Most annoying phrase for me to say? "Edited it." Try it.

That reminds me of "lead us not into temptation," which I always think I'm pronouncing much more vigorously that other people around me.

I had a rigourous speech coach in drama school, whose aim it was for speech to be understood, unmiked, from the back of the theater. We were instructed, no matter how it sounded *to us*, to hit every pronounced consonant, and further, to elide words ending in vowels into the beginning consonant of the next. We thought he was barking, but when we listened to each other, we quickly understood the method behind his madness. Ending and beginning consonants in proximity would both be pronounced, "cat tree." and a phrase like "cannot allow" would be "cannotallow," the only separation being one of inflection, rather than actual pause.

The chorus teacher in high school had much the same approach. Apparently, one should be punctillious about one's consonants.

Consonants get swallowed in a chorus, especially bigger ones. You have to overpronounce like an idiot to get them to come across.

So interesting, Bev. How much did/does that training affect the way you speak? Reading the last few posts makes me realize that I'm pretty lazy, but if you'd asked, I probably would have said I have good diction. I mean, I do just fine, but I talk pretty fast, so a lot runs together and consonants drop out.

Huh.

omg all I want to do is look at pinterest or just leave work. I keep forcing myself to do things, so the day has not been a complete waste, but I am tired and sluggish and do not want to work.

come sit by me, msbelle. All I want to do is watch West Wing.

I would like nothing more. The great thing is, that when I do get to leave, I have nothing to do after work today and I am getting a beer and dinner, having a shower, and then going to bed at 8. mac and I have stayed up an hour or two too late the last few nights.

I'd also like to make some more caramel, a few cookies and perhaps a cupcake or a dozen. Sound good? Come on over when you can.

I would also like to bake, but no way do I have the energy. I have been wanting to spend a day baking cookies since before Thanksgiving.

It used to influence my speech tremendously, every day.

Do you recall how wonderful Gina Torres' voice sounds? How flexible it is, how it uses the full range of her natural scale, up and down, in expression? How, when happy, her voice bubbles with laughter, even when she isn't *actually* laughing? How she seems to loom in menace or ominousness, even when you're only getting a vocal? She's a trained singer, and she uses it in speech.

You sort of can't avoid it when you've drilled in it so much. There's a quality of animation that you just never seem to lose. I still startle people with how emphatically I speak--I frequently come off as intimidtating simply because I drop in and out of character, or mood, or even dialect, to express myself. If I'm tired, or intimately focused on another person in private conversation, it all smooths out into monotone, but otherwise, it's just who I am. Which is apparently more vocally expressive than other people are used to.

My diction, however, after decades of living in backwater southeastern US, has mushified somewhat.

It's the leading edge of hellacious wind and rain for the next few days, and I'm already tired of it. Want to curl up like a pillbug, or a bear, and sleep till May.