# Do you get irrationally irritated by accents / voice traits? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332 "2015-04-23T01:21:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/101 "2020-03-01T10:19:00Z")
Vocal fry makes me want to shake the speakers violently until they stop using it. I have always connected the Midwest’s tendency to make interior Ts into Ds with its history of Scandinavian emigres. My father (Quincy, IL native) knew someone named Petterson. I was an adult before I realized the name was not actually Pederson. I dislike a lot of the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia accents I hear in movies. How accurate they are I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/102 "2020-03-01T12:13:01Z")
The “valleyspeak” and “[sexy-baby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexy_baby_voice)” voices are hard for me to listen to, especially when they rattle on about nonsense. Mira Sorvino, from New York, nails it as Haley’s spaced-out boss Nicole on Modern Family. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/103 "2020-03-01T17:46:49Z")
I find it annoying when people who should really know better mispronounce words. My elementary through university English teachers were high priestesses of the Funk and Wagnall’s and never missed a chance to admonish us with “look it up!!!” The most common example of this among English teachers I know is mischievous. _ **There is NO I after the V in that word, and the pronunciation “miss CHEE vee us” is printed in NO English dictionary.** _ ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/104 "2020-03-01T19:22:28Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Yonkers accents drive me up the wall. Unfortunately, a great proportion of the customers I talk to are from that area. ☹ +1. “Yonk-iz”…Ugh! The Yonkers ( NY ) accent has, to my ears, the “dirtiest” ugliest sound of any of the non-rhotic accents. “Don’t get ya fingiz run over by the trail-luh”. You need to hear it “live” to see how unpleasant it sounds. Even the Bronx ( Yonkers’ southern border ) accent sounds better to my ears, and, strangely enough the next town north of Yonkers ( and points north of that ) while still distinctly northeastern, are fairly neutral in sound. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/105 "2020-03-01T20:20:00Z")
> [@SuperGadger](#): > > Irrationally irritated by accents and voices? Only so much so that I have to mute them! American women with their bl\*\*dy awful nasal whining and affected so-called “Vocal Fry”? oh, yes: off goes my volume controller and if you want to experience an American whose narration causes your nerves to jolt whenever he pronounces a word beginning with a vowel, try (for as long as you can stand it), the git used during Spacex updates by YouTube’s “Engineering Today” - the initial vowel sound of every sentence and most words such as “And” - “Is” get\* barked \*at you at twice the volume. > > How rare it is to hear an American of either sex speaking in a manner acceptable to most intelligent individuals raised in the UK: allied to this, I despise the average American’s continual repetitions of words such as “Like” - “Gotten” - “Aluminum” - “Nucular” and many, many more and their insistence on misspelling and making up their own words - and as for their grammar, words fail me. My viewing entertainment is also ruined by American audiences whooping, screaming and whistling their appreciation every few seconds, e.g. punctuating comedic observations made by people such as Bill Maher: try YouTube’s “New Rules” Maher shows and see how long you can stand his moronic audiences… I mean, okay, that’s fair. Similarly, I despise most English accents. I love pretty much all Scottish, Irish, and Welsh accents, but there’s really only one English accent I like and it’s the crisp Received Pronunciation of someone like Hugh Grant or Richard E. Grant, which is lucky because that’s how most English people speak in movies. Most other English accents sound filthy and lowbrow to me, including Cockney, Multicultural London English, Estuary, Scouse, Manc, etc. I can tolerate some deep West Country, Cornwall, Yorkshire, and Geordie, but all other English accents are a curse on my ears. The English also have some usage patterns that are grating like “I was sat there” and “You need to get yourself sorted” or “I’ve organized breakfast.” Yuck. Nails on a chalkboard to me. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/106 "2020-03-01T21:08:12Z")
> [@SuperGadger](#): > > Irrationally irritated by accents and voices? Only so much so that I have to mute them! American women with their bl\*\*dy awful nasal whining and affected so-called “Vocal Fry”? oh, yes: off goes my volume controller and if you want to experience an American whose narration causes your nerves to jolt whenever he pronounces a word beginning with a vowel, try (for as long as you can stand it), the git used during Spacex updates by YouTube’s “Engineering Today” - the initial vowel sound of every sentence and most words such as “And” - “Is” get\* barked \*at you at twice the volume. > > How rare it is to hear an American of either sex speaking in a manner acceptable to most intelligent individuals raised in the UK: allied to this, I despise the average American’s continual repetitions of words such as “Like” - “Gotten” - “Aluminum” - “Nucular” and many, many more and their insistence on misspelling and making up their own words - and as for their grammar, words fail me. My viewing entertainment is also ruined by American audiences whooping, screaming and whistling their appreciation every few seconds, e.g. punctuating comedic observations made by people such as Bill Maher: try YouTube’s “New Rules” Maher shows and see how long you can stand his moronic audiences… At first glance, I count 7 punctuation errors in this post. Aluminum/aluminium has been spelled both ways since 1812. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/107 "2020-03-01T21:11:46Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > I have always connected the Midwest’s tendency to make interior Ts into Ds with its history of Scandinavian emigres. My father (Quincy, IL native) knew someone named Petterson. I was an adult before I realized the name was not actually Pederson. Not limited to the Midwest. This is pretty much the standard US pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/108 "2020-03-01T22:21:54Z")
I’m a life-long Philadelphia Eagles fan and THE MOST annoying voice in history is Merrill Reese. “Well, that was a bad play” sounds like “worhwr, thod waszzzsa pahd bleee.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/109 "2020-03-02T08:03:18Z")
I, too, was going to respond to that insolent wanker and then I saw that the OP specifically mentions US accents. Still a wanker…🙂 > [@](#): > > As I said in my post in that thread, I’m talking about American speech that veers from “standard” or “neutral” or whatever the proper term is. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/110 "2020-03-02T10:36:21Z")
> [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](#): > > Whatever accent it is from New York that shows up a lot on Friends- Janice has it, a girl who Joey dated (who by the way was friends with Janice) in the first season has it, it’s about like Fran Drescher. It’s very grating. > In general, I like Southern accents. But the one Rue Maclanahan used on The Golden Girls annoys me to the point I can’t watch more than one or two episodes at a time, despite it being very funny overall. > [@gaffa](#): > > I just took the Megabus from Kansas City to Chicago. I got to talking with a fellow passenger from New Haven, Connecticut and she had \*\*exactly \*\*the same accent as Lois Griffin from _Family Guy_. Nice person, but I don’t know if I could be around someone who sounded like that day in and day out. I believe that Lois Griffin and Janice Hosenstein-Litman-Goralnik speak with New York accents, perhaps some kind of Long Island accent. Both accents are faked, so they might not fully fit any one real life accent. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/111 "2020-03-02T10:51:45Z")
Haha: “_Hey, you sound just that person on TV!!!_” That’s always been my reaction, in my head, anyway. East Coast accents don’t bother me as much and are often fun to listen to (yeah, even that Janice character, although her laugh is too much), probably because I’ve had very few real-life encounters with them. I’d probably be similarly amused by a “Fargo” accent, too, eh? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/112 "2020-03-02T14:49:49Z")
You like the Fargo accent? You’ll love Manitowac Wisconsin… I make a distinction based on “Is this person from a different country/background? Or are they just lazy?” Huge difference. I’m a teacher. And I’ll correct students if they say “I couldn’t care less” or “I ain’t got no time f’dat.” But I also get a wide range of demographics from farm kids to urban black culture. And I have so much fun with those differences. One kid would always say “Kin I jes’ axe you a thin’?” And I’d say "Oh, man, Kev, did you bring an _axe_ to school _… again?"_ Or, “If you’re going to take me out, Kev, can it be something quicker than an axe?” Now, luckily, Kev thought this was hilarious and would come up with the most minor reasons to announce his need to axe. Had a lot of fun with a Russian student’s accent (luckily, she got the “Keel Moose and Squirrrrel” reference). And the upper crust “Muffy and Buffy’s Tennis Club” set have some fun language quirks, too. But my students know that it’s open season on me as well - - especially my Midwest accent\*: “Jeet yet? Goin’ down by the caf, wanta come with? The hot dish is a little spendy, dontcha know, so no pop for me, I’ll stop at the bubbler.” My hope for the OP is that he could find joy in listening to people talking differently, and enjoy the rich tapestry of humanity (as people **axe him where da li’bary at?).** \*(I’m from WisGONsin, a little town called “Mi’waukee”… natives don’t say the L) Think we don’t have an accent? [Here’s how we sound to the rest of the world](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OR7yPK4wEw)… ---
**Author:** ![Kennedy1960](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@Kennedy1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kennedy1960)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/113 "2020-03-02T16:54:43Z")
My girlfriend gets annoyed by me saying “clicka” instead of remote, “Rad-E-Ator” instead of radiator, and Itch-Id-Na for echidna. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/114 "2020-03-02T17:53:14Z")
Hm, maybe this isn’t the right thread, but there are certain ways of speaking that I like to hear (likes) as well as ways I don’t (dislikes). Regarding voice traits I don’t like, my (internal, not voiced) question has always been “why do you talk that way?” I speak with a fairly neutral, big-city USA “accent” and indeed grew up close to Chicago. During the summer time I would visit my relatives who lived in central Tennessee or south Alabama. Both places’ regional accents were distinct from each other, and also different from the way I talked. Turn on the TV or radio, or go see a movie? Bingo, everyone is talking like me. But people around me? All talking like they’re play acting. Maybe they’re just incapable of hearing how they sound? Or have no motivation to “correct” it…? But then, I find I kind of like the speaking patterns some younger people use (rising inflection, vocal fry, etc.). I think it’s cute. And I really like BBC radio voices. Some of those Brits really drawl, don’t they? “The neeewz, frum around thuh wuuuld…” Best of all, for me, was a husky voiced young lady BBC reporter saying “pixels” but sounding like “pexels.” For some strange reason my heart melts. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/115 "2020-03-02T18:00:51Z")
I actually hear vocal fry just as much in old people as in young. We just don’t tend to notice it until it’s pointed out. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/116 "2020-03-02T18:08:53Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > …During the summer time I would visit my relatives who lived in central Tennessee or south Alabama. Both places’ regional accents were distinct from each other, and also different from the way I talked. Turn on the TV or radio, or go see a movie? Bingo, everyone is talking like me. But people around me? All talking like they’re play acting. Maybe they’re just incapable of hearing how they sound? Or have no motivation to “correct” it…? Or it feels good? Ever talked with that accent for a while (sorry, whaaaaall…) I pick up an accent in about five minutes (I have to really watch it). I sometimes spend time in a holler in Kentucky, and if I start talking like a native, it’s relaxing. I relax my mouf’, my vocal cords, and pretty soon my whole body. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/117 "2020-03-02T19:07:08Z")
Vocal fry and up-talking does kind of irk me a little bit. Even moreso is shortening words to one syllable like “pep” for “pepper” or “nuggs” for “nuggets.” I’m not entirely sure why that should bug me, but one of the women on Bon Appetit’s Youtube channel does it all the time and it drives me up a freaking wall. (It’s not Claire – Claire can do no wrong. It’s the blonde woman.) ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/118 "2020-03-02T19:39:36Z")
I’ve been watching a lot more you tube lately, and catch a few British Channels. No problem with most of it, But “Haitch”(as in ‘Haitch Dee Tee Vee’) immediately sets me to wanna punch mode. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/119 "2020-03-02T19:48:08Z")
> [@digs](#): > > My hope for the OP is that he could find joy in listening to people talking differently, and enjoy the rich tapestry of humanity (as people **axe him where da li’bary at?).** Thank you; this is a kind sentiment after I’ve told pretty much the whole of the United States that I hate the sound of their voices 🙂 I\* wish\* I could find joy, or at least not want to hurt myself and /or others. That’s why I think the misophonia theory has some merit. People, I hated the sound of my own mother’s voice for as far back as I can remember ☹ Sometimes at the end of the day my jaws ache from clenching them after listening to the voices around me. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-irrationally-irritated-by-accents-voice-traits/718332/120 "2020-03-02T20:12:30Z")
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