R. It’s like some kind of mass speech impediment. At the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, I’m going to treat this problem with all my strength, I ashore you.
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