21 July, 2009

Millennium hand and shrimp

Wh d' s'mn mms b'cm n'vsty p'trs?  S'thr a dct'n t'st n't jb nt'rv'w?

I SAID: why do so many mumblers become university porters? Is there a diction test in the job interview? Yet again I've struggled through a conversation on context and intonation alone, having failed to interpret even a syllable of what was actually said.

Actually, the generalisation's untrue: though I've had the same experience at several institutions across the UK, seemingly more often than random chance, the other common variety of porter seems to be ex-army or -police, and hence particularly clearly-spoken.

Maybe there's a finite amount of enunciation in the profession, and some leach it out of others.