So, you probably already know about vocal fry, valspeak and uptalk, right? 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.
Vocal fry refers to a low, glottal, animal-like sound that speech pathologists consider a vocal disorder.
Valspeak is, like, short for the way Valley Girls talk that was, like, you know, so big Frank Zappa sang about it in 1982.
Uptalk, a subset of valspeak, is the habit of producing a rising inflection as if you’re asking a question – even when you’re not?
Here’s a new video we created to demonstrate some of the more common patterns you hear today…
To say that all these fad-driven speech patterns are kinda, sorta, well… I don’t know, annoying may seem a bit harsh. But it’s also absolutely true.
The Harsh Reality of Speech Patterns
The use of such patterns do more than annoy the listener. Even if the people indulging in these patterns have an incredibly high IQ, the patterns work against them by making them:
- Sound less intelligent
- Appear less professional
- Seem like a nitwit or airhead
- An embarrassment in front of mom, dad or the general public
- Unfit for any position that pays more than minimum wage
Despite all the detriments of allowing those patterns to unconsciously creep into your own conversational lexicon, people are falling prey at rapid rates. Some are even doing it on purpose.
One of the reasons the patterns become so widespread, particularly with the current trend of vocal fry, is the feeling of belonging it gives young women. A video on Today explains how it makes the women feel part of a “macroculture.”
If you ask me, I’d rather join a gym.
If you ask me again, I’d also predict the tide will turn and people who drop these phrases will come out on top in the long run. Drop the phrases now and you can think of it as an easy, inexpensive way to outshine 85 percent of your competitors in that next job interview.
The Up-and-Coming Most Annoying Speech Patterns
Being a voice-over talent makes me extremely sensitive to not only the sound of voices I hear on TV, radio and the internet, but also to the words that are chosen. None of these up-and-coming phrases ever appear in scripts that I read for actual voice-over jobs or auditions. They are typically found in unscripted, more extemporaneous speech.
These five speech patterns have become rampant in interviews. My husband listens to a lot of podcasts, particularly enjoying them while out driving or working in the yard. He started tracking the pervasive use of these five patterns of speaking that are appearing in virtually every interview he listens to lately, including on cable news and business channels.
Of course, once he shared them with me, I started hearing them, too.
I’ve already used all five patterns in this post, did you catch them?
1. You know – This phrase is increasingly being used at the beginning of the sentence as a lead-in. This one has been around for ages but, you know, it’s been given new life with a new use you can’t help but constantly hear if you listen for it.
“You know, the best way to find out the answers is to just Google it.”
2. So – So, you’ll also find this one at the beginning of a sentence, namely as a way to “manage” the conversation and sound fairly authoritative (or condescending). It’s become hugely common, even among expert speakers during formal interviews (just listen to NPR while various experts are interviewed). More on that idea here.
“So, what we’ve found in our research is that people tend to add this word as a way to sound informal yet still be an expert.”
3. I mean – This completely unnecessary phrase seems to just be a habitual way to start sentences for many people. I mean, where did this one come from anyway?
“I mean, if it really was a problem that I say that phrase whenever I’m trying to make my point, what difference does it make?” Whatever!
4. … right? – This one comes at the end of sentences, apparently to encourage or sometimes subtly force agreement on the listener. It reminds me of the French who often tack on a oui or non at the end of a sentence, non? It’s hit the English language strong in just the past year or so, right?
“It wasn’t just that the election campaign this year was ugly, right…? It really became a battle of negative personalities in a race to the bottom of common decency.”
5. Kind of (or sort of) – This tidbit is used anywhere in the middle, as a way to not say what you really mean. It’s sort of a way to soften, to be kind of… vague, imprecise and uncommitted.
“Well, if you look at the data, you’ll kind of notice that there’s a trend that sort of jumps out at you.”
You can even mix them all together in infinite combinations:
“Right, so… you know the best way to find out answers is to Google it, right? It’s kind of like way better than going to the library. I mean, how did people even get through the day before the internet was invented! We really owe a lot to the guy who invented that, I mean, really…
I understand these may be hip ways of speaking these days , but they actually detract from the message. They also make the speaker sound less intelligent and sometimes even manipulative.
On those rare occasions when I hear an interview with someone who is profoundly lacking all of these five patterns, it is such a breath of fresh air! I can focus and absorb what they are saying so much more easily.
More common, is hearing someone speak with various combinations of several of these patterns appearing in just one sentence! It’s kinda crazy, right?
Yes, I understand that my fixated attention on these patterns is what is causing me to be distracted. And, like a highly contagious virus, it is possible that by simply reading this post, you too will become afflicted!
Sorry about that, but it’s the only way to bring awareness to this type of conversational disease in hopes that it can be eradicated very soon.
Pay attention and I promise you’ll start noticing these patterns in nearly every casual conversation you listen in on. Even interviews with people you’d think would be trained to avoid patterns like these are using them.
It’s mildly disturbing to me. I hope you’ll be disturbed too. At least enough to curb your own use (and maybe the usage by your kids, spouse and/or significant other).
Oh, and yes, I know I left off many other annoying speech patterns. Like things like “like” because it’s just, like, beyond ubiquitous and you already know about it. Now that you’ve become painfully aware of my top five annoying speech patterns, please share your own speech pattern pet peeves.
Feel free to share in the comments! And please read through the comments for some very interesting insights and observations from other readers.
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Can I just add…..’yeh yeh yeh yeh…..’ (in a convo…not a song chorus….)…and the latest affliction….’Wait…WHAT ??’
Yawwwwwn !!!! 🙂
EVERY FRICKIN’ interview has “yeah yeah yeah!”, more and more in the past 6 or so months. AAHHH!!! Monkey hear, Monkey say! Every slimy toady in gangster movies said “yeah yeah yeah, Boss, I hear ya, I hear ya!” . So, like, gag me with a spoon, you know?
I had never noticed the yeah yeah yeah but within ten minutes I heard it on tv. Now I can add that to my list.
“Wait, what” is the worst, because it pretends to be clever and original, and is the polar opposite of both.
Like, what about the kids, like mostly girls, that like say the word “like,” like every other word. Most annoying speech pattern of the decade? Ummm also people who ummm say ummmm uncontrollably as well as the “yeah, no” phrase that is everywhere. What I was really searching for is the new pattern that my daughter seems..to…use. You know what I mean? The way people…are…now…purposely talking slow as though everyone they’re speaking to is a moron? ARGH!!!!
I’m so glad someone has identified moronic speech that has gone from thoughtful “Well,….” to the contrary “So,” as if they’re indicating a confirmation summation that theirs is the correction of an issue. Segue is a conditional signal that the conversation has changed hands to the other participant.
“So” is a completely disingenuous and idiot transfer. And please stop using “‘hangin’ out” and “you guys”…..
Michael Salatino
San Diego
You missed ‘uh, um, well you know( the three words used together). Any and all bridge words used frequently in conversation is exceedingly annoying. I don’t think most people realize how annoying it is, especially when it becomes a pattern of speech, which it often does. It makes the person listening want to say ‘Please, just get to the point!’
You forgot “it’s like…”
I’m like… my husband uses it for every single thing. Even if something just happened and I witnessed it with him. Him: I’m like did you see that? Please make it stop.
“And so, yeah. I’m done.” “Yeah,” used in this odd transitional way. How did this start?
How about “But uh…..” ?? An awful conversational bridge. Sportscasters use it, friends use it in convos, but uh, hey, what’s wrong with that? By saying that (usually at the end of a sentence) it prevents someone else from talking or contributing their 2 cents, waiting for whatever follows the But….uh. Or it can negate what they just said, or preface a criticism or negative comment.
All of this is annoying- up talk, vocal fry, “So”. I hear it all of the time especially as I live in a very affluent, lily white area. These hip speech patterns are used by women in, I would say 90% of the conversations I’m involved with or hearing out in public. One of the most irritating forms of up talk or vocal fry is when a woman is explaining her day and each sentence is drawn out at the end with an upward inflection, then the next sentence is hooked on at the end with the same down to up trajectory and drawing out the last word to crescendo. “So, I woke uuuuup. Then I went to the gyyyyyym. Then I grabbed a coffeeeee. And then I had to take the Range Rover in for serviiiiiiiiice, I mean, I’m like sooo worn out ( vocal fry). “
Tripp, I agree completely. This is currently the speech trend that is driving me insane, even more so sometimes than vocal fry, which really bugs me. Not up-talk exactly, as in ending every sentence as if it were a question, but more when people are listing things that are maybe a little tedious. I think females tend to do this more often and more dramatically. I’ve noticed the upward shift in tone can be as much as an octave. E.g. “…and then I got stuck in trafiiiiic, so I was late for woooork, people are off siiiick, we have more to doooo, I had t skip luuuunch…” ad nauseam. Maybe we could call it Blah-de-Blah Speak. I wonder if there is a name for this yet?
This is exactly what I’m looking for the name of… The inflected list is the most common/overused pattern of speech.
I like to call this “Laundry Listing” because it is like they are giving you this boring laundry list of things
I call this the “singing list”, the intonation conveys a meaning – that the list is long, maybe endless, and what’s being sung is a representative/illuminating example, but not exhaustive.
I’ve been studying this intonation for a while (this is the first place I’ve found it even being acknowledged), it’s so common.
What fascinates me most about it is that it’s unconsciously infused the American English speaking world, every seems to do it, everyone also seems to get it – it never leaves anyone confused. Yet it’s undocumented.
Ask people why they do it (has to be within moments of the list having been sung) – and they’ll tell you it’s just a list. Ask them when then the change in intonation and the rhythm, and they’ll tell you they don’t know.
you left out one which has spread like wildfire the last few months (besides “UHMMM”)—it is a “click” as I call it every time the person opens their mouth to start a sentence,kinda like chewing gum with your mouth open kind of a sucking “click”—-I swear these things are done to get your attention for trivial things which the person want you to listen to.
Sucking on the teeth and smacking…This speaker does this , also.
‘Up talk’ is especially annoying when the speaker is listing things, as in those pillow commercials:, “I sleep better? I feel more rested? I don’t have any neck pain? My spine is more aligned?”
At least we can take comfort knowing that some of these annoying fillers indeed die out eventually. After living abroad for over a decade, I noticed in the mid-1990s that, in the workplace, every female in a supervisory position seemed compelled to preface nearly every declarative sentence with, “At this time.” It was quite ridiculous to hear something like, “At this tiiiime, we do not have a vacancy, but we’d like to talk to you, so… At this tiiime, can you tell me if you could come in at 10:00 on Thursday? It seems a convemient time period for my schedule at this tiiime…”
Sort of and right came right out of Britain. Look at any Hugh Grant movie, and you’ll see.
But yes now every venture capitalist, techie and aspiring TED talker has a pseudo-self-effacing way of speaking using right and sort of…soooooo annoying!
Uptalk is the new wave sweeping the youth, like wearing tights and having tattoos all over your arm.
I m hearing the phrases “there’s no doubt about it” and “there’s no question about it” and the variations: “no doubt about it”, “no doubt”, ” no question about it”, and “no question”. I hear it a lot among sports commentators and analyzers on tv and radio. It sounds like a popular catch phrase sports people use to show they are a sport person who know what they are talking about. When used, it sounds more like it’s a filler until the person can come up with the words he/she wants to say. It is very annoying!
100%
I hate that one…100%
“The fact of the matter is…” that the matter is not predicated upon fact, that it’s merely opinion or rumor, and that a huge majority of the time it’s from a political pundit who’s paid by the broadcast network to establish a strawman argument to knock down the entire position of the other political pundits (not paid by the network). I cannot remember any time that the person uttering that delusional phrase wasn’t in “political arts.”
Thanks for commenting Doyle, that’s a new one I haven’t noticed yet. These little speech micro trends seem to pop up every now and then, then fade away over time (thank God!).
As an american transplant living in Germany, the phrase I noticed most from my European colleagues is quite some. As in, “those are quite some radishes you have there.” It seems to be quite common as I hear quite some people using it.
The one that’s driving me crazy is this extra schwa added to the ends of words. “Oh my Godd-uh! No-uh.”
Where did this come from? I think it was about a year ago that I first noticed this creeping into speech. It’s usually when someone is trying to express exasperation or frustration-uh. And, like uptalk, it seems to be used predominantly by female speakers.
I’ve been looking to see if i can find more information about where this is coming from…drives me crazyuh.
OMG!
So. (Said in a condescending nerd voice: So. (Smirk. “Let me explain this simple thing to you dummies.)”
Uptalk, especially, when talking to a CSR at your bank or other professional organization. Or, when listening to a reporter or expert contributor on radio or television.
Leaving the Ts out of a word, as in bu – – on or ki – – en.
Or – I mean, I’m not lyin’ when I say…
A sentence in which one says nothing: “I knooow! OMG! Did you see that? Wu-ut? Literally?! I mean, like, I’m literally, like, here. To totally be, but, like, it’s totally not! I mean… Seriously?!” Fry here and there. Uptalk at ?s.
I also get extremely annoyed by these vocal crutch words so I’m glad I’m not the only who experiences this! The “kind of/sort of” pattern I first noticed about 8-10 years ago and it was my old pet peeve; maybe I’ve grown used to it by now.
My current ‘favorite’ is folks who add the word “literally” to every statement. It hurts my ears! To add to the “…I mean,” is “….I feel like,” I have the pleasure of working with some folks that include these in every single spoken sentence. I wonder if they realize they are doing this?
Also, I’m not fond of meme/social media culture creeping into everyday conversation either. “…as f*ck” immediately comes to mind, stupid-sounding phrases like “SO MUCH YES!!”, as well as misusing words like “adulting”.
it’s so, like, annoying, right? the “kind of ” and “sort of” virus has been making the rounds of cable news hosts and pundits, and it’s literally driving me crazy, you know what i mean? the talking heads are using these words in such sort of ridiculous ways that they make whatever they’re saying sound kind of foolish. is it hipster talk?
…right?
I’ve recently heard this from an “organic drink” company: “However you healthy.”
Another, from a vitamin supplement company: “Want to brain better?”
The marketing profession is an enemy to communication–much like the buzzspeak in 1984.
Oh brother, Frankie! Omitting t’s from words–the one word that brought it to my attention was “mou–n” or as we like to refer to it as mountain.
There’s another pronunciation of words that drive me to distraction…or in this case I should say diSHtraction. Just because there’s a string–or SHTRing–of letters composed of an s, t and a nearby r, doesn’t mean that English suddenly and surreptitiously morph into German pronunciation. The letters aren’t required to be immediately next to each other, as in hiSHtoRy, either.
The vocal twerk I hear in men (mostly) is “Listen”—feels like a subtle form of bullying. However, the habit of young women’s talk that no one has mentioned is the tendency to cluster words together in extremely fast phrases within sentences, a habit which once I notice, becomes increasingly irritating. Finally, the other habit that seems to be spreading is the use of the “schwa”–mostly women but not exclusively—perhaps the thought is that it makes them seem more cultured. For example, a word with almost any vowel (most commonly an “a”) is pronounced, instead of with the actual long or short vowel sound for that letter, with a somewhat nasal “awww” ie the schwa. Drives me nuts. e.g. “attack becomes “attawwk”; radio becomes “rawwdio”.
May I direct my fellow annoyed speech ” watchers” to a major culprit leading to these speech patterns? The education system. I watched a high school teacher being interviewed on television and every other word was one of the phrases that make me tune out as I am bound to do when I am forced to watch a powerpoint presentation. They were “you know”, “I mean”, and ” I mean like”. Someone has to take responsibility for the slaughter of the Queen’s English. It starts at home and moves to the classroom. When closed captioning cannot get a good portion of the words right, Houston we have a problem!
Lisa P. hit the nail on the head. It’s the teacher and college professors that are spreading this annoying trend. Listen to Dr. Blassey Ford.
Ken, can you give some examples regarding Dr. Ford?
I have noticed lately female newscasters seemingly trying to avoid monotony by raising then lowering the pitch of the last syllable in a sentence. Sounds unnatural.
The broadcasters at a local TV newsroom think that sentences end with three periods. It’s a virus spreading. Very. Quickly.
Amen!!! Thank you for addressing the awful speech patterns in our society. Listening to our local news reporters causes so much stress! The staccato, fry voices makes me hit the mute button. Wish the tv stations would actually listen to their employees……female reporters are the WORST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I absolutely abhor all of the speech patterns/words described here, however my biggest annoyance when it comes to TV voice overs is how extremely patronising and robotic they often sound.
For example, presenters who do both on-screen and voice over work in the same programme, often utilise a completely different speech pattern/tone in both contexts. For me, it is so distracting to hear the difference that on occasion I’ve had to change the channel. I just do not understand why voice overs must be so impersonal and what the show producer clearly sees as ‘professional’ or some kind of the standard tone.
I only have radio, and mostly listen to public radio – local, national, and world. The staccato, infantile voices of the most cultured, educated, experienced, expert young women must have some scientific basis. I find it close to impossible to think that these sounds are solely mimicry. Is it hormones in food? Permeating WiFi, etc.? Young women of all nationalities reporting from the most secluded parts of the world use these odd tones, rhythms and inflections.
The internet search yields accusations of objections to this speech as further proof of bias against women. I think this is an absurd accusation. The tone, rhythm, and inflections grate on the ear. They are not harmonious. Isn’t it a long-standing fact, that all beings respond to melodious speech far more positively than, for example, a shriek.
As to use of words, and at least on the radio and applying to both male and female, using “ta” for “to” – I’ve heard world-renowned physicists do this. And, “forward,” in all forms unless someone is moving or driving an object ahead of them. “Moving forward,” “going forward,” I turn off the radio. Add “on the ground.” Even when an exact location is given, the ubiquitous use of “on the ground,” drives me quite mad. It is not as if we do not live above the ground. How can “there” or “here” not be ON the ground, if it is, ON the ground.
I have tried to adjust. Or, should I say, “I have tried to adjust?” It is not possible. Language is too rich. (Or should be). I do not want to hear anyone speaking with mosquito tones. Maybe that’s it. Maybe it is that when I hear those tones I think I’m about to be bitten.
I can’t stand when people say “I can’t even” or “I just can’t with her” or some nonsense like that, and they just end it right there…Or when people say “YEAH you are” with misplaced emphasis.
What about the other inflection/tone people use now when they list things out?
For example someone says “I went to the store, then the gas station, and then got something to eat.
But instead it sounds like “I went to the STOre, then the gas STAtion, and then got something to EAT.”. Their tone raises up at the parts of the word I typed in capitals.”.
What is this called? I put my own example of me saying it in this Youtube link:
https://youtu.be/gGEit7Fg9HU
Hi David,
Thanks for your comment and video. That reminds me of a form of uptalk, but also there’s a thing I notice where a person will have two pitches in their speech. They stay on one pitch primarily and then bounce up to the other pitch (note) on certain words, usually at the end of the sentence or at a comma if it were to be written out. That’s what it sounded like to me in your video. I hear this a lot in conversation these days too. For some people, it’s their dominant speech pattern and they seemingly can’t escape it.
Not sure what that’s called, maybe we should invent a name for it 🙂
I wonder how many of these patterns we can blame on “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and other shows of that ilk.
Thanks to ALL recent commenters for reading and sharing your thoughts on this topic. I really enjoy everyone’s comments and insights!
I think it is annoying when people answer a question with, “Yes, no…” It seems trendy with Britsh speakers. You hear it I. interviews with British movies stars. “Yes, no, blah blah blah…”
I’m British and can’t say I’ve ever heard anyone say “Yes, no…” to answer a question, so I’m pretty sure it’s not trendy amongst British speakers.
The one that really gets to me, (in addition to all the ones already mentioned), is the starting of a sentence with “Wait, what?!” whenever someone learns of something that’s surprising to them. I seem to see/hear it all the time nowadays, normally just after someone has clearly explained the facts around something, but the person reading/hearing it feels the need to demand the person giving out the information to “Wait!” so they can then ask them “What?”, as though what they’ve just heard is complete nonsense, simply because they haven’t, (or so it comes across), been able to comprehend it the first time around.
Yeah, no……wait, what?
“Yeah, naa, yeah” is, similar to the “Yeah, no……wait, what?”. Unfortunately it’s very prevalent down here in Australia.
“Yeah, no. You’re totally right.”
^ That, I hear all the time (Southern California). Though, not usually in a professional setting. But among friends – all the time. I think there’s a time and place, but certainly the workplace is not the place.
Another one that I see increasingly in many of those under 40, is known as g-dropping. This is teh dropping of the letter “g” at the end of “ing ” words, ie: singin’ goin’ droppin’ etc. This is certainly not limited to lower social groups; its becoming endemic in very educated middle class professionals. Listen out for it ; it’ll shock you just how common it is!
Charlotte, dropping the g has been around since I was a young teen, in the early 70’s. Nothing new! The one I’ve noticed the most lately is the one mentioned by Mary N. And of course the extremely annoying vocal fry.
This Americanism was adopted by upper-crust young Englishmen in the 1920s who imagined it made them sound cosmopolitan. Consider Bertie Wooster in the Wodehouse “Jeeves” stories.
One of the speaking annoyances on NPR is the overuse of “sure”…a host may say, “how does this policy impact the electorate?” and the response will inevitably begin with “sure!” followed by an actual response to the question. What is that???
I’m not sure if this was mentioned, but it seems to be an epidemic to list things and use the same pitch patterns ( high, medium, then lower). It is difficult to give an example because this is a pitch pattern not just certain words. I first noticed it when Joanna Gains talked and now I notice it everywhere. The first part of the sentence is on a lower pitch and then last word is HIGHerrr, and then the next is back to the first lower and last word is in the MIDDleee , etc. Mostly female but males do it too. Everyone does this now, it seems, and it drives me nuts ( especially when people start it and only list ONE THInnnnnng and not another).
For everyone posting examples of patterns, if it’s 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. If you can even record a sample of it and then create a short little video that you can upload to Youtube so it’s easy to share the audio, that would be good too.
Trying to describe some of these patterns is difficult, so examples would be very helpful!
The dropping of the “T” sound in the middle of words “Ki**en”, “Bu**on” is all over the place on radio and TV. I’ve seen talking heads on cable news panels do this ad-nauseum. This sounds immature (like a 5 year old), lazy and uneducated.
Here’s another one..
Pronouncing “str” like “shtr” as in “shtrong” “shtrange”. Likely popularized by Michelle Obama and Oprah. It’s an epidemic among millennial actors, hosts, and cable news panelists/contributors. I think it’s an attempt to sound more confident, self-assured and forceful. It’s definitely annoying! A big offender is Marie Harf (former FOX News Dem commentator and former Obama State Department Spokeswoman). One of her favorites is “Shtrategy”. But any word beginning with “ST” is impossible for this woman to pronounce correctly.
I came here to see if anyone else had noticed that young women are suddenly dropping the T sound in the middle of words—or if maybe they’d been doing it all along and I only just noticed and am now hearing it everywhere. Thanks for confirming that it’s a new thing.
I started listening to podcasts regularly in the past year and find that I really zero in on speech patterns since I’m not distracted by how the speaker looks or moves. As a result, my tolerance for vocal tics is definitely lower than it used to be. The T-dropping is especially irritating because it sounds like something a very young kid would do and I HATE when adults talk like toddlers. This had to have started with someone–maybe a Kardashian? I’m not about to watch that show just to find out, though.
I first noticed this 10 years ago watching Dora the Explorer with my Daughter. And that show was probably a 5 year old rerun.
“Do you see the bu**un? Can you point to the bu**un? YAY you found the bu**un”
I was thinking maybe it was a Mexican/American thing (I am Canadian).
10 years later, it has infected our speech everywhere in North America.
I see it in newscasts all the time being used by educated people.
I growl at it when I hear it. My Wife just rolls her eyes and says get a life – lol
Also, using lol in a sentence is not only idiotic, and outdated, but it makes the commenter appear mentally retarded.
Dropping the T is not a girl thing, at least not in the American South. Everyone drops the T here. If you pronounce the T (soft or hard) in “button,” you’ll get some strange glances, because literally no one here pronounces it that way.
Pretty much everywhere to enunciate the “t”s in button is not correct. There’s a name for it, but I can’t remember what it’s called. It’s done a lot in the German language, too (which makes sense, if you think about it).
how about people who fitty dollars instead of fifty? terrible annoying
1) I call it ‘the shopping list’ speech pattern: ‘I went to the store and bought some EGGS.. got some MILK… and some BACON…’
2) I can’t stand the making every sentence sound like a question-
very prevalent among high school kids… and their teachers. ‘This morning in class? we had a surprise english test? and I was totally unprepared for it?’
3) HGTV shows are the worst for this offensive language.
3) but think back to TV shows or movies from the 1950s or 1940s, the Trans Atlantic accent and men sounding like radio show hosts. (ex. ‘I know my rights… I’m a tax payer!’). Unfortunately these offensive speech trends have been happening for many decades. But, these trends are needed- If they didn’t happen we would still be saying things like ‘Where Art Thou?’
Wonderful citations. May I add :
“The reason is because….”
“The problem is is that….”
Argggh!
Here’s another verbal habit that’s annoyed me to the point of pounding the wall. This often occurs when a person (on TV) is explaining the steps to any given process to another person:
“What I’m going to do is, I’m going to…” In 2nd person plural, “What we’re doing is, we’re going to…”
I’ve heard this a lot in the mid-Atlantic states, but lately it’s infested patterns of speech throughout the United States…how about Canada? Britain?
I meant “in first person plural.” [sheepish grin]
Let’s not forget the verbal infestation known as “seriously.” Clearly, it morphed perhaps by laziness from “Are you serious [about]?”
I found this sight because I searched to see if I was the only one annoyed by sentences starting with ‘So’ , which I find very annoying. I’m glad to discover I am not alone. I wonder if it’s the education system, or perhaps social media or television.
I have to wonder if schools still teach sentence diagrams. I recently discovered cursive writing has been dropped, so do schools no longer teach how to construct a sentence?
I also wonder with all the texting short cuts, have we created a new language? It irritates me to see UR instead of ‘you are’ or switched RU ,are you? Isn’t it enough that we can send a message in an instant without having to wait for a cursive written letter to arrive in weeks, but make it even faster with short cut spelling to arrive in a matter of seconds?
I must be getting old, I sound like my parents.
I love this discussion! My purpose in searching phrases that led me here was the very annoying “yeah, no…” or visa versa.
Having a predilection for languages & words, combined with being a professional presenter for most of life, my ear is sensitive to all uses of phrasology; “blue”, high tone, trends, slang, “group ID”, annoying & more.
This post & comments are fun because though annoying is a subjective quality, some of these patterns & phrasing are widely undesirable.
My current most annoying list includes some new & old (along with my initial “yeah, no”): 1) Vocalfry, can actually hurt voice. 2) Adding “Sh” sound to words starting with ST, as mentioned in earlier comment. 3) Ordering at a restaurant or the like, saying “I’ll DO the…” instead of “l’ll order the… or I’ll have the…”.
4) Replacing the good old annoying “no problem” with the nearly arrogant “no worries”. Especially when hearing service providers use it after customers express thanks. That’said when I want to pause, shake my head a little & say “Wait, what?”. Thank you for a great opportunity to express & learn.
Love that…No problem. After thank you = no tip from me. Another one that I have not seen anyone else mention is ” does that make sense” after every sentence. Vocal fry is the most annoying thing on the planet to me. Instant shutdown.
I completely agree with the annoying “no problem” response from a server after saying “Thank you”. And also have heard “does that make sense?” from one particular Millenial. Seems to be a constant request for recognition…as if we somehow can’t stop to ask if we don’t understand something.
HI Joan,
Your observations are wonderful & interesting. Most of us know the way we speak may change depending what social situation we’re in. I may be a little looser with my language, grammar, slang with my close girlfriend than in a business or unfamiliar situation. I find that more often there is not an understanding of why this might be appropriate, especially by my younger students & family members. Their thinking is that they are being fake if they “change up”. In that regard, there is clearly several areas where the linguistic phrases are a product of generation, e.g., texting shortcuts used in other contexts, borrowing from pop culture.
Other times I believe people fall into a speech pattern comfortable to them without questioning the outcomes of or reactions to their words, phrasing & delivery.
The Kardashions, though not typical, offer a great example of many of these trending patterns. Some of the family members have a better capacity to use words, language & phraseology than others that still use upspeak, vocalfry, text slang & whining. The difference in their abilities to communicate well, resolve conflicts, and reach desired goals with less confusion is notable. I don’t watch the show often, but find the interaction interesting & noticed the speech differences early on.
All the best to you in navigating our wonderful world of words!
Yet many here don’t seem to question their own speech patterns or prejudices. Many of these language offenses are just figures of speech and situational patois. Some of it likely occurs between people very familiar with each other. If none of you engage in such things, you’re likely guilty of the offense that led me to search for “endless monotone monologue of older Americans.” It can make engaging topics so boring, it makes death enticing.
YES. We can’t ignore our own speech patterns if we’re going to engage in this sort of discussion. And let’s not ignore the disproportionate amount of times speech pattern analysis (even here, in this comment section) is essentially just an excuse to satisfy a societal itch to hate things that are trending amongst young women.
There are plenty of valid points to be made about the speech patterns here, but how many of these comments boil down to, “I hate this regional / demographic lingual trend because I can’t relate to it” ?
“Yes, no I don’t like all of those bad habits either…” AND the inverse “No, yes we should all be aware these speech patterns are happening increasingly.”
Great discussion on these affectations of speech, thank you.
A long list of complaints I violently agree with. Also, add to The List the pronounciation of the word “food” as (something like), “fee-yood”, and “potato” and “soup” as, “pota-teeyoo” and “see-yoop”.
I’m not crazy – I’m being been driven there, though.
“Sh” to begin “start” and such, is New York City and environs, similar to “yuge”.
As in, “Yo, I’m tellin’ you, shtraight up, this thing is yuge, ‘aight?”
What is it called when people stress the end of the last few words of a sentence as if they are using. a. period. after. every word. ? I’ve been trying to find what this is called online, and not having any luck. Someone. Please. Help.
I’m wondering if there is a name for a pattern I’m noticing – when people start listing bullet point details. First, they sound like they are pedaling up a hill. The voice goes up and slows down, theeeeeeeen, then they list detail 1, and detail two (pause) and detail three. Often they’ll be a ‘so’ tacked on to the start. I hear it on NPR a lot.
Excellent analysis!!! As a naturalized American citizen I am paying attention to my execution of sentences and the intonation. Yes, I have an accent, but I use proper English as my model to imitate. Suddenly I see the speech patterns that seem unnatural and improper. I am glad you are pointing them as incorrect and idiotic. A year ago I started a list of new words and phrases starting to appear in last 20 years. Also, old hardly known by an average individual, words, which are being now widely used. “Epic”, etc. I think, that new forms of expression are good because language is alive and new inventions created new vocabulary as well. However preservation of correct grammar, and beauty of the English language is important to me and I refuse to adapt botching of the language. New words, why not? Imitating neanderthals? No, thanks. Great job!
Thanks Ava for your note. 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. It’s interesting to see how the pureness of the English language can be “corrupted” in some ways, by modern speech patterns, mostly by native English speakers. I appreciate your attention to the proper usage of the English, especially since it’s NOT your native language, and the respect you hold for it.
Short a’s become like o’s–words like “class” and “that” are pronounce as “closs” and “thot.”
Double negatives. They are rampant in the South. I’m a Southerner but I absolutely hate it.
“Don’t run into nobody!” (a parent to a child)
‘I don’t know nothing about that.”
“I don’t see nobody there.”
Double negatives scream, “I am uneducated!” I once changed my child’s preschool because his teacher said, “We ain’t got no time for that.” (Ain’t is another awful one.) I thought, “I am absolutely not going to have my child taught by this woman.”
I have noticed a new one in speech and texts with 30 yr and younger females…
OKIE
used instead of OK
I see it in the office at work and from my 16 yr old Daughter.
I am relieved to find this list because listening to NPR has become impossible. Recently I have noticed what I call the “Consonant Drag” where the speaker is explaining something and they drag the consonants as if to give them “space” to think it out. I am “dropping the mike” now.
Listening to NPR is what got this whole thing started a few years back… But now these patterns are showing up everywhere. My husband watches CNBC a lot (financial channel) and even listening to various serious commentators and guests you can hear many examples of these patterns. The most common is “… right?” when used at the end of a sentence. Everyone is using that now it seems! In our house it is forbidden LOL.
I have heard “right?” at the end of sentences used frequently. Also “umm, like”, and “ ya know” interspersed in many informal AND formal conversations. It is irritating. As far as voice sounds, I do hear vocal fry on occasion and I notice men do it as well as women but women are more often chastised for it. Much of what else is mentioned here I’ve not heard or not noticed. For example, talking.with.periods.between.words! That’s a very strange one.
Perhaps I need to pay more attention to the bungled up speech patterns that are in use. Perhaps I’m better not to.
People use “Right?” as a complete sentence. It’s been shortened from “I know, right?” (Aka, “IKR?”) Why bother with all the words when you can trim it down to one. It’s just laziness (and somehow it’s become cool to sound lazy or bored). THAT is annoying.
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. It’s under the “The Up-and-Coming Most Annoying Speech Patterns” section. Please share more comments on this, and specifically what other patterns you’d like to see us include in the next video.
I notice the upspeak and vocal is prevalent mostly among young white females than anything else..but the valspeak..that is pretty universal..especially I find people my age use it as mostly fillers vs pauses when they are gathering their thoughts with “like” “so” “ya know”..I got 5 siblings w an equal balance of male and females and my parents growing up were drove up the wall by our over use of “like”
I have been trying to figure out why so so many people in TV commercials speak with a lisp. Is this the new trend? I’m not trying to be critical or mean, but it used to be if you had a speech impediment, you went to speech therapy and got rid of it before you went on public media. Having it as part of your daily living is different from going on TV or radio and having everyone hear it in a professional context.
It’s rampant. Pointing this out to friends, I’m usually answered by “yeah, I noticed,” or good old-fashioned shrugs. I find the lisping oddly intriguing particularly on Chick-Fil-A commercials because of their run-in with those who accuse(d) them of homophobia.
Yes, Pattie Parker!! I found this article looking for answer to that question. In fact, there’s a show on HBO where EVERY lady character has a speech impediment. Like yourself, I’m thinking it’s a trend. Speaking as an African American woman, if being more inclusive is the aim it fails. It is not good representation of the general population; especially the show where it is only women who have the speech impediments.
Is this really a new trend?
People who say:
“ta” instead of “to”
“fer” instead of “for” (are they hillbillies?!)
“thas” instead of “that’s” (which is the abbreviation for “that is”)
“ish” instead of pronouncing it as “iz”
Let’s not forget the increasingly common “tyoo” in lieu of two, to, or too.
Firstly, I would like to say that I quite enjoyed reading your article. I find this is a topic worth discussing in a public forum, not to berate anyone for their colloquial style of speaking, but to intelligently address the issues with poor speech. Especially, the pervasive use of poor speech in the business world, and academia.
It seems to me that the average person’s way of communicating has become more casual in professional situations because it has become taboo to correct others in academic settings. Over the past few decades we have grown more to accept/tolerate each other’s personal shortcomings in professional places. And, for the sake of diplomacy, keeping the peace, or not wanting to appear to be snobbish or hurtful, we have simply stopped giving each other constructive criticism regarding our flaws.
My fifteen year old son frequently accuses me of “picking on him” for the way he speaks/writes. He has become hyper-sensitive to even the most polite criticism, and I blame this solely on our P.C. culture that (IMO) is ruining our educational system. What truly bothers me is that this type of coddling in primary and secondary school continues into college, and beyond. These kids are expected to go out in the “real world” and magically transform into people they were once never expected to be. I find that contrary to the quality of education that many of us older folks received. And, I feel it’s time to bring the old standards back.
You asked your readers what we would like for you to include in your next video. It’s hard to come up with additional topics, since so many of the “biggies” were already discussed.
Personally, I have a laundry list of poor speech and grammar pet peeves. I think one that bothers me the most (and one worth further discussing) is the ever common not quite lisp that I’ve noticed a lot in the media, especially when watching news anchors/reporters (as it is their job to clearly convey the report). Or, as my best friend calls it: the “hissed s.” For example, the word is news, not noose. After she pointed this out to me, I hear an appalling number of people that half hiss/lisp when they speak on reputable news programs. How do these people even get the job? It totally baffles me. And I say this from a professional point of view. I have worked as a journalist for over 25 years, and I do not work in television for a reason. Simply put, the standards for on-air positions were much higher when I entered the workforce: speaking well was imperative, but not nearly as important as having “television” looks. And, therein lies the issue. It’s easy to overlook poor speech when an attractive face is delivering the information. Sad, but true.
I am finding it increasingly more difficult to watch television, or listen to certain radio broadcasters, due to distracting speech patterns and styles. I love to hear all types of accents, and regional dialects, as long as they’re intelligible. We have come so far with representing what a diverse world we are in the media. Why diminish that by lowering our standards for education and employment?
Thanks for reading and commenting with such a detailed response, Adrianne. I agree with your comments whole-heartedly, and also wish that more attention be paid in the school environment to identifying and correcting inappropriate speech and speech patterns.
I mentioned this to a retired teacher, just a few minutes ago, and his response was that class size continues to grow and teachers have less time and ability to be task-masters on things like this. As he remarked…”they have to teach to the middle” to create any sense of moving forward in such large groups.
It’s all a process, and of course, we all work to improve (one hopes) our situation, not only personally, or as a family, but as a community and a country and a world. I suppose if the heart is in the right place, we can forgive some of these transgressions of speech. thank you again for such a thoughtful response.
I am listening to a webinar class right now and the instructor keeps using “apparently” to start sentences. 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.
A new one I’ve just started noticing on a local radio interview, and from my husband (ugh) is accentuating the word “to” and a pause. Just stop!
Amazing discussion. I wondered if I was alone in my discomfort. It’s good to see I am not. My gripe is mainly with broadcasting media, films, books, articles, any sort of communication authority, that has embraced these habits. Socially, or even professionally, person to person, I don’t let them bother me too much. But when used in television, radio, or print, I boil uncontrollably. It infuriates me, especially if NPR is on before my coffee. I growl at every inflected, high rising, ramble sometimes eliciting concerned looks from family members. Most examples have been covered here. Someone mentioned “literally” here and now that I think of it that one annoys me when I hear the younger members of the family use it, as well as actually. “I ‘actually’ literally’ sat down.” I like to respond: “as opposed to figuratively sat down, I suppose.” But here is the one trend that makes every cell in my body burst: It is when (perhaps two trends, but related), for example, a writer or announcer will state ” there are two reasons for situation X. the first is Y. And the second?…” Instead of just saying the first is Y, the second one is Z. I suppose the purpose is to draw suspense or to be clever, but it is so unnecessary and stupidly interrupts the flow of a list of reasons. The other annoyance is when someone announces “this is a problem” as “this? is a problem. “I am Jack and this? is my dog” No! “I am Jack and this is my dog” “That’s the sky, that’s the sea, and that? is…” You get the idea. Questions. Are you listening to me? You paying attention? That’s what it sounds like and it annoys me. It’s interrupted cadence. Now, once in a while I see the dramatic purpose of such a structure, but every dang time, every single dialogue. It sounds like cookie cutter script. I may be alone in this one lol, but i hate it.
Hahaha… Russell you are SPOT on! this article was originally conceived after listening to NPR and the annoying patterns heard by those that are supposed to be professional broadcasters. Seems our country (or generation) is being overrun with these ridiculous patterns! thanks for reading and your comment!
People confessing to something or revealing something or letting someone know about how they feel about something is described not as revealed or confessed but so and so opened up about whatever. You can read opened up by the person being interviewed by a magazine or newspaper and it makes me cringe.
Any insight into where the hard G at the end of -ing is coming from? I hear it all the time paint-inG almost sounding like “guh” at the end of the syllable. It seems to be many white females that I’m noticing using this trend. It’s so distracting!
For me, it’s the high-pitched, pinched, nasal voice that sounds so flat and grating from women on TV. Maybe it’s the microphones? It’s like they are trying to sound like babies so they are less threatening.
AMEN. Thank you, Debbie! I hear these daily with the younger crowd at work, and it has become an epidemic, catching on with even older folks. I particularly despise “yeah yeah yeah” and starting sentences with “So.”
I also dislike the replacement of “you’re welcome” with “no problem” when told “thank you.” When I purchase something from an employee, or tell someone thank you, I’m not needing assurance that I’m not a problem.
I respectfully disagree. “No problem” implies that the “Thank you” was not needed, because it was the right thing to do. Where “You’re welcome” implies that you went out of your way and accept their thanks as your praise. I use both in different contexts.
This post is rude.
I’ve been trying to figure out the speech pattern of an acquaintance – it’s causing me irritation and anxiety. Her words hold me hostage. She’ll draw out her sentences with filler words and phrases such as “now this” adding in a firm “ yeah” – this speak continues with nonsensical words until she brings in another thought. Not long in to our conversations, I’ve tuned out. There’s no room for any reply and honestly, I no longer care.
She’s also picked up on all the popular, irritating ways of speaking. I can deal with that but having to stand there and not be able to express a thought is just too much. She’s in her mid-50s and old enough to know better. Has anyone experienced this verbal hostage taking?
I am particularly by the long, drawn out letter ‘r’ at the end of a word: culturrrrr….
*annoyed*
The latest speech fad that I am noticing a lot, here in the UK, in presenters on the radio, interviews, everywhere in fact, with seemingly well educated people, is that they are suddenly starting to drop their Ts in the middle of words-poveree(poverty) clariee(clarity) etc they’re all doing it.
The So at the beginning of every answer to a question, the Vocal Fry, the Upspeak all irritate me beyond all measure. I want to shout at them all and say”stop being sheep all of you, keep your individuality, it’s much more interesting, and real.
Someone must start these silly fads. I’d love to know how it happens.
I am forever hearing “me and my friends” instead of “my friends and I”. It seems to be the new normal. Uggh!
Politicians and reporters insist on saying “Look” before spewing a profound statement. Look at what??
Also, some news reporters will pepper their stories with “obviously”. If it is so obvious, why is it news?
A lazy speech habit that grates on my nerves is the use of “Also too”. It’s bad enough to hear it in speech but I recently received an email that began with these words. Where did it come from and what were they thinking?
And the speech pattern that led me to your page is the one I’ve observed in the voice overs on virtually all home improvement shows. The inflection pattern the hosts use in every sentence of every voice over is exactly the same. No one speaks like that in conversation and I find it both distracting and irritating. These are interior designers and contractors. Were they all forced to attend the same course and drilled in this method before earning their hosting gigs? Shouldn’t voice overs sound like natural speech?
The whiny and drawn-out words, how can I cite an example? An overheard conversation: “The other day I was walkiiiiiing, and, like, this dude flicked a cigarette butt on the graaa-ound, and I said, hey! That’s litteriiiiing, and he just kept walkiiiiing…” That isn’t exactly it, but it’s similar. It’s definitely whiny, and it’s annoying as hell to my ears. It’s mostly young females, but some young dudes do it as well. I’ve heard narrators doing it on youtube videos. What brought me here was the irritating way young females pronounce thank you. It sounds like they’re saying, “Think yeeough.” in a rude, snobby, sneer down the nose at you manner. It’s not just insincere, it’s rude, as if they’re annoyed at having to say it. Am I alone in this?
I work with someone who is very intelligent in general, and very knowledgeable about the subject he’s presenting but he has this annoying halting speech pattern. He can’t seem to finish a sentence without stopping in the middle and, if it’s a long sentence, he’ll stop and start 3 or 4 times. That’s my new pet peeve and I wish I knew a way to counsel him on it!
Would you please counsel ME on it? I do this, and my co-habitator, unrelenting spirit-breaker guy person interrupts me in the middle of my every effort to engage in a meaning exchange of ideas and information. I get all excited about what I’m telling, when he suddenly blurts out, “Finish a sentence!” I am confounded; I get angry; I reiterate, for the umpteenth time, “I can’t help it! I have asked you not to do that!” I say something, along the lines of, “That’s one way to ensure I don’t talk; you don’t have to listen to me.” Then, I walk away seething, and loathing him more and more. To me, that’s like criticising someone who stutters, besides being a tool to stonewall me. If, however, it’s something that is correctable, I would like to know how, (NOT to be more pleasing or acceptible to him), so that I might be less annoying to more diplomatic persons like yourself . Thanks for any suggestions.
I’m trying to find this info, too. The Alexis character on Schitt’s Creek has raised this to a hilarious satire.
Great discussion! 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. I first noticed this in the TV series “Unforgotten” where it is hugely noticeable, but seeing earlier performances in the TV series “Spooks” from a number of years before, I see (hear!) it’s there, though much less pronounced (sic.). I guess my question is: is this a recognised speech defect? Anyone care to comment?
Fabulous opinions everybody: a terrific discussion!