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.
The “valleyspeak” and “sexy-baby” 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.
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.
+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.
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.
At first glance, I count 7 punctuation errors in this post.
Aluminum/aluminium has been spelled both ways since 1812. Get over it.
Not limited to the Midwest. This is pretty much the standard US pronunciation.
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:
I, too, was going to respond to that insolent wanker and then I saw that the OP specifically mentions US accents. Still a wanker…
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.
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?
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…
My girlfriend gets annoyed by me saying “clicka” instead of remote, “Rad-E-Ator” instead of radiator, and Itch-Id-Na for echidna.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
nm