Language as we all know evolves over time. No more hath, thou, wilt and all those rather old-fashioned, outdated words that our fast-paced, streamlined 21st century lives have rendered obsolete. What However Has Horribly Happened to the letter H?
'Aitch' according to my trusted Concise Collins is the name given to the sound produced to represent this eighth letter of the English alphabet but there seem to be increasing numbers of our native speakers who choose to make life so much more difficult for themselves by insisting on referring to this symbol as 'Haitch. It puzzles me why this is so. It is much harder to pronounce, requiring in mid-sentence a halt in the natural flow of speech in order to make an intake of breath to produce this sound. - A says 'Who do you bank with?' B replies 'I bank with Haitch ess bee cee'. Try it for yourself, you'll see what I mean. It really isn't that easy and it doesn't sit well with me. It really grates.
Only yesterday I arranged a delivery and was asked for my postcode which includes this beleaguered and threatened consonant. The customer service agent at the other end of the phone repeats what I have said and I wait to hear what seems inevitable. ' bee, haitch' - I want to scream 'you silly woman, the letter is aitch. Get it right please! The H in haitch is silent.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment