Which of the two is the lesser evil?

I used to live in a place where the "th" sound was frequently pronounced "eff".

One would often hear words such as "toof," "teef," "birf," "baf," "Norf" and "Souf" when actually they should have said "tooth," "teeth," "birth," "bath," "North" and "South." Just to name a few.

Go figure.

I never knew if these folks were physically/linguistically incapable of properly pronouncing the "TH" sound or if it stemmed from the perpetual ignorance of mispronunciation.

I know it's not limited to the geographical area from which I came. I hear this same mispronunciation on both national tv and radio.

All too often.

I now live where the same words are often mispronounced but in a slightly different manner. Here, many people, simply drop the "h" from the "th" sound. Only emphasizing the "t". But sharply.

Most recently, the words "tooth," "teeth," "birth," "bath," "North" and "South" were heard as "toot," "teet," "birt," "bat," "Nort" and "Sout."

I just don't get it.