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We Finally Have A Name For Scooby Doo’s Speech Disorder

Explore Scooby Doo's speech disorder, diagnosed as rhotic replacement, revealing intriguing insights on phonological disorders.

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When I imagine Scooby-Doo, I can almost hear it. I hear the horn-filled chase theme, the pitter-patter of feet scrambling to get away, and, more than anything, I hear the semi-intelligible dialogue of a canine with a speech disorder. Forty-five years after the first airing of the beloved children’s TV show, I decided I had heard my last “ruh oh.”

Don’t have time to read? Listen to the whole article below!

What speech disorder did Scooby Doo actually have, and why doesn’t anyone have it?

The first time you hear Scooby Doo speak, you immediately know something is off. He adds /r/ to the beginnings of most words, and where that doesn’t work he will try to twist whole words into an /r/-sound—like you trying to imitate the sound of an engine turning over. But is there anything wrong with this? That is to say, is there something diagnosable in ...

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