# accent or new speech habit?



## JaniceM (Jun 10, 2017)

I like regional accents-  they make people sound interesting, plus they show people are from certain places.  There's something I've been hearing during the last few years, though, and don't know if
 it's an accent gone extreme or one of those fads like 'uptalking' and 'vocal fry.'  Was wondering if anyone here has heard it on t.v. or where you live, and what it's source could be.  

I'd describe it as dragging out vowels, and adding ones that aren't there.  lol  
Example:  a commercial on t.v. has the speaker saying 'That is what we will _deeeuu _for _yeeeuu.'  _The word 'food' comes out almost like 'feud,' etc.  
The only similarity I ever heard in the past was the Chicago-area accent, where, for example, the name Patty was pronounced _Pee-uh-ty.


_Anyone familiar with this?


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## tnthomas (Jun 10, 2017)

I like regional accents also, my family's from the South, so I'm fond of that accent.     I've heard the uptalking and vocal fry on TV, I don't recall hearing anyone talk like that in Real Life.  Those 2 speech styles grate on my nerves and ears.


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## hauntedtexan (Jun 11, 2017)

Being originally from western NY,  accents from there sound angry and harsh. Lived in Washington state for 14 years where there seems to be no accent at all, so I cured my NY.... Lived in Texas now for long long time, so it's easy to write Texan, here's an example: mowron... saw it out loud, poof, you're a Texan!


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## Ruth n Jersey (Jun 11, 2017)

My New Jersey accent is enough to make outsiders cringe so I'm not adding to the mix. What I notice is the younger generation always makes any statement they utter into the form of a question. Such as, I'm going to the store? I'm wearing my black shoes today? Aren't they sure of what they are saying?Is that why they make it a question????


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## JaniceM (Jun 11, 2017)

Ruth n Jersey said:


> My New Jersey accent is enough to make outsiders cringe so I'm not adding to the mix. What I notice is the younger generation always makes any statement they utter into the form of a question. Such as, I'm going to the store? I'm wearing my black shoes today? Aren't they sure of what they are saying?Is that why they make it a question????



I started hearing that when I moved to this city, then it started popping up on t.v.  Didn't know there was actually a name for it:  they call it uptalking.


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## jujube (Jun 11, 2017)

Remember "valley talk"?  It made my teeth hurt when I would hear it.


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## JaniceM (Jun 11, 2017)

jujube said:


> Remember "valley talk"?  It made my teeth hurt when I would hear it.



Rully?  Like, fer suuure?  layful:


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## Butterfly (Jul 12, 2017)

What are uptalking and vocal fry?  I've never heard the terms.


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## Don M. (Jul 12, 2017)

When I was in the military, one of my barracks roommates was from New Orleans., and another was from Boston.  Listening to those two trying to carry on a conversation was hilarious.


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## JaniceM (Jul 13, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> What are uptalking and vocal fry?  I've never heard the terms.



The way I'd describe them:
Uptalking-  instead of ending a sentence, it's like the person's voice rises as if they're asking a question.  Have you seen the tv commercials for a product called NoNo?  The girl says something like "I see what everyone is talking about NoooWWWW'   When I first heard uptalking in person, it sounded like the last words on sentences were bouncing on a spring!
Vocal fry-  it's kinda like a low growl.  I'll bet girls/women who do this will regret it when their vocal cords thicken and they all start to sound like John Wayne!!!


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## JaniceM (Jul 13, 2017)

Don M. said:


> When I was in the military, one of my barracks roommates was from New Orleans., and another was from Boston.  Listening to those two trying to carry on a conversation was hilarious.


Hahaha, I'm sure!!!  layful:  When I lived in the state where New Orleans is located, my boss advised me to call it 'N.O.,' because I couldn't wrap my east coast vocal chords around the way the locals pronounced it!!


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## RadishRose (Jul 13, 2017)

I first noticed that up-talking back in the 70's, from people who came from CA. Then I noticed Asian immigrants in CA also had that question mark at the end of their sentences, too. I wonder if that's where it came from?

It's almost as if the speaker wants to add: "Do you know what I mean?" after his sentence. Like: "I'm going to the store (do you know what I mean, or is that ok?)


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## JaniceM (Jul 13, 2017)

RadishRose said:


> I first noticed that up-talking back in the 70's, from people who came from CA. Then I noticed Asian immigrants in CA also had that question mark at the end of their sentences, too. I wonder if that's where it came from?
> 
> It's almost as if the speaker wants to add: "Do you know what I mean?" after his sentence. Like: "I'm going to the store (do you know what I mean, or is that ok?)



I never heard it when I lived in California, only started hearing it in Iowa.  
I've read numerous theories, but I really don't know when/where it started.


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## RadishRose (Jul 13, 2017)

Looks like I don't either Janice!


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## Radrook (Apr 20, 2018)

I only noticed that I had a NY NJ accent like Sylvester Stallone in the film Rocky when I moved to another state. The people began pointing it out and I started to feel self conscious about it. Otherwise I was completely unaware of it. Had this lady at the pharmacy always asking me to call out "Adrien! Adrien!" Yikes!


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## JaniceM (Apr 20, 2018)

Don M. said:


> When I was in the military, one of my barracks roommates was from New Orleans., and another was from Boston.  Listening to those two trying to carry on a conversation was hilarious.



Oh, I didn't think to ask-  did the Boston roommate's wife or girlfriend have "P.S.D.S."?  layful:


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## Radrook (Apr 21, 2018)

I began trying to learn Romanian and my accent began to suffer the consequences so I stopped. Maybe a slight Count Dracula touch in it?  Same happened when I fully dedicated approx three years of my life to learning to read and speak Spanish but with an entirely different effect on my English,-of course.  Having people constantly asking where you from because you have an accent isn't fun. I like to keep a low profile and blend into the background. In fact, I prefer to be generally ignored. So i stopped practicing both Spanish and Romanian and things went back to normal-just a regular NJ accent without any unnecessary complications. In any case the reason I had started learning Romanian it in the first place was to understand the lyrics in Cleopatra Stratan songs. So it did serve its purpose since I understood pretty well what she was singing bout. The reason for learning Spanish was to attend a Spanish speaking church and read the denomination's literature.  So that also served its purpose.

I once complimented this dental assistant about her beautiful Scottish accent and she seemed offended. I think that she thought I was calling her a foreigner. So one never really knows. Sometimes the need to be accepted as regular American can make the person with the accent feel frustrated. So I hesitate now before offering compliments of that kind. But learning and speaking a tongue other than English will definitely alter how we sometimes speak English and that might be the price we might have to pay.


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## Manatee (May 27, 2018)

I grew up in a southern household on Long Island.  My parents were from the Carolinas, one North and the other South.
I was in the Navy for a couple of years.  I worked for a British company for 24 years (in the states).  I have lived in Florida for 31 years.
I have learned enough Spanish to not go hungry or naked when I visit a Spanish speaking country.
My speech patterns get all tangled up.


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## Shalimar (May 27, 2018)

Canadians on the left coast quite frequently uptalk. I do it myself.


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## jujube (May 27, 2018)

When I moved from the heart of the Midwest to the Tidewater area of Virginia to go to college, my classmates thought I talked "funny"......like pronouncing Norfolk as "Nor-folk" instead of "Nawfuk".  And even worse, I pronounced Suffolk like it was spelled.  My bad.  Of course, to be honest, I did have my own strange little verbal quirks that were exclusive to the Midwest.


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## hearlady (May 29, 2018)

When my new boss arrived from Minnesota to N Carolina I immediately noticed he was an "uptalker". It made me cringe. I wonder if someone has said something to him as he seems to have stopped. Thank goodness. It drove me crazy!


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## wvnewbie (May 29, 2018)

Also love regional accents.  Of course, I have NO accent being from the "melting pot" of accents - Ohio!  Cousins over in PA had a word that bothered me:  "DidYa" or "DidCha" which I thought was that Aussie dinger-ree-doo thing.  Nope....  Cousins would respond to whatever I had done: "Did You".  As in "really?"  Always with that high inflection.

Someone in this thread said folks always ask where are you from.  I always answer: "Alpah Centauri"...<g>...  So few get that!


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## Sunny (May 29, 2018)

I'm also originally from New Jersey.  Ruth and Radrook, maybe some time we could go for a cup of cawfee.


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## Jaime Insley (Jun 16, 2018)

Fun thread! 

I'd never heard of vocal fry. For the heck of it, I'll have to write the "Way with Words" program and see what they have noticed. (btw, great program for word-nerds; it's one of my faves. 

My favorite stretching of the vowels examples are from little preachers who say Gaawwd and Jaaaysus.


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