for native speakers of "seseo" varieties of spanish, in which is absent, the presence of this phoneme in european speakers does not appear strange. however, it might be striking for learners of spanish in north america, where people are more familiar with "seseo" pronunciation, and indeed gives an impression of "lispiness". the misnomer "castilian lisp" is used occasionally to refer to this aspect of peninsular pronunciation (in both "distinción" and "ceceo" varieties).