Discerning Taste

“Waiter, what is this stuff you brought to me?
I can’t tell if it’s coffee or tea.

Whatever it is, it’s foul and unclean
It tastes so ghastly—like kerosene.”

“It has to be tea,” came back the whine,
'Cause our coffee tastes like turpentine."

This is a parody that I did for Sharon Wren a few years back. She lives in the Mississippi.

Ode To The Mississippi During the Spring of 2001
Paul D. Molyneux
(Tune: Old Man River)

VERSE 1
I bought me a place by the Mississippi.
A place to grow old with my lovely wife,
We built a dock for a boat and fishing
But, with this spring, everything is strife.
(refrain)

VERSE 2:
Summer is great with its rosy sunsets.
Wildlife abounds and the scenery’s great.
Winter and fall pose no major problems,
But, springtime’s what I’ve learned to hate.
(refrain)

REFRAIN:
Swollen river. You swollen river.
My house is floatin’, so who needs boatin’?
You’re wreaking havoc;
I’m now completely unstrung.

Quickening currents and rising water
Have crossed my back yard and filled my basement.
Please have some mercy,
I see striped bass in my car!

We struggle hard; pile sand bags high
And while we work whole towns float by.
I give up! Turn off the rain!
My spirit’s dying and my body’s in pain.

I’m so weary of getting nowhere.
The city’s filthy and you just don’t care!
I’ll move to Texas and you keep rolling along!

Current speech trend

Is it just me, just my area, or more widespread that current speech has added yet another regression?

What I'm referring to is the habit of our young people to promounce multi-syllable words with the consonants on the wrong syllable. e.g. :

Kitt/en instead of Kit/ten

Sat/in instead of Sa/tin

and many many others.

Is syllabification no longer being taught? Do we just not care? Whatcha think?

Paul