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If you say "awe" without any movement of you mouth or lips it comes out without the R. I remember from early genetics lessons that people, possible races, have different genes which determines the way their tongue works. Perhaps that is the answer. I am of Scottish descent and the way I pronounce the "oo" sound, as in boots, football, cushions, gives cause for much hilarity among my English colleagues. On the other hand, my "poor" is definitely "poorrr".

I think regional dialects should be celebrated. It makes life more interesting.
Bad grammar is a different thing altogether.

Thanks, everyone .

Rossim, I agree that regional dialects should be celebrated - I enjoy (well, most of the time) the variations. I don't think the Awe/Oar clue fits in with that, the Times is a national paper and the pronunciation isn't! Like you, I think bad grammar is a different thing altogether - but there's a huge section now of the population who know very little about the subject, as it's largely been abandoned in many schools.

Jigjag, I go on and off the idea of using 'youse'. I definitely prefer it to 'you guys' - which my friends (all female) and I get in restaurants, bars etc.

Despard, your information about tongues was very interesting. It's something I know very little about - the only thing I remember hearing is that it's difficult for non-Scots to pronounce the 'ch' in 'loch' properly! (I used to think they were just ignorant or lazy.)

Thanks Despard but I have been saying "awe" for the last few minutes, without any movement of mouth or lips, and the r still comes out. I have looked in the mirror of course but that doesn't help.

Just opened an email which refers to: Tesco's'

Steve

Thanks .. the dreaded double apostrophe! I haven't seen one for a while.

Malone

I could not pronounce the "ch" in "loch" properly, but I am fairly competent at the "ch" in Welsh e.g in "bach"- little one.

Jigjag, as long as you/we can pronounce properly the words we choose to use, words we need to use, we should be fine!

I agree Rossim and Malone, regional accents display a surprisingly rich diversity for such a small country.
Here in Tykeland people from Hull (and the East Coast to a lesser extent) pronounce `cold` as `curled`... this can take some getting used to - I`m not sure how they pronounce `curled`... probably `cairled`!