Date:  Tue, 30 Dec 1997 23:15:53 EST
From:  Bapopik <Bapopik[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM>
Subject: Queen's English

  I got on a plane to Toronto, bought a Toronto Star at the airport, and
flew back just to post this item!! It's from the Toronto Star, 30 December
1997, editorials, pg. A18, col. 1:

  Queen's English

   The Royals have always had a tendency to torture the English language.
Queen Elizabeth has a fondness for strange declarations, like: _Set the tay
dane, m'deah_, when she requires a cuppa. But Prince Charles, the future King
of Canada, appears to be an even bigger fan of the linguistic rack. Or so the
venerable Sunday Times (London? Anyone see the article?--ed.) reports.
   Charles not only pronounces _off_ as _orf_, and _horse_ as _'orse_, but
drops the "g" in words like _mornin'_, mangles _mouse_ so that it becomes
_mace_, twists _man_ into _mayn_, and may even be starting to swallow the "t"
in words like _foo-ball_.
   We can just imagine Chuck at the next Canadian affair of state, belting
out a special regal rendition of the national anthem.
   _O Caynada, are 'ame an na-ive laynd_
   _True pa-riot luv, in awl thy sons commaynd!_
   God help us when he gets to the French bits.

(POSTING NOTE: If we actually had an AMERICAN POPULAR SPEECH ONLINE, this
would be reprinted in the "news" section. When I suggested regular "regional"
columns, I meant Canada, England, and Australia as well as the U.S. If those
societies are also interested in the project, the title can easily be changed
to ENGLISH ONLINE--or something similar--and we'd have even more "hits.")