What Really Causes Poor Diction? (How To Maintain Good Diction)

I am lucky I read a lot as a kid, and I think it's during those years that most of my knowledge was gained. It'd be interesting to pinpoint which factors are most likely involved in weakening people's diction and grammar.

1. genetics
2. too much time on hipforums
3. time reading/looking at things on hipforums
4. The light from TV/computers(aside from the fact they might be too close)
5. brain farts/mushy brain

 

TEXTING

 

I wonder about this often. I am always trying to improve my vocabulary. I read a lot, but my ability to learn new words is lacking. I need to look up the meaning of a word, or, be told the meaning of a word, several times before it actually sticks in my brain.

This isn't due to a memory issue, though. I have a great memory, and an uncanny ability to remember dates, details about people, how certain events in my past played out. I think when things have emotional meaning to me, I am able to remember them quite well, whereas words and vocabulary have very practical uses, and unless I can associate the meaning of a word with something that has emotional significance to me, it won't stick in my mind until I've repeated the definition many times.

 

I think it has a lot to do with one's family, or whomever raises you. If a person comes from a background of low education, poor grammar/small vocabulary, of course they can strive and work to rise above that (so to say).

However, I still think one's diction and overall ability to speak to others is 80% how one is raised.

The other 20% is what one wants for one's self.

Most certainly texting doesn't do a thing to encourage people to engage in conversation, much less to do it clearly.

Of course there are people that have a physical and/or mental impairment that affect their diction; but I'm fairly certain you aren't talking about them.

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Its good to see you coming back around, Rainy.

 

eating a peanut butter sandwich while talking on a cell phone while driving the wrong way on the free way. but not to worry, this won't last for long.

 

Not knowing English. You'd be surprised that many native English speakers don't know correct English.

Also, being intoxicated.

 

He he he he he

She said Dicktion

 

I think some people are born with a very high verbal intelligence

And of course being born into an educated family and receiving a good education certainly helps.

I always excelled at grammar, writing, vocabulary, and spelling in school. I feel like i have been slipping on that recently though so I think your theory on a correlation between good diction and time spent on HF holds true.

 

Doesnt seem to correlate very strongly though, private vs state schools


Persistence and motivation would come first.

I dont believe anyone is "born" with a high verbal intelligence , but a set of characteristics that mean they are going to be more motivated to, well talk, communicate


I also think past a certain point, an extended vocabulary becomes more about pride and ego

 

10yr old with a dislocated shoulder has the vocabulary of a truck driver.. and people think its funny.

 

Nope, we are all born with brain structures and neural interconnections that will predispose people to excel in different areas. That is why some folks are good at art, others music and other math, etc.
So some people find certain things come easier and more naturally. What is important is to exercise those latent abilities in early life or the pathways may degrade and the dispositions a person inherited may be lost.
Considering everything we do/think is governed by our brains and nervous systems, it only stands to reason that we inherit certain brain "wiring diagrams" from our parents just the same as hair or eye color.

I have always had a natural knack for written and spoken communication. Used to piss off teachers, I wouldn't do any homework or stuff, but always got top scores on the tests. It just came naturally to me.
Reading a lot when young had a lot to do with as it exercised and strengthened the wiring i inherited from my parents, both above average intelligence and avid readers.
Math? I can barely add 2+2...LOL
My 23 year old is a linguistic/literary savant almost and was proofreading my older kids college work when she was in jr. high.
My 20 year old isn't so good at putting things into words, but stuff like calculus and trigonometry are child's play for her.
My 15 year old isn't as academically gifted, but she has a natural talent for art with little formal training.


and the more you expand your vocabulary, the better you will be able to more precisely and concisely express your ideas.

 

I have always been a bookworm and a very good speller. I have an extensive vocabulary and I love to learn new words and the etymology of words as well. I think a lot of it has to do with surroundings and desire. If you live in an urban area, you may adopt the local pronunciations and/or slang so as to avoid being singled out for bullying. Over time, it becomes habitual, which then leads to a crossroads where desire comes in. Do you desire to speak well; to be more eloquent? If you do, and you re-train yourself how to speak, you will inevitably sound more well-spoken. But if you're fine sounding like the product of your environment, that's how you will continue to sound.

To the poster that said they have a hard time learning/spelling new words, maybe this will help. When I was a child, I used to watch television with closed captioning on (and still do as an adult). I did it because sometimes characters mumble and sometimes my mother was being a feral bitch about how loud my TV was. Anyway, if you have an emotional investment in the series or characters, and they use a word you're unfamiliar with, it's spelled on screen for you to look up and have an emotional association to assist in remembering it.

 

"break one seven for bubba. watch for the bear in the bush up ahead. 10-10"

 

That's all based on the premise that the wiring inherited from the parent remains static.

You list the 23 yr old as the most gifted linguistically, most like you in that regard.

But how would you know if the 20 Year Old did or didnt actually start with a closer copy of your brain,especially those linguistic parts.....but just that a certain set of circumstances led to a shift towards maths at a certain age.

The oldest may seem most like you in that way, but it only seems that way.

It's just a bunch of mapped neurons, and there are a finite number of them. Concentrate on one area over time at the cost of another part of the brain.

I don't believe in instinct, it's just a long chain of occurrences that happen too fast for us to be able to pick up on, it just aapears as instinct.

I don't believe in genetics, in that anything gets copied independent of all other influences. Your dont actually get the same hair of eye color as your parents, it just looks that way as we don't usually differentiate between the million types of blue.

When a baby is born, it almost instantly knows how to breath. It looks like instinct. But there are only a limited number of outcomes possible to begin with, a long chain of bodily functions all dependent on each other that have all been configured that way from a gazillion variations of every previous copy, body functions that work way too fast for us to see or pick up on.

It just looks like instinct becuase we can't see every cog in the machine at once.

If your eldest actually was born with a brain closer to her mother or your grandfather, you would have no idea

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVmU3iANbgk

 

well if you don't believe in very firmly established science and hold to your own notions instead, I got nothing to reply...
I'm tired of dealing with folks who choose to remain ignorant.

 

Firmly established science from where?

An evolutionary paleontologist won't believe the same thing as a genetic researcher or mathematician, and they will all have different perspectives on the same thing

You are tired of folks that choose to remain ignorant, but you are always going to believe the 23 yr old takes after you the most, no matter what anyone tells you, even though the 'science' is already there

 

what am I thinking, trying to have a intelligent conversation with a gorilla.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFOuMv8k1bY

 

https://youtu.be/2iS3s7bahMg




Hotwater

 

Not speaking correctly....


Just a guess.