Words pronounced differently (in early tv and movies)

[Nittersing]

One isn't really a word. It's the phrase "at all." But it's pronounced "at tall." I hear this in some early movies (30s, 40s) but notice it more regularly on early tv show like Father Knows Best.

The word I notice most often is "suspect." I put the accent on "sus" but early movies (like the Thin Man series) always pronounce it with the accent on "spect."

Have you noticed others?

[House of Roberts]

1. Suspect, with the accent on 'sus'

usually refers to a person suspected of a crime, while suspect with the accent on the second syllable usually indicates suspicion.
At least, that's how I hear it.

[niyad]

2. Thank you.

[whathehell]

3. Yes, the accent on the first syllable indicates

a noun; the accent on the second, a verb.

[Nittersing]

6. Guess I need to clarify.

They refer to a person suspected of a crime as a susPECT. With the accent on the second syllable. That's why it always strikes me when I hear it.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

12. Possibly they are pronouncing it as it would be when you say

"SusPECTed" but without the ed. Or maybe the old mikes didn't pick it up the -ed part with some actors very well.

[Nittersing]

13. No.

[Aristus]

22. For all the people say English does not depend on inflection for meaning,

this is an example of how much the language does depend on it.

“If you have a PER-mit, I will per-MIT you to drive.”


“Join us in COM-bat so that we may com-BAT the enemy.”

[Blues Heron]

4. didnt the little rascals refer to their robot as a rah-bot (not row-bot)

[Nittersing]

9. I haven't heard that one, but I don't usually watch them.... nt

[Think. Again.]

5. That's funny....

I came across some random article on this a few months ago.

It seems this "false" accent was actually taught to actors in the 1930s & 40s, and started in New England boarding schools back then to pretend people who could afford to go to those schools were somehow better than, well, people.

I can't find the article I read but here's a discription from wikipedia I found:

The Mid-Atlantic accent, or Transatlantic accent, is a consciously learned accent of English, fashionably used by the late 19th-century and early 20th-century American upper class and entertainment industry, which blended together features regarded as the most prestigious from both American and British English (specifically Received Pronunciation). It is not a native or regional accent; rather, according to voice and drama professor Dudley Knight, "its earliest advocates bragged that its chief quality was that no Americans actually spoke it unless educated to do so". The accent was embraced in private independent preparatory schools, especially by members of the American Northeastern upper class, as well as in schools for film and stage acting, with its overall use sharply declining after the Second World War. A similar accent that resulted from different historical processes, Canadian dainty, was also known in Canada, existing for a century before waning in the 1950s. More recently, the term "mid-Atlantic accent" can also refer to any accent with a perceived mixture of American and British characteristics.

[Nittersing]

8. Kathryn Hepburn and Cary Grant!!

Both of them employed this Mid-Atlantic accent... I never considered that these other odd pronunciations might have found their genesis there as well!

Thanks!

(And welcome to DU!)

[Think. Again.]

11. Thanks for the welcome!

[Aristus]

24. FDR was also a prominent user of the accent.

His was specific to graduates of Harvard. His “Day of Infamy” speech is a classic example.

[yorkster]

16. Interesting - they also would pronounce third and bird

as if there were no r . Hard to do in the middle of a word.

I first started noticing that "crusty upper" accent when I started watching old films on TCM.
I think I saw that article,too but, like you I can't remember where.

Thx for wiki excerpt.

[LakeArenal]

7. Not that but I noticed :

Warm.

I pronounce it war with an m war-m

My friend pronounces it arm with a w in front
W-arm.

[AllaN01Bear]

10. i cant find the exact epi., batman and robin were doing a reverse bat climb

and out sticks dick clarke from amaerican band stand and says hi. batman exclaims tht mr clark is from the midwest and mr clarke goes " how do u know . batman replies " you dipped your dipthongs .

[Diamond_Dog]

14. My dad was older than all my friends' dads

And I remember he used to pronounce “advertisement“ as “ad VERT is ment.”

[Hugh_Lebowski]

15. Like British people do, IOW

My grandpa did the same actually. Not British.

It's also easier to say

[Diamond_Dog]

23. Correct on British pronunciation. I'll add that we're not British either.

Maybe a generational thing? But it was odd that he was the only one I ever heard pronounce it that way.

My father grew up in a home where English was not spoken. He had to learn it when he went to school, so maybe that was the way the word was taught back then.

[Nittersing]

17. I remember hearing this as well.

Probably my folks. (I'm 69)

[CrispyQ]

18. Language is a living thing & evolves.

I didn't really think of that until I bought this absolutely delightful book, "There Is No Zoo in Zoology: And Other Beastly Mispronunciations" by Charles Harrington Elster. He wrote a second book, "Is There a Cow in Moscow?" Both are good. The first was exceptional.

https://www.amazon.com/There-No-Zoo-Zoology-Mispronunciations/dp/0020318308

Example: He discusses how the word despicable used to be pronounced DES-pic-a-ble with the accent on the first syllable, & then along came a silly, cartoon duck who changed the way we say an entire series of words.

DES-pic-a-ble became de-SPIC-a-ble

FORM-id-a-ble became for-MID-a-ble

IR-rev-o-ca-ble became ir-re-VOC-a-ble

Fascinating book if you're into that type of thing.

[eppur_se_muova]

19. I've only ever heard ir-REV-oc-a-ble. nt

[GPV]

20. And nice was something you didn't want to be.

[Aristus]

25. Brits and Aussies say DIS-tribute. We say Dis-TRIB-ute.

n/t

[eppur_se_muova]

21. A-tall is very common in Appalachia, traveled from there to the West.

At least, it did in TV Westerns.

[samnsara]

26. i accent the 'sus' if its referring to a suspect but i accent the spect if im suspect-ing something

...but i love all the classic tv shows and i have noticed accent differences in words as well.

[ArizonaLib]

27. On the Andy Griffith show Aunt Bea's accent always got me wondering

If never caught an episode that explained background. I don't remember seeing the pilot if that is the one.

Does anyone know?