Modern Living: Taxi Talk

As if New York City cab drivers did not have enough troubles with traffic, potholes and other cabbies, they are now being taught "better synergistic movement of the buccal cavity." In uddah woids, to tawk propah. Last week, at a seminar with an audiologist invited by the United Taxi Owners Guild, the hackies struggled like so many Eliza Doolittles to correct elided consonants, curdled diphthongs and other "substan-dardisms" peculiar to the area. If all goes well, they may give up on diction and speak only when spoken to.

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