"Poor Voice Quality Irritate You The Older You Get?" Topic

Or is it just me?

I've been told (jokingly) that my "ephebiphobia" must getting worse and worse each year. But it's mainly because of today's "vocal fry" (lazy croaking sound) and "uptalk/upspeak" ("valley girl" talk) trends. So I guess it has nothing to do with the age of the speaker.

But when I hear it, it's like auditory poison to my old brain. And the older I get, the less I can tolerate it.

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At times I've had to put tv on mute, with subtitles, because the voice fry and/or uptalk of the person speaking were too much to my ears.

Is the same thing happening to others, or is it just me?

Dan

"Uptalk" and "valley girl" are different from each other (although a hybrid of the two has emerged… ;-)

When answering the phone, my voice is routinely mistaken for a woman's (I guess I speak too softly. ;-) I should really start doing accents, though I sometimes do a killer "The charge for the call is 25 dollars. Your number will be automatically billed, starting… Now…" (in that 'female' voice) when telemarketers call…

Lol, no. Pitch (male/female) isn't really an issue for me though.

It's the voice that sounds of "lazy" and "distracted/self-absorbed" (I can't think of how best describe it) that really bugs the hell out of me. Specially when the two trends are combined.

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And otherwise normal-speaking people seem to be catching those two things more and more, the "vocal fry" and the "uptalk/upspeak" trends, almost like some brain-eating virus spreading across civilization. Except that the brain being eaten away is mine! :)

Dan

I got hearing aids a few months back. But I still have Closed Caption on all my TVs. I don't want to miss anything !

Don't remember hearing either – other than here.

"You know" is what bugs me as in "I went to the mall, you know, and saw a shirt at a store, you know". I usually interrupt and say "No, I DON'T know" – EVERY time a "You Know" pops up and it is not a question.

Dynaman8789

Lol. How about "like"?

"You know" and "like", mixed with vocal fry and uptalk … a perfect storm for blowing my brains to smithereens.

Dan

People starting every sentence with "I mean" drive me nuts.

Not as bad as constantly punctuating things with, "you know what I'm sayin?", or other phrases that are very similar.

Lol. Or saying "that's what I'm talking about" when they haven't uttered a word up to that point.

Dan

These kids today with their "groovies" and "far outs!" give me the yips!!

Check out persons who do not actually speak whole words – 'thaaa fii fii..' – so you have not idea how much they are really asking for when there is no visible customer display. Particularly bad in noisy food courts or supermarket checkouts.

Cacique – ACK!

Yes.

If one listens to a sports interview, about 70% of the words consist of "I mean" and "you know".

That sounds about right … but with all the money those players, etc., get. They can afford to be poor public speakers !

Or they could hire someone to teach them a few full sentences.

I'm sure they'd think that is a waste of money …

If, as some articles reported, college girls are told by their peers that croaking and uptalk makes them sound more educated, more refined, there's something definitely wrong with the water at those campuses. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

The two trends appeared at university campuses around 2010-2011 and now students see it as normal, as the ideal way to speak.

However … the rest of the world, specially those looking to hire, see it as a red flag signally potentially serious character flaws such as laziness, lack of attention and being unprepared.

I just see it as the ultimate repellent. :)

Dan
PS. So much for sending kids to college to broaden their thinking, and to get them to understand the real world, and to not copy each other's immature habits and "values". Yeah, money well spent. Many will never even make it past their first phone interview in the real world.

You Darn College kids! Get out of my ears!

"Or they could hire someone to teach them a few full sentences."

Nah, it's easier to use an app for that…

LOL ! Universities and colleges ain't what they used to be !