IF YOU WANT TO BE UNDERSTOOD...
My Random House Webster’s Dictionary defines “slur” , in its second sense, as: “to pronounce (a syllable, word, etc.) indistinctly by combining, reducing, or omitting sounds, as in hurried or careless utterance.” Collins Bilingual translates it into Spanish as pronunciar mal . I would rather say hablar a trompicones , which suggests a lack of fluency and precision in the articulation of sounds. This kind of slurring makes speech difficult to understand, and lately I have noticed this bad habit becoming more common in both English and Spanish. As I am the sort of person who prefers to understand what is being said before replying, I usually ask for a repeat. Those who slur their words— que hablan a trompicones —often assume, in their hubris, that I am hard of hearing and repeat the same indistinct utterance, only louder. If language is meant to communicate, we should make some effort to pronounce words clearly. When we frequently hear “What?” or “Come again?”, it may be time to...
