Biographers have said Jackie's accent (aka "Little Girl Voice") was a public affectation; that her everyday, off-camera speech was much more typical.

Anonymous wrote:I've been watching all of the 50 year anniversary shows and one of the announcers said it was an affectation. To me, it sounds like a little girl or baby with a bit of a fake British/French accent rolled into one. I know some girls today who do the "baby talk" thing so as to attract men and not threaten them.

i know alot of girls today that do this. its so irritating. i lived near a young lady who was in law school who talked like this and i thought jesus maybe she's not gonna be an actual court attorney.

Kind of like Mr. Howell

I've been watching all of the 50 year anniversary shows and one of the announcers said it was an affectation. To me, it sounds like a little girl or baby with a bit of a fake British/French accent rolled into one. I know some girls today who do the "baby talk" thing so as to attract men and not threaten them.

Anonymous wrote:Not sure if there are any fellow Howard Stern fans out there but he has done some hysterical pieces about this very subject. The Kennedy impersonations (JFK, Ted, Jackie) are all roll on the floor funny.
When Jackie O. died and Robin mentioned it on the news, they went off on a tangent to figure out what kind of accent he had. So funny. Not sure how to find it and no time to Google around the internet right now. Worth the search though.

errrahhhh....I left her in the rivahhh

One of my fave skits they do

Anonymous wrote:I always thought it was an affectation; her attempt to sound vaguely French, cultured, theatrical and sophisticated gave her this breathy, dramatic and unusual "accent."

Not an accent, just an affectation.

+1

I find it grating.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the old money poster, but Jackie's accent is that of Miss Porter's School in Manhattan. I know women who went to that school, and they all have that breathless, unidentifiable European accent way of speaking. They are 40 years younger than Jackie, but still sound the same.

Miss Porter's is in Farmington, CT, lol.

Yeah, PPs response just made me spew my coffee. Such earnestness!

It's casually referred to as "Locust Valley lockjaw" - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locust_Valley_lockjaw

Her speech is slow and deliberate on the White House tour but if you listen to the recordings of her interviews with Arthur Schlesinger (published as "Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy") you can hear what she sounded like in a more casual setting -- less deliberate, at times (but not always) less whispery, but still with an accent.

I doubt she was faking it -- she didn't have to.

This is so funny. When I first heard Franklin Roosevelt speak, I thought he was British-!
Of course, I was only about 5 or 6 years old.

More on the mid-Atlantic accent in, where else, the Atlantic.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/08/the-rise-and-fall-of-katharine-hepburns-fake-accent/278505/

Ha! Miss Porter's in Manhattan!

I am the original poster about Miss Porter's accent. I obviously did not go to that school or any other school like it. I work with two women in their 40s who went to Miss Porter's (they grew up in Manhattan and I stupidly thought the school was there). At any rate, they do sound like Jackie Kennedy and often mention that they do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the old money poster, but Jackie's accent is that of Miss Porter's School in Manhattan. I know women who went to that school, and they all have that breathless, unidentifiable European accent way of speaking. They are 40 years younger than Jackie, but still sound the same.

Miss Porter's is in Farmington, CT. Before that she went to Chapin which is in Manhattan. I know many many people who went there and none of them speak like that.

Pp maybe wrong about Miss Porter's but the accent sounds a lot like the women I know who went to Spence, Chapin, Nightengale, Brearley, etc. Think Gwenyth Paltrow who sounds similar. Definitely an affect. They don't all sound like that. Only the affected ones. Guess it's better than a Neu Yolk accent. LOL!

I went to one of those schools and no one I know speaks like that!

How old are you? I know lots that sound like that but most are in their forties.

41. Class of 1990

Then you are lucky: Most of the women I know all sound like that... And they don't come by it naturally

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the old money poster, but Jackie's accent is that of Miss Porter's School in Manhattan. I know women who went to that school, and they all have that breathless, unidentifiable European accent way of speaking. They are 40 years younger than Jackie, but still sound the same.

Miss Porter's is in Farmington, CT. Before that she went to Chapin which is in Manhattan. I know many many people who went there and none of them speak like that.

Pp maybe wrong about Miss Porter's but the accent sounds a lot like the women I know who went to Spence, Chapin, Nightengale, Brearley, etc. Think Gwenyth Paltrow who sounds similar. Definitely an affect. They don't all sound like that. Only the affected ones. Guess it's better than a Neu Yolk accent. LOL!

I went to one of those schools and no one I know speaks like that!

How old are you? I know lots that sound like that but most are in their forties.

41. Class of 1990

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the old money poster, but Jackie's accent is that of Miss Porter's School in Manhattan. I know women who went to that school, and they all have that breathless, unidentifiable European accent way of speaking. They are 40 years younger than Jackie, but still sound the same.

Miss Porter's is in Farmington, CT. Before that she went to Chapin which is in Manhattan. I know many many people who went there and none of them speak like that.

Pp maybe wrong about Miss Porter's but the accent sounds a lot like the women I know who went to Spence, Chapin, Nightengale, Brearley, etc. Think Gwenyth Paltrow who sounds similar. Definitely an affect. They don't all sound like that. Only the affected ones. Guess it's better than a Neu Yolk accent. LOL!

I went to one of those schools and no one I know speaks like that!

How old are you? I know lots that sound like that but most are in their forties.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the old money poster, but Jackie's accent is that of Miss Porter's School in Manhattan. I know women who went to that school, and they all have that breathless, unidentifiable European accent way of speaking. They are 40 years younger than Jackie, but still sound the same.

Miss Porter's is in Farmington, CT. Before that she went to Chapin which is in Manhattan. I know many many people who went there and none of them speak like that.

Pp maybe wrong about Miss Porter's but the accent sounds a lot like the women I know who went to Spence, Chapin, Nightengale, Brearley, etc. Think Gwenyth Paltrow who sounds similar. Definitely an affect. They don't all sound like that. Only the affected ones. Guess it's better than a Neu Yolk accent. LOL!

I went to one of those schools and no one I know speaks like that!