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Comment by systemvoltage | Hacker News Reader

Unrelated: I just want to mention the clarity of enunciation of people of this era. They spoke with this wonderful crystalline voice that is so pleasant to hear. Similar can be heard in Bell Labs demonstrations and other 1950-1980 clips. I think part of it is the audio processing and low-pass filtering, but I think the accent and our discipline of the language has changed dramatically. In America, many kids today cannot go longer in a sentence without uttering 'like' and 'um'.

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Another contributing factor is likely that back then most recorded voices you heard were from professional speakers/performers. Nowadays anyone can easily record their voice. Not only does this mean that many more amateurs will do so, but also that it has become a more casual affair - people don't generally put as much care into it.

This is a phenomenon the world over, not just Americans, and not just young ones. It’s kind of ridiculous actually to suggest that filler words are unique to American kids.

Oh I wasn't speaking as Americans exclusively. I agree with you, just that I am in America so I can speak for what I can see.

Former California governor Pete Wilson practically refused to say, "uh." So much so that I used to listen to him just to see if I could catch him at it. My successes were few. He would simply pause, mid-sentence if necessary, to phrase his thoughts precisely. He was governor from 1991 to 1999 and his precise manner of speaking was noticeable even in his era.

I think we have a cultural malaise. But obviously, based on how badly my comment has been downvoted, many disagree.

I am convinced that spoken American English has degraded and regressed over the years.

I'm with you.

> In America, many kids today cannot go longer in a sentence without uttering 'like' and 'um'.

You seem to be comparing children to professional speakers. Why?

Given that this guy stopped being a serious economist sometime in the early 70s and started being an ideologue who made his fortune giving speeches, it's no wonder that he'd be pretty good at public speaking given that's basically what his career was until his death. I think part of the reason for the clarity is that because these folks grew up without great audio production, they were forced to enunciate as clearly as possible, both on the radio and on stage. It's also why it's hard for me to watch old films and take the characters seriously. Nobody actually talked like that.

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