`Yeah, sort of
Sir: What is happening to cultured spoken English? On Saturday I listened to Loose Ends on Radio 4. I endured a succession of uncouth voices only because I knew that sooner or later I should be hearing Daisy Waugh express herself. I thought that then at last I should be listening to a voice as cultured as her father's or grandfather's.
How different the reality! Miss Waugh repeatedly said 'yeah', never once `yes'; seemed unable to string together more than two sentences without resorting to `sort of ; and spoke in what I can best describe as nasal modified cockney. In complete contrast I had the pleasure this morning of listening to the beautiful voice of Mary Soames on Russell Harty's prog- ramme, Start the Week.
We seem to be reaching a situation in which no young man and very few young women are capable of speaking English beautifully. In practically any television or radio play, and in the theatre, beautifully spoken English comes only from the middle-aged and elderly members of the casts. Even among Radio 3 announcers, the new ones speak with flat unmusical voices: the painful contrast between the female announcers and Moira Shearer, who did the job for a short time a few years ago, demonstrates what we are in danger of losing completely.
P. R. Bonnett 16 Short Close, Downham Market, Norfolk
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