There has certainly been a shift from the verbal to the visual in the last century, which undoubtedly impacted the "common man's" verbal fluency. Vocabulary has

There has certainly been a shift from the verbal to the visual in the last century, which undoubtedly impacted the "common man's" verbal fluency. Vocabulary has shifted from the "emotive" and "rich" descriptors to a verbal shorthand; like you I've found rural people have better preserved speech. While vocabulary and cadence are very obvious differences, I particularly notice how speakers in the past were able to construct a story--even in a casual manner. The difference in verbal skill between an adult from the 1950s and early 2000s is massive. Even news programs from the 1990s sound much more formal and precise than now. Personally, I've struggled since childhood with verbal coherence and cohesion and our "rapid fire" way of speaking limits practice opportunities.