Wife's extreme uptalk and vocal fry
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
My wife recently returned to the workforce at a small nonprofit which is staffed with mostly 20-somethings. Over the past three months she has really embraced the uptalk and vocal fry thing when talking, I guess to fit in with the younger women. When she first started doing it, I thought it was a joke or something but it's really how she talks now. It is so extreme that it is almost like a parody but in the few times I dared to mention it to her, she got really upset and said she was talking normally.
Now my two daughters are trying to adapt that speech pattern. |
Anonymous
|
Thanks, women's voice police!
"the biggest users of vocal fry traditionally have been men, and it still is; men in the U.K, for instance. And it's considered kind of a sign of hyper-masculinity ... and by the same token, uptalk, it's clear that in some people's voices that has really become a style, but it has been around forever, and people use it stylistically in a variety of ways — both men and women." http://www.npr.org/2015/07/23/425608745/from-upspeak-to-vocal-fry-are-we-policing-young-womens-voices |
Anonymous
| i regularly work with a small office where everyone--the women and men do this. It is SO irritating. |
Anonymous
| Get her speech therapy for her birthday? |
Anonymous
|
Monkey see monkey do. Monkey gets run over. So do you.
Another irritating thing, starting off saying so. EX. I saw you at the park. Where were you headed after ? So I was like going shopping. What did you buy ? So I bought a bag of rocks. Why did you buy a bag of rocks ? So like I could look smarter. I hate followers. Don't be a follower. |
Anonymous
| What the hell is uptalk? |
Anonymous
I thought I was the only one with no clue... |
Anonymous
Let me Google that for you: up·talk ??p?tôk/ noun a manner of speaking in which declarative sentences are uttered with rising intonation at the end, as if they were questions. |
Anonymous
|
Yes definitely decide what is and is not an appropriate way for a woman to talk...
Look, if she says "honey I can't seem to get anyone to take me seriously during my presentations - what am I doing wrong?" then sure, mention you've noticed it. Otherwise shut up and think about how often people tell you what tone of voice to use (probably never unless you have a habit of yelling). |
Anonymous
| OP here. My intent was not to judge or police her speaking, but the change was so sudden and extreme that it seemed bizarre she was not aware. |
Anonymous
What's your point? OP, didn't ask who did vocal fry the most. He said his wife had picked it up and it was super annoying. |
Anonymous
| My husband is always calling me out on vocal fry. I can't help it and it drives me insane. |
Anonymous
It's Valley Girl speak with an end to the sentence that ends on an up note and usually an ehhhhhh sound, which makes the person sound unsure of themself and unauthoritative. Ignore the stupid NPR person above. Women and girls do it. It comes from insecurity. Men don't do it. youtube vocalfry. |
Anonymous
|
I feel for you OP. Gonna have a house full of em...sheesh.
May as well just kill yourself now. |
Anonymous
She is almost certainly aware. She may feel neutral about it or she may actually wish she could stop but finds speaking to fit in at work becomes a day-long habit. Regardless, there is no need for you to be involved regarding this OR how your daughters speak. They will try on all kinds of attitudes and personas and vocal patterns and none is "right" or "wrong." |