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?
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 Al Gore, 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!
Changes in VO Styles Over the Years: From Big Booming Voice Overs to a More Natural, Conversational Style
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.
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.
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!
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.
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?
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.
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…”
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!