@ hawkfyr:

Yep, it's a glottal stop and it seems to have been adopted by some American youth around the time Brit accents started to become fashionable again in the US.  Oddly enough, it's been re-adopted by Brit kids wanting to sound American.  The usage has its origins in the south of England, around London and Essex.

In my part of the UK the word "the" is often dropped in favour of a glottal stop.  You'll often see Sheffield dialect written thus:

"Ah went dahn ter t'bus stop but they were nowt theer."

Which equates to "I went down to the bus stop but there was nothing there."

The way it's written (as t') is incorrect and misleading, which is why non Northern people have difficulty impersonating a Sheffield accent.  The dropped "the" is pronounced as t' in Lancashire, though.

Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.

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