I have heard meara and arrow instead of error. Their tone raises up at the parts of the word I typed in capitals.. I say borough as burrow and mirror as mirror, not meara. And please stop using hangin out and you guys.. Thuh, preceding a word starting with a vowel! I want it to stop, NOW! Most of us know the way we speak may change depending what social situation were in. As a young woman who sometimes subconsciously dips into this lower vocal register, I don't even notice when radio reporters speak with vocal fry. I see it in newscasts all the time being used by educated people. Thankfully, people have stopped using in terms of before every statement! Every slimy toady in gangster movies said yeah yeah yeah, Boss, I hear ya, I hear ya! . Yes, vocal fry has become almost a standard version of vocalization in our current era. All of this is from one person. The latter pronunciations of each drive me nuts. At first, I thought maybe he was just discovering a new feature in the product he is explaining but it has become clear it is just something he blurts out every few minutes. Either Feb-roo-ary or Feb-yoo-ary is acceptable. I was convinced I was the only one who noticed the (extremely annoying) uptick of use with the word right in conversation. She has a distinctively black accent and is a favorite voice on NPR. I have to bite my tongue and let off steam when I hear Australians speak. after. Who started this Have a good one! trend anyway? If you ask me again, Id also predict the tide will turn and people who drop these phrases will come out on top in the long run. You asked your readers what we would like for you to include in your next video. Wish the tv stations would actually listen to their employeesfemale reporters are the WORST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ive seen it theorized elsewhere that it began as an AAVE regional thing, cant remember which region, that just spread. I came to this thread as I am driven mad by Nicola Walker, the terrific British actress (who I like very much) has this annoying habit of pausing momentarily in the middle of delivering her line in a script. Yes!! Good to know I am not the only person being annoyed by the way women robot-speak to the latest trend. Objective reality, for some folks, must be something that just happens to others. The sad thing about podcasters is that they have not taken any diction or public speaking classes. Uptalk, a subset of valspeak, is the habit of producing a rising inflection as if youre asking a question even when youre not? The voices on NPR are more diverse than ever. It is always annoying, but sometimes makes the report(s) unlistenable. I was seriously annoyed . We occasionally hear from listeners who critique what they perceive as the homogeneity of on-air voices. Some time around the late 90s, early 2000s, it was taken off the graded subjects. AMEN. Criticizing someone's voice often seems to be a criticism of their identity. I was about to write a comment concerning the misuse of me and I when I read yours. I just wanna know whats the reason behind it so i can try to stop being annoyed hahaha. They must be changed Out. What is that? All of this is annoying- up talk, vocal fry, So. The most common is right? when used at the end of a sentence. (Smirk. We can expect the children of millennials to pass annoying speech patterns on to their children. The most recent annoying speech pattern to me is the habit of adding an ah sound to the end of a word. He transcribed what she had said, changed the text color of "a few errors" to red, and suggested his own improvements in green brackets. For example, instead of saying No they say NoUH. My current pet hate is the need for the speaker to promise to tell the truth as in To be honest, or Im not gonna lie, and then proceeds to reveal some piece of bland trivia! Now, once in a while I see the dramatic purpose of such a structure, but every dang time, every single dialogue. She said she wants to give reporters more control of their voices to increase their storytelling options. Thank you for helping me put a name to this! My friends who do these habits, they do this not just in english language, but also in our native language. Argh!!! For example, mou- uhn, instead of moun-tain. The first example makes full-grown adults sound like a toddler who cant yet say his/her ts.. Wait, what is the worst, because it pretends to be clever and original, and is the polar opposite of both. NPR has always kept American dialects and accents out of their reporting, but Vally-Girl seems to be OK. Its as if speakers dont care whether their grammar is correct. Women who speak this way remind me of the ghosts in the movie, The Grudge.. For everyone posting examples of patterns, if its possible to include a link to a Youtube video that illustrates the example, that would really help everyone know exactly what you are talking about. that the odds are every one of those comments is directly speaking to another comment directed indirectly to another comment and so on? my grammar and punctuation was intended as sarcasm but the rest was serious. In the series Heartland, it is practically half of the dialog. Just on the cursive I used to teach my 5th and 6th graders cursive writing for at least 30 minutes a day. I agree. Britain? 3. Ive pointed out the mistake to my grandchildren who acknowledge the correction but later continue to say me and him. Even more annoying is the public speakers misuing the pronouns. Can I just start by saying that two very annoying vocal trends that have reached us here in the UK / Northern Ireland in recent years are up speaking and vocal fry, which are bad enough on their own. If someone speaks in numbered bullet points, such as, Firstly_____, and second then they wish to sound more educated than they are. I had never noticed the yeah yeah yeah but within ten minutes I heard it on tv. Listing speak! Epic, etc. Your email address will not be published. 50% of revenue is from member stations. While it may not be pleasing to US, it may be a more recognizable and standard sound to those who are currently hiring VO talent, or even on-camera talent. I had to fight my own brain!". They arent aware of it so I think that means there are no elocution lessons. Hell start a sentence, but then even before he gets to the part that he wants to bully you into agreeing with, hell stick in a right?! Now I hear that everywhere. I have tried to adjust. It feels like they want attention, or something else, from us and are using what they think are caressing tones. Ive forgone many a great podcast topic due to vocal fry or overuse of right. 2) I cant stand the making every sentence sound like a question- I was thinking maybe it was a Mexican/American thing (I am Canadian). They also cannot read digital clocks. ", In the ensuing #PubRadioVoice conversation, now-host of Weekend Edition Sunday Lulu Garcia-Navarro tweeted about a similar experience. SO NECESSARY! What is that??? Please. The one Ive noticed the most lately is the one mentioned by Mary N. And of course the extremely annoying vocal fry. Tripp, I agree completely. No statement can ever, ever stand on its own without an intensifier. Its the teacher and college professors that are spreading this annoying trend. So, what are you gonna do about that job application? Fine. OMG! What is the affectation where the speaker draws out the end of every sentence as if theyve just ran out of breath, but still want to get that last word out. It reminds me of the French who often tack on a oui or non at the end of a sentence, non? Pretty much everywhere to enunciate the ts in button is not correct. Further, it seems that engaging in these practices seems to indicate a greater authenticity for Gen Z and Millennials. I love the content of the daily but can't stand the guttural voice of Michael Barbaro. It seems all females under age 35 speak this way. Did you see that? Its bazaar. So, I woke uuuuup. We do a lot of VO recording work with China in particular in teaching English to school children, and are careful to provide proper grammar and usage in that regard. she didn't sound certain saying her own name, helps reporters hone their voices for air. The vast majority of voice complaints that come into our office concern women and reporters of color. A long list of complaints I violently agree with. I saw a book tv author, a Harvard history professor good lord, on C-SPAN yesterday who said sort of in every spoken sentence. Over his 10 years at NPR, he said he has grown emotionally to trust that his voice is enough. Even if the people indulging in these patterns have an incredibly high IQ, the patterns work against them by making them: Despite all the detriments of allowingthose patterns to unconsciously creep into your own conversational lexicon, people are falling prey at rapid rates. Anyone who wishes to sound like an idiot is well within his or her rights to do so. Recent research into vocal fry suggests that women do indeed have a tougher go of it than men when their voices slip into a lower register. In our house it is forbidden LOL. I dont consider it thoughtful because the next word follows immediately. It is difficult to give an example because this is a pitch pattern not just certain words. watch a MOvie, read a BOok, eat a COOkie, Ooops! Youre not insane. For example youre not just happy to be here today youre SUPER happy. Its super annoying. Corollary: being excited about even the most routine, long-anticipated events, such as the press release I saw last week about a new software upgrade that the developer was super excited to announce. That was actually in the written press release. Love thatNo problem. , Your email address will not be published. Heres what makes me hit mute/delete on any podcast, youtube speaker, Radio, etc. What are they like. I cant decide which I detest more- vocal fry or right. I find it close to impossible to think that these sounds are solely mimicry. Imitating neanderthals? Because anybody who over pronounces their ts and ss sounds annoying to me. Help. None of these up-and-coming phrases ever appear in scripts that I read for actual voice-over jobs or auditions. Its bad enough to hear it in speech but I recently received an email that began with these words. Many men do this also, although its usually not as noticeable as creaky voice in women, because mens voice are deeper to begin with so the pitch drop doesnt contrast as much with their normal pitch/phonation. speech pattern had a name, because someone in my house started doing it and they are driving me crazy! The one thats driving me crazy is this extra schwa added to the ends of words. METAPHORICALLY no one? These are examples of bad grammar, mispronounced words, and slang. NPR seems to be doing a full-out Jessica Rabbit Via . She creaked so much that I literally couldnt understand a word she was saying. Its so distracting! When used, it sounds more like its a filler until the person can come up with the words he/she wants to say. Great job! Ask people why they do it (has to be within moments of the list having been sung) and theyll tell you its just a list. "You're on the air, not having a conversation with a buddy in a bar. Tomorrow WILL be a hot day or I mean, like, Im literally, like, here. I have noticed lately female newscasters seemingly trying to avoid monotony by raising then lowering the pitch of the last syllable in a sentence. E.g. Just because theres a stringor SHTRingof letters composed of an s, t and a nearby r, doesnt mean that English suddenly and surreptitiously morph into German pronunciation. She has been a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild since 2005. I thought, I am absolutely not going to have my child taught by this woman., Short as become like oswords like class and that are pronounce as closs and thot.. Its almost excusable (almost) to hear uptalk from an entry level early 20-something, however, Im really not sure how a middle aged VP becomes an uptalker. Those filler words of such concern to some listeners are especially likely to slip in on live radio, when there is no opportunity to edit out mistakes or other problems. Yes, the mute button is hit, the station is changed, and I stop cringing 20 minutes later. Comments like that don't bother or surprise Fortir. When I meet a person under the age of 40 who does not speak in this manner, I am surprised and delighted, and will go out of my way to let them know how much I appreciate their ability to communicate properly. Person 2: So South African farmers are facing difficult times nowadays To those of you who are staying up to date with these comments and following this thread, we just posted a compilation video in this blog. May I direct my fellow annoyed speech watchers to a major culprit leading to these speech patterns? I would be happy to hear the word amazing without the word super in front of it. Literally?! I first noticed this 10 years ago watching Dora the Explorer with my Daughter. Its hit the English language strong in just the past year or so, right? Theres no k sound in the word, yet many people want to pronounce it as though there is. walkeen instead of walking. There are so many of these annoying speech patterns and they are contagious. Thank you so much for validating my comments to my skeptical wife. I agree though, like the tattoo girl on the Twix commercial that spells NO REGERTS and then says Sawree in that whiny sarcastic voice. I thought it must be a local thing. Also, using lol in a sentence is not only idiotic, and outdated, but it makes the commenter appear mentally retarded. Many shop assistants think they are being kind referring to me as Sweetheart or Hun. Ive noticed that, too. It's not just one part of America or one slice of America," he said. This sounds immature (like a 5 year old), lazy and uneducated. You know, the best way to find out the answers is to just Google it.. Very annoying habit for a smart lady!! Meowing. Is it to have a snippet of time before responding? I simply changed the channel on my tv. Thank you Baz for this eloquently written commentary. Mark, your comments are very well spoken, and I also consider language and ones command and understanding of it to be a sign of class and proper education. An article in England stated that bosses would not employ anyone who used this phrasing, as they felt that they were unsure of themselves. Not included in the list, which usually includes vocal fry, is this mouth full of potato way of speaking that UK millennials in particular display. He joins us. Really finished yet?). Correspondents are starting to do it. Just stop! ^ That, I hear all the time (Southern California). Its definitely annoying! as f*ck immediately comes to mind, stupid-sounding phrases like SO MUCH YES! One from Texas wrote: "Not all Americans sound like White American politicians and I wish that could be reflected on your airwaves.". OMG! I am also a teacher and am perplexed by the lack of vocabulary and sloppy use of language that I hear every day, everywhere, and by many! None of these up-and-coming phrases ever appear in scripts that I read for actual voice-over jobs or auditions. "It has expanded my own understanding of the world and the people you have brought on board are excellent," he wrote. we had a surprise english test? As in change the sheets or change a lightbulb. The whiny and drawn-out words, how can I cite an example? I appreciate its a casual, off the cuff chat with the 2 male hosts (in their late 30s possibly) who are intelligent & one was a teacher in London! Auto-formatting removed the numerous spaces between the words in my last sentence, rendering the example less than illustrative. And they do it a lot. Im not ashamed to say that I have on frequent occasion shown these dim-witted types the door of my office immediately (usually upon hearing any hint of vocal fry, thats enough to do it), telling them to email me their query, which I then promptly delete without reading, and send them an auto-reply to that effect. Please, lets stop hiring these dudes who are stuck in their own head trying to sound and trick us believing they are something they are not. I mean, everyone has heard plenty of examples of those speech patterns that have made perfectly well-educated college grads (mostly female) sound like Kardashian wannabes. Arent there any metrics showing that people fast forward when they come on? I am relieved to find this list because listening to NPR has become impossible. i agree, it drives me insane , they sound like 4 year olds. It isnt just a curved exclamation point. And I say this from a professional point of view. Or you might hear the hushed monotone parodied in Saturday Night Live's iconic "Schweddy Balls" sketch. Agreed, Debbie! I find that more often there is not an understanding of why this might be appropriate, especially by my younger students & family members. Where Youre welcome implies that you went out of your way and accept their thanks as your praise. Glen Washington (Snap Judgment) is so smooth, I also like Gene Demby and Shereen Marisol Meraji (Code Switch). At one point in the history of the English language, you was the *plural* second-person pronoun, and thou was singular. I put my own example of me saying it in this Youtube link: Vocal fry. Some of the family members have a better capacity to use words, language & phraseology than others that still use upspeak, vocalfry, text slang & whining. Please. I also dislike the replacement of youre welcome with no problem when told thank you. When I purchase something from an employee, or tell someone thank you, Im not needing assurance that Im not a problem. Im curious if this is a West Coast thing with the under 40 set. Amen!!! Add on the ground. Even when an exact location is given, the ubiquitous use of on the ground, drives me quite mad. For example, when they pronounce the word eight they say eigh-tah just pronouncing the last letter. Investigating these complaints opens a window into a long-running debate in the public radio community: what or more precisely, who should NPR sound like? But I remain relentless I call it out every time. This American Life even did a segment on the negative messages their women reporters receive about vocal fry. I had to fight my own brain! New Hampshire Public Radio and the Warren B. Rudman Center were proud to welcome NPR White House Correspondent Ayesha Rascoe as the next speaker in our Justi. a. period. Any and all bridge words used frequently in conversation is exceedingly annoying. ) Trying to describe some of these patterns is difficult, so examples would be very helpful! Can you tell us about the car accident you witnessed today? Hes a sinGer making singer rhyme with finger. The worst is sort of. Initially I thought it was a precious Mid-Atlantic way of speaking from years gone by Gore Vidal was a sort of intellectual savant. Then as it was used repeatedly in the same program by these pundits I realized it was just some new ridiculous-sounding cautious way of not overstepping. Liana Van Nostrand (@lbvannostrand) is an intern for the Public Editor's office. There are many more I could come up with, but tedious at the moment. This collection would be much funnier if the written intro didnt include a sentence beginning I mean I dont think most people realize how annoying it is, especially when it becomes a pattern of speech, which it often does. 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